Log in

View Full Version : How deep in the ground do basjoo corms go?


wxman
03-17-2009, 04:32 PM
I planted 8" tall basjoo's last spring - 10 of them. By fall they were 3 feet tall and i chopped their stems down to 6" and mulched. The stems were 2-4 inches thick by then. With the warm weather I began looking at how they fared and they were mush right down to the ground. So I started chopping lower and lower until I found alive tissue.

Here is how they all looked at ground level:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/wxman81/IMG_1320.jpg

Still mushy, so I went deeper with the knife. At about 1/2" to 1" below the soil line I found viable tissue in about half and it looked like this:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/wxman81/IMG_1322.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/wxman81/IMG_1323.jpg

A few of them, the stem seemed to disappear to this little knub or nothing at all like this:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/wxman81/IMG_1321.jpg

I'm wondering if I hacked all the way to the bottom of the corm and those are toast? I thought the corms went at least a few inches into the soil.

Gabe15
03-17-2009, 10:50 PM
It depends on the age and the variety, but they can go about as deep as 2ft or so (some probably go deeper), most probably within 1ft-18in. A small plant like yours though would be mostly within the first foot of soil.