harveyc

Doctor Tog,

Head's up, here's a bullet headed your way! LOL Just joking, okay?

Many of these variegates are not stable and I think they can revert whether fertilized or not. I believe my tall Ae Ae is of a more stable line. When I bought it and another pup that later died, I had asked about what percentage of pups were all green, etc. The nursery owner said they had never seen a pup that wasn't variegated. I've continued to feed mine with a moderate amount of fertilizer and never seen a loss in variegation. Jordon Steele has been growing Ae Ae for over 40 years and claims that fertilizing with potassium nitrate will increase the percentage of green so he uses this practice when he starts seeing leaves with too much white. Still, there are those that doubt that fertilization can have any affect on the level of variegation. I'm not sure about it, but I think it's worth considering simply because Jordon has so much experience with them. Also, it is generally said that Ae Ae require an acidic soil. Jordon grows them in his native alkaline soil conditions and thinks they prefer alkaline soils. Maybe they just aren't really fussy about it and do well in both. Much testing needs to be done to establish a true cause and effect relationship. Or we can just worry about it and do what we think is best and enjoy our plants the most we can.

Cheers,

Harvey

__________________