john_ny

Bill, a very interesting thread. I'm going to try some of these cables this year, although I've had 100% survival, in the past, with wrapping and mulching.
I do have a few questions, though. Your picture shows placing the cable in the bottom of a hole, and then placing newly unpotted plants on top of it. I was wondering if you have any suggestions for my situation. My plants have been in the ground for 3 years, and the only way I could get the cables under them, would be to dig them up, place the cable, and replant, which I really don't want to do. I suppose I could dig some trenches, and get the cables around and between the plants, (There is the mother, and 8 pups; I don't want to dig, and separate, the pups until spring) What do you think? I was also wondering; have you ever dug any pups? How do you do this, and avoid chopping the wire? Do you just put the cables in the ground, or do you wrap any around p-stems, etc.?
I also have many plants that I over-wintered, outside, in pots. These were just covered with mulch, and a tarp. They all survived, but several died back to the corm. I'd like to try to save some of the p-stems, this year. Do you think I could adapt the cables to the potted plants? Maybe just lay them on the ground, or bury shallowly, and stand the pots on top, and then wrap, and mulch the stems?
Several years ago, I was rooting some cuttings, in a mist bed, and I wanted to provide some bottom heat. I found, in a close-out store, some cables that were meant to be placed in gutters, to prevent ice jams. I placed the cables on the bench, put an inch or two of peat moss on top of them, wet it down, and placed the trays of cuttings on top. This worked well, but they burned out quickly. I think they were meant to be constantly in water, or ice, and when the peat got dry, at night, (the mist only operated in daylight) they got too hot.
Several years ago I was wintering the basjoos in a greenhouse, so they kept growing. At the end of the summer the stems were huge and, the first year that I decided to winter them outside, I figured I wouldn't be able to get 8 or 10 feet of mulch, so I layed the pots down, and then covered. This was not good. In the spring, before I uncovered, they started to grow, but not from the top of the stem, but rather, from the base of the stem, at right angles to the stem. So, this year, I will keep them upright, and wrap the stems, cover with mulch, and a tarp, maybe adding some Christmas lights, around the stems. What do you (anyone) think? Besides the cables underneath, I suppose you had some sort of covering/protection on the stems, right?

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John