Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Hardiness reports for X.atrovirens: "Mickey Mouse", 1 by raydio

raydio wrote:
OK! Thanks for the responses.

Henry10~
There wasn't a thread on MMs, but when I searched them, I found a few posts where people said they were going to try them in the ground, north of zone 8. I had mine in a poorly lit basement and they never went fully dormant for me either and watering was an issue for me as well. I pulled the main bulb out to keep it from rotting and it was dormant at the time, but other parts of the plant at the surface weren't and they began to weken, die off and decompose.

They seemed to be slow coming back in the spring, so I unpotted the 2-3 gallon pot they were in and discoverd why: the very bottom was full of pups and they had a long climb back to the top. I seperated them and have ove a dozen 1 gallon pots that have roots coming out the drainages, though each plant has only 4-5 leaves.

Anywho, I'm going to put a couple in the ground and see what happens. I have enough to risk. I'll be setting them 4-6 inches below soil surface and piling leaves on top of that. A dried leaf cover has worked miracles for me before w/ EEs. I've had runners survive that weren't even in the ground, just on top, covered with leaves and they were in tip-top shape the next spring.

With the ones I bring in, I may have to hook up a grow light and see if that helps.

Thanks, and if anyone else has anything to add about this, please post your experience.

Robert.