[CH] rocoto repair
peter gaffney (peter.g@telus.net)
Mon, 07 Aug 2000 11:59:11 -0700
Heads ... this is a sad story.
some time ago, i transplanted the best of two remaining rocoto
seedlings ( thanks Cameron for the seeds ) into a 12" pot .
placed it against the concrete wall at the west side of the building
where it would receive full sun during the hottest part of the day.
though i was very worried about insufficient hardening-off , the
8" plant seemed to be ok. a few days later, after a 30C day, i went
to check the little guy & found the plant broken off about 1" above
the soil. this was no accident. some petty, small minded person
had clearly inflicted a terminal blow to the plant. there appeared to
be about 1/16" of skin holding the top of the rocoto to the broken
stem. the remains were clearly in distress, pale & withered in the
heat. i decided to leave the pot "in situ" to remind the culprit of
their
callous act.
this morning, it's time to try again by planting the runt of the two.
to my utter astonishment , i found the original plant laying flat on the
soil, sprouting new leaves & looking fairly robust !!
after almost 2 weeks of complete neglect , no watering ( only one
day of fairly light rain ) during the hottest sunniest part of the
year,
broken stem & all ... this little trooper just won't give up !!!
closer examination of the break has revealed that, although the stem
is broken almost all the way thru, the "core" is still mostly intact.
though fully exposed.
now what?
how should i best administer first aid here?
should i try to apply some kind of splint ? is there a way to encourage
a new rooting at the point where the top of the stem touches the soil ?
it would be great to have this "fighter" actually flourish & grow again!
thanks in advance for any advice .
regards
peter g