This was a dated shot beyond the event. I should have taken one at the time it happened. The flesh of the roots was a fresh cut topping the rosette. The roots where untouched. I know about grubs and this was not. No evidence found pulled and inspected all the victims to find an explanation. No grubs found. This loss was confined to blocks. Few if any pups were left on the stem. Sometimes the cut was higher leaving some of the rosette. The dried leaves in the picture. This happened without any snow cover. Within a couple of days of a previous inspection. All was normal then. This was a one time event that happened after growing semps in the open for decades, it has never repeated. Mentioned it because I thought someone else working with them might have had it happen and had some explanation or more evidence.
I was encouraged to see blocks being used. This was specific to the loss parameters on these semps. Had other species in blocks untouched as well. Very selective occurrence. They were this size at a minimum, some more advanced in the pups in the attached pic.
Included a shot of my humus media. The raw media was inoculated with a consortium of bacteria and fungus representing multiple species. They contributed to the composting rate, but also provided the nutrient network community to support the plants needs. Pests, such as grubs were compromised on exposure to the media and transformed by the consortium community to the benefit of themselves and the plants. The plants were protected and fed by the partnership. This was a mini-extension of a product I developed initially in 89 to transform chemically farmed fields to organic specifications in one growing season. Applied fields produced a record harvest after applications. Brick values were very high. The media recipes are scalable so container plantings can benefit too.
Looking forward to any inputs from growers of semps, especially with a similar circumstance.
