Today I dug 5 Moonlite clone and 4 Anaconda clone bulbs (the ones I had precut about a month early). 1 each were left uncut and are still in the ground--those are the ones I allowed to bloom for identification. As you may recall, I am short one Anaconda because it was received spoiled. These are all part of a study I'm doing on extensively scaled mother bulb recovery rates and the recovery rate of bulbs due to the affects of premature cutting of green stems. NOTE: All bulbs were planted 1 foot apart in the same row, alternating Anaconda/Moonlight/Anaconda, etc. These were planted around April 20th, 2013. Here then, are photos taken today.The first group of photos are Anacondas (dark purple) and the second is moonlite (pink rose)
Look familiar? It has basil rot just like the spoiled one I received in shipment. It did not grow any; it stayed the same size as received.
Spoiled one as received--I do have over 100 cloned bublets from it, though.
It's possible this bulb is the one in the upper left corner of the second photo
The other 3 bulbs had more than doubled in size, here are 2 of them. Note the strong anchor root system forming with quite a few stem bublets forming. Scales were somewhat loose and no offsets were forming. I'm wondering if there is a relationship between the growing of stem bublets and the looser scales. Had they not grown these bublets, would the scales have been tighter? Possibly.
Another had a single offset forming between the scales and a tiny single stem bublet.
Next, the row of 5 on the right are the Moonlite clone bulbs. None had any stem bublets and only one had formed an offset. These bulbs had nearly tripled in volume/size, all measuring from 9 and 1/2 to 10 and 1/4 inches in circumference or about 3 inches in diameter. Scales were nice and tight and the skin/surface was bright and smooth. In spite of being cut about 6 weeks before full seasonal maturity, these bulbs still achieved good size.
Other interesting observations:
2 stem bublets growing anchor roots down between scales (could not be pulled out). Photo is looking down from the top of bulb. Note also the rough surface of the scales. All the Anaconda bulbs showed that to some degree. Humm--what could cause that?
Note anchor root in center that healed and formed a more defused character
Comparing anchor root systems: Anaconda/Moonlite
Darn birds--turn my back, and--see what happens. Got to get those nylons on first thing in the morning. This pod has good seed, too.
Just by looking at the two cultivar clones, it initially appears that Moonlite is more garden hardy than Anaconda--at least in my garden , anyway. I'm running about 6.9 pH in this row. Maybe Anaconda actually needs a higher pH as some Europeans have said about Div. VI. Or maybe these are sick; the plants didn't show it though. From here they will be allowed to dry a day or two, then some will be scaled extensively, then dried for another day or two, then powdered with Captan and planted. Lots of extra scales if somebody wants them. However, I doubt the authenticity of both cultivars.
