[pbs] Cleaning bulbs
Jane McGary
janemcgary at earthlink.net
Tue Jul 7 18:43:17 EDT 2009
I'm repotting part of my bulb collection now and, as usual, wondering
about cleaning them. Just how much of the dead tissue should be
removed from various kinds of bulbs? I generally remove anything
that's loose enough to fall away with gentle pressure, without
tearing at the living tissue. But I wonder how much the accumulation
of old tunics and so on contributes to the health of the plant? Do
multiple layers of tunic insulate the bulb? Or do they smother it and
cause it to decline? What about the old tissue at the bases of some
irid corms? Does the plant derive nutrition from its dead tissue from
previous years, or is this debris simply a medium for fungi and
bacteria? In nature, many layers of tissue would build up over the
years, and I see some bulbous and cormous plants in the garden that I
know haven't been significantly disturbed for 20 years or more but
are still flowering well.
Comments from experts welcome!
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA
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