Jim McKenney asked, So, I'm still in the Chilean Tropaeolum game, but obviously I need help and advice. > >Should these plants get a lot of water when in active growth? > >How necessary is cold to their culture? I've noticed that the cold >frame plants, which are in leaf throughout the winter in the years >when they sprout, quit as soon as the temperatures begin to rise. >A friend gave me a set of light tables: would I be likely to have >better results growing these plants inside in a cool basement under >lights? I keep the house thermostat set for 54 degrees F during the >winter, so that basement is very cool. > >Or might a richer medium and regular watering give good results in >the cold frame? Tropaeolum brachyceras is the most adaptable of the species Jim mentioned (T. azureum and T. hookerianum austropurpureum being the others. I grow all of these in raised beds in an unheated, covered but otherwise open Mediterranean house. In nature these plants live in a region that is very dry in summer, when they are dormant. I have mostly seen T. azureum in shady locations near the base of cliffs where there is probably more moisture; T. hookerianum among shrubs on dry hillsides; and T. brachyceras in the latter kind of site also. I do NOT recommend growing them under lights or in pots. The tubers pull down as far as they can in their planting site. They will benefit from moderate moisture from late fall through mid spring but should be left dry otherwise. The soils I have seen them in are poor and rocky, but often richer soils do not harm such plants. The main trick to getting good bloom on them is providing a scaffold of some kind for them to climb on. They can flower running flat on the ground but they really perform when they get up on a shrub or twiggy branch. Don't use a metal support because cold temperatures will then damage the stems. T. azureum can become quite tall; T. brachyceras a little shorter; and T. hookerianum is happy here with a branch about 40 cm high. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA