Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Conversion Work in "Full Swing."


Hello Daylily Friends,

I have found that some daylilies are just darn hard to convert.  PINK STRIPES is an example.  It just throws up fans and more fans, and then even more fans.  I can't tell you how many times I've had to trim away the runaway fans.  As an example I'm showing a picture of PINK STRIPES taken back on November 17, 2011.  You can easily see that there are too many fans.  I've learned from experience that only one fan should exist during the treatment process.  If there are two fans, the treated fan will falter, and the other untreated fan will get the energy go grow.  I've even found that PINK STRIPES throws up more fans even inside the main fan.  Odd behavior, but the plant must be limited to only one fan to have the best chance at conversion.  I'm showing a picture of one of the fans of PINK STRIPES that I treated today.

You might notice that I started the treatment process by using my scissors to cut away the top of the fan.  This is just easier.  I then take a razor, and cut down to the area to where I will begin to carve toward the "growing tip."  I'm also showing how I've cut the plant as best I can to get near to the growing tip.  Of course, the growing tip is the place that must receive the Colchicine.  The Colchicine that I apply contains a few drops of red food coloring.  The Colchicine also contains 12 milliliters of DMSO.  I learned the "hard way" to increase the amount of DMSO that I use from my good friend, Don Eller.  Don uses 12 milliliters of DMSO for 380 milliliters of Colchicine.  Don's method works very well.



I'm also showing the thirteen (13) plants that I treated today.  Six (6) were PINK STRIPES, and seven (7) were MIMOSA UMBRELLA.  I will keep trying to get these two converted until I get the task
accomplished.  My friend Paul Lewis from Ohio gave me PINK STRIPES, and my friend David Miller, who is now deceased, gave me MIMOSA UMBRELLA.  It is good to have good friends.  Finally, I'm showing Little Lily Rae when she recently visited the Greenhouse.  She had such a big smile and really enjoyed seeing the flowers on the hanging baskets.  I am beginning to think that Little Lily Rae is ready for an elevation from Princess Lily Rae to Queen Lily Rae.

Well that is all today from the Kennesaw Mountain Daylily Gardens.

Bill

2 comments:

  1. Bill,

    Wow, looks like Pink Stripes likes to increase fast! I wish some of my seedlings were that vigorous! My introduction Millennium Falcon is one of those daylilies that is slow to increase, hence I had to send it down to Florida to try to bring it to market sooner. Love the Marriot red. I may have to call him and order it. Impressive. Hope all is well.

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  2. Hi Paul,

    When I potted PINK STRIPES back in September or October it didn't seem like it would be so aggressive with its growth, however, the Greenhouse can make most anything grow faster. At first I had PINK STRIPES in a "trade gallon" bucket, but then I had to move it to a full gallon bucket. I sure hope that I can get it converted. I'm sure that you are right: that it is an important daylily. I will have to let you know what I see after I look at your MILLENNIUM FALCON. I'm not sure how fast it is growing. I like Bill Maryott's work. He produces very nice daylilies.

    All is well here, today. I like working on the conversions. I just wish that I could do more. I am going to purchase a small Greenhouse that will be for the purpose of growing conversions following treatment. More news about this soon.

    Thanks so much for your message.

    Bill

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