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TammyTN Greenback, TN Apr 07, 2005

I have serveral dumb questions...

1. How do you identify the "eye" of tubers? Is it obvious and I am missing it?

2. Once identified, must you keep a large portion of root with it or do you cut it out like you do when peeling potatoes?

3. What is the ratio of cubic feet to gallons or inches for pots? I have seen all three used as measurements and I never know what is what compared to what!

4. If a flower is a biennial annual, well what the heck is that?? Like my honesty, it is an annual, but flowers the second year? Huh?

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sylvi74 Oak Grove, MN(Zone 4a) Apr 07, 2005

Well, #3 I have some experience with.
These are all volume questions. To get volume, multiply length x width x height.
So I cubic foot=12 x 12 x 12=1728 cubic inches.
Gallons is volume in cubic inches divided by 231.
So 1728/231=7.4 gallons to one cubic foot.
The other questions, well you've got me!

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Farmerdill Augusta, GA(Zone 8a) Apr 07, 2005

1. Tubers are little indentations on the tuber, from which the sprout comes. They sort of look like tiny eyes. If you manually peel potaoes I am sure that you have noticed them as they make peeling more difficult.

2 Most true tubers will not have roots when you are cutting out the eyes. Each eye represents a potential sprout, which is why potaoes are cut into pieces containing two or three eyes before planting.

4. A biennial requires two years to seed in most cases. Many are used as annuals if seed collecting is not required. In a few cases if one has a long season and appropriate trigger mechanisms they can be tricked into producing seed in a one year cycle. Most either have to go through a cold dormant or reduced sunlight stage to reproduce.

This message was edited Apr 7, 2005 12:02 PM

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Yuska San Antonio, TX(Zone 8b) Apr 07, 2005

On #4, the classification is sometimes determined by the climate. Tomatoes and peppers tend to be perennial in the tropics. And biennial/annuals are likewise affected if flowering is delayed or inhibited. Swiss chard is usually considered biennial but here it does not flower so no seed is set, and a plant will keep growing for years until it is so ugly that it gets pulled up. Every plant has the principal challenge of regenerating itself (by producing seed or tubers, etc.) and will struggle a great deal to get that job done.

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TammyTN Greenback, TN Apr 07, 2005

You guys are so awesome! Thanks!

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