Hi Gary.

I had a similar problem when we acquired a Podocarpus that is native to Dominica. We e mailed the Board of Tourism for Dominica with our list of questions and requested to please send the e mail along to anyone who may be of help.

Our response was overwhelming! But then we were not surprised because having lived on Dominica for almost a year they ARE the friendliest and most helpful people we have ever had the pleasure to meet.

The best source is the source. I hope this gets you in the right direction. Hmmmm. I just got some Delonix seeds from Madagascar ... Need to keep these on the dry side.

Best of luck on your research and kindest regards.

ChickaDDD

Hi
If you ever get a chance look at a map of Madagascar
and compare altitudes and seasonal rainfall. No wonder a third of all life forms on the island are endemic.
Anyway the plant in question is grown by the thousands in India lol.
What i can't get them to do is recycle. They grow from a bulb,unusual for a water plant,,but the bulb is too weak to resume growth. If you ask people about them they toss them and get new ones when they go dormant. Obviously they need a dormant cycle but what kind and of what duration.??
I think one of my major problems is heat. Ccan't figure out how water could be cold with 90 degree air temps lol
Thanks for the reply gary

Hi Gary.

I know of Madagascar and the many variations within.

What's the plant you need for which you need information? I could ask my plant experts for their advice if they know the plant.

C with 3Ds :-)

hello
I can find tons of info on the internet much of it contradicts each other and invariably listed as "difficult"
i can grow them easily but sooner or later they will go dormant and usually die though I have had them regrow but weak and spindly.
I've tried using dormant cycles from other members of the family but no luck. I can't even figure out what triggers dormancy lol
i thought maybe the rivers go dry or much reduced flow
Kew Garden lists the entire family as "BOG"Other sources say "Submerged aquatic" They are unique to my knowledge as the leaves have only ribs no chloroplast between.
Anyway ,Please don't go to a lot of trouble but the plant is Aponogeton madagascarensis.
Thanks gary

Hi Gary.

Please this is no trouble at all. I'll send out a few e mails and see what happens. The worst will be replies like "HUH? Never heard of that one." LOL!

I know one person who had a plant designated as 'difficult' and what he did was to actually monitor the daily weather situation for the region from which the plant was native. If it did not rain for 3 months, his plant did not get watered for three months!

He has had his difficult plant grow and thrive for three years (at least).

I'll let you know if I can get any further information for you.

Kindest regards,

ChickaDDD

Hi
That's very kind of you. As I mentioned culture is a snap. The dormant period is the killer lol. Most, for the trade seem to be grown in Asia.
I would just like to find out the trick to the dormancy. Thanks very much gary

Have you tried going to www.aquahobby.com? I read a post from a man who grows them and he said that a couple months in moist peat is how to keep the dormant bulbs. Maybe you can email him (you just click on his name at the bottom of the post) and ask for more details.

Kathy

Kathy
Thank you very much Will check that out. In my own experience that method will work with Aponogeton ulvaceous
and boivanius. Will also work with crispus but not necessary. crispus will recycle on its own.
The madagascarensis did recycle but growth was weak and spindly. Without it they just plain died lol. I figure I'm just missing a small aspect .Maybe temp or duration??
gary

Hi Gary.

So far no luck but I didn't want you to think I forgot about you! I still have three e mails out and waiting for answers and tomorrow I have 4 other folks to contact.

C with 3 Ds and so far no answers either :-)

Hi
I happen to find a site that actually showed the plant being collected in the wild!!! Had a pic of a 2 foot speciman complete with flowers. Had tantalizing clues to the environment but no data lol They confused me even more with "Occurs in river A but not B occasionally in C. Please don't ask me to spell the names of these rivers lol The plant is endemic to Madagascar and is restricted to specific area"
"Flows from high altitude through limestone outcroppings,unique to this section of Madagascar"
Thought of E mailing but pix were from the early sixties lol
looks like a chart is going to be even more difficult.
The one I just got is sulking from transplant and my rain barrel is dry and of course it won't rain and it's WAY too hot, May not have to worry about dormancy. lol
Thank you very much for your help
gary

Hi Gary.

The replies I got back from my e mails for the most part gave no useful information. I got this reply this afternoon from someone who deals with the plant often. We stumpted her too. :-)

But, she was kind enough to send me the following information:

"...Most sources do not state the trigger for dormancy in Aponogeton madagascarensis. A few sources I have found stated that the tubers need to be stored in a semi-dry environment during dormancy. One site I found useful was

http://aquaria.net/articles/plants/aponogeton/dormancy/ .

This mentions using a mixture of potting soil and sand; I read in one forum that a woman had success with using peat
to store her plant

(http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_madagascar.php ) .

Unfortunately this is a natural cycle for this plant, and if it does not get enough nutrients it will disintegrate..."

I don't recall mine ever going dormant.

Hope this help you a bit.

C3D

hi
Thanks for all the trouble you went to. Interesting that this plant is produced by the thousands yet nobody seemms to know how lol
I've tried several methods including the ones mentioned.
I have had them actually start growing again but was weak
and spindly. Usually they don't wake up at all.
Works very well on A ulvaceous and boivianus also works on crispus but not necessary will resume growth anyway.
Going to continue my habitat research and see if i can create my own guidelines.
Have had them go as long as 3 years Doesn't seem to be temp or season but then you'd suspect that from the habitat.
Oh well, guess i can just replace when it happens.
Thank very much for the help.
gary