I bought a package of seeds and have 15 plants growing, each about 7" tall. I know that it is normally grown from tubers, and I have read that the seeds will not form tubers for at least two years. Does anyone know: 1. Will they bloom this year, or will they not bloom for a few years? 2. If they do not turn into tubers this year, how will I lift them for winter? I assume that I just find some nondescript root mass which I dig my trowel into the ground. 3. I am running out of space indoors and would like to move them into my unheated greenhouse. But the temperature at night is going to be averaging about 5 C - call it 40 F - nowadays, and I fear that they will not survive; I have read that they can tolerate freezing temps but that surely refers to dormant tubers not to young growing plants. Does anyone know if I can put them outside at the temperature that I mentioned? (I hope that I will not be told that they have to have night temps of 50 F - we only get that for maybe 3 months a year here).
From what I can tell they'll look like long thin roots 'till the become tubers later on. But I could be wrong! Apparently they can be VERY brittle so take care. Also they need a minimum of 60F while in their growing season so the greehouse might not be the best spot at the moment... Also, apparently they take three years to form a tuber that will bloom. At least according to http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/seed/msg070802469336.html Here's some websites that might be of some use http://www.cloudforest.com/northwest/forum/5183.html http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/607/ Remember that all parts of these plants are poisonous and apparently they don't like to be touched (although I'm having trouble believing the "no touching" part =/). Good luck! If I'm wrong, hopefully someone else can correct me as most of this info is second hand. Ryan
