why did my sikkis rot.
 

My basjoos made it fine through the winter, but the two musa sikkimensis on both sides of the house rotted clean through.They were beautiful last summer and reached over nine feet from a small plants, much nicer than basjoo.Is it because I am in zone six? The temps never went below 7 0r 8 degrees F. They were covered with about 24" of a 32 gallon plastic trash barrel, stuffed with dry leaves with the lid on top. I am thinking that on warm sunny winter days the sun was pulling the moisture out of the ground and there was no ventilation. It just could be that sikkimensis isn't that hardy here. Any thoughts?:2141:

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

I would think that they would need a larger area covered around the stems. In other words, maybe the diameter of the area you covered was too small and let too much water/cold get in underneath.
I haven't tried a sikki yet here though!
Sincerely
Sandy

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

sikki is more prone to rot then basjoo, i have tested this.

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

thanks sandy, the same method worked good with my basjoos. The barrel I used was at least 24" diameter and the stem was only about 7".

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

See the problem we have here in my neck of the woods is that even if you protect about 24" around a basjoo, they seem to overwinter better here (live) if you protect a larger diameter around them like four feet or so. Maybe the sikki is the same way. Since that other guy said the sikkis rot easier, and your basjoo make it with a 2 foot diameter, maybe you should try another sikki and put about a 5 foot diameter protection around it. and maybe your results will be better.
This year I did a ring of bags of leaves around the pseudostem, leaving a hole in the center around the pstem that's about a foot across. Then in that one foot space around the pstem, I loosely put in some dry leaves for dead air space, then covered the whole mess with a plastic tarp. It seemed to work well, and they're coming up sooner than usual by about two weeks. Our spring weather has been pretty typical with cool nights and warm days, lots of rain. Maybe similar could work for sikki in your area.

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

Lodewijkp, I had heard thesame thing about sikkis rotting easily. Sandy I should have a couple of sikki pups arriving soon and will take your advice. Your mat of basjoo must be getting ever larger and harder to protect every year. I know one thing, the sikkis are really hard to find as pups. If you could grow them, they would sell like crazy.They make a super looking plant and grow like crazy.

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

mine survived with only 1 bag of leaves over them. They're about 3 feet tall now.

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

congrats! What zone are you in? I just recieved two small ones and I am going to plant one and pot one. They were the hit of my neighborhood,much more impressive tham my basjoos. Did you cut them down to the ground?

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

i'm in southern ohio (z6b). I cut them back to about 12" and threw a bag of leaves over them. I didn't save any stem. The ones that are 3' tall are coming up from the ground. I didn't bag them like I did my basjoos. I never lost any of either type.

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

I planted them last spring. They were approx 2 1/2' tall. They got to be about 10-12 feet.

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

Sikkimensis (and as far as I can see) all its forms, Manipur, red flash, red tiger (rubbish plant), helens hybrid. Don't like having wet feet. Best bet is to protect (as described above) but the key is soil prep. when you first plant out. Dig a big hole and if your drainage is poor then mix some material in grit, gravel etc. to improve it.
Its well worth it as a Sikki with a load of leaf colour is a real beauty, beats boring old Basjoo by a mile. see photos just posted. :twonanners:
Kev

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

What do you mean by "rubbish plant"? Do you mean rubbish as in garbage, or waste? Something that should be thrown out or not worth keeping? If so, then why? Some English phrases don't translate literally for us Gringos.

Thanks!

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

Does anyone have any Toger Sikki's they would be willing to trade.

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

Sorry meant Tiger

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

Sorry, I'll translate. I mean not worth keeping. I bought maybe 6 from a grower in germany (TC plants) and they've never really had the vigour or the colour of Red Flash or even regular Sikki. All this red flash,tiger,Manipur stuff is non-sense. Photo 1 and 2 of the recent ones I posted are regular Sikki. Its just the luck of the draw whether your plant has strong variegation or not and whether this will last as the plants grow up who knows (mind you last years plants are looking pretty sweet). The purple underleaf is wonderful.

No negative thoughts though please, the Dalai Llama is in the country and my karma needs a lot of work :gif_rojo:

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

Right. I agree. I'd rather have a vigorous grower. The leaf color would just be a bonus really. I wouln't trade leaf color/variegation for vigor either.

What do you know about the giant Sikkis? Sorry, I forget the name. But the name would imply that they are much more vigorous than the regular Sikki's.

Thanks.

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

Hiya
Sikkimensis X 'Darjeeling Giant' Is supposedly a natural hybrid between Sikki And Balbisiana. (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Mine are just plantlets so its a bit early to know. I've got loads of fresh seeds if you want to give them a go. PM me if your interested and I'll come up with a price. Or alternatively I seem to remember I saw a photo from a member in NJ who had hundreds of them sprout, he might well be looking to find a large home for some of them
thanks
Kev :jump:

Re: why did my sikkis rot.
 

Last summer my two sikkis on opposite sides of the house, grew alike. One was solid green and the other had lots of red on it. The red really faded out as the plant grew larger and then the plant threw out all green leaves.