How to start off my Eddoes?

[Kristen]

I bought a couple of dozen Eddoes a few weeks back. Haven't got around to starting them off yet ...

I could put them in a blow-in-the-bag as YK's video showed, but it would be a bit easier to do them in bulk.

Could I put them all in a bag with a bit of damp vermiculite or somesuch?

Thanks.

[grub]

Just 'chit' 'em like spuds Kristen , I put mine in the AV cupboard .

[The Codfather]

http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/forum/v ... 09&t=15306

[Kristen]

Thanks Coddy, I re-watched it over the weekend and was re-reminded that in addition to the blow in the bag method, that I had remembered, there was also the soak-'em and H2O2 'em method ... which is the route I have gone.

I'm ashamed to say that in the 2 weeks I've had then 4 have gone sufficiently mushy that I have chucked them, and several are "suspect" and/or have mould growing. But a few have sprouted, a couple of them quite impressively.

I've read of folk saying that they rot easily, but this experience has made me thoughtful about being able to successfully over-winter them, without rotting, next year though

Fingers crossed for the ones that are left

[Yorkshire Kris]

Thanks Coddy, I re-watched it over the weekend and was re-reminded that in addition to the blow in the bag method, that I had remembered, there was also the soak-'em and H2O2 'em method ... which is the route I have gone.

I'm ashamed to say that in the 2 weeks I've had then 4 have gone sufficiently mushy that I have chucked them, and several are "suspect" and/or have mould growing. But a few have sprouted, a couple of them quite impressively.

I've read of folk saying that they rot easily, but this experience has made me thoughtful about being able to successfully over-winter them, without rotting, next year though

Fingers crossed for the ones that are left

Yes they can go mushy pretty quickly; more like a banana shelve life rather than a potato if that makes sense.

[Yorkshire Kris]

I should point out that although I put only one eddoe in each bag you could easily put several in or used a huge plastic box if you wished. Obviously there is more chance of rot spreading if you go down that route.

[The Codfather]

All mine have done using the bag... 3 in each bag and 4 bags in total.......infact, I have forgot to check on them....its been about a week since I checked......5 weeks in total....time to plant up.....if they have not rotted.

[Kristen]

Thanks, point noted, but your video said that warm water was faster, and I'm an impatient sort of person, plus the H2O2 final wash looked important given the fluffy stuff I can already see on some tubers!

They must have to turn these things over pretty promptly in the Asian supermarkets ...

[Yorkshire Kris]

Thanks, point noted, but your video said that warm water was faster, and I'm an impatient sort of person, plus the H2O2 final wash looked important given the fluffy stuff I can already see on some tubers!

They must have to turn these things over pretty promptly in the Asian supermarkets ...

Yes soaking was faster.

[Kristen]

Right ... Eddoes have been soaking for 2 days, with several warm water changes.

H2O2 (35% concentration) has arrived from Mr eBay

Am I right that 2% will do? or should I increase to nearer 3.5"?

I have some shoots and some small roots on some tubers, but I also have some mould from when they were stored.

Am I right in my calculation that 1-part 35% H2O2 and 10-parts water is 1/11th dilution, so would be:

35% x 1/11 = 3.18%

??

Is so 1-part 35% H2O2 and 17-parts water should give me 2%

35% x 1/17 = 2.06%

Then what? pot them up into individual pots? or into a plastic bag for a while?

Thanks

[Kristen]

Right, I've re-watched second half of the Instruction Movie

They are bubbling in about 3% H2O2, and I'm going to stick them in a plastic bag somewhere warm for probably as much as 2 weeks.

[Yorkshire Kris]

Kristen,

Strong % will burn new shoots. I think Dave reported this on some of his eddoes a year or two ago. I think I used a concentration of 1.5%. At 7 mins of the video I said don't use more than 2% for the last bit of soaking.

Hope yours are ok.

[Kristen]

I did think about that, but I didn't know at what point they were likely to be damaged. Only a couple have decent sized shoots, so we'll see. They look much "cleaner" now !!

They weren't a lot of money if the experiment is a failure ...

[Yorkshire Kris]

I think they will be ok, possibly singe the newest part of the shoots...possibly.

[Dave Brown]

Sorry Kris, Not viewed your vid, as when I saw 13 minutes length that is about half my daily free time, and loads to do

Most colocasia go dormant in dry warmth (onset of tropical dry season) and are woken by moist warmth. It seems that the longer they have been left dry, the slower the wakening. Maybe rehydrating before sprouting. They don't actually need water as high humidity will break dormancy (the onset of the tropical wet season), but a good soak to rehydrate is the method I have used.

Don't use 3% H2O2. I did this on some of my Mammoth rhizomes and it seemed to damage them. I now use 1/2 to 1% in warm water for several hours. If it fizzes, it's working. The airing cupboard has higher humidity due to airing washing, also the breathing into a plastic bag sounds good. Sprouting may take several weeks so you have to be patient.

Placing several in a plastic bag touching each other can allow infection to spread, and I have found that no amount of soaking in H2O2 completely clears all infection. It's almost like it has a certain amount of infection in the rhizome itself. Wrapping each in newspaper, as is done with apples, may overcome that. Only down side is you can't see what is happening

Scott Radford has a different technique where he pots up and sits in trays of water on a heat mat. Not tried that myself, but it works for him.