Hey y'all, I have a few tender voodoo lilies that have not gone dormant yet. The temps here are dropping and will be into the 30's at night soon. Can I cut them back, put them in a dark place for the winter? One has a bit of leaf damage from the cooling temps anyway. And it's too smelly to bring in the main room. Thanks for any help.
Stinkies and dormancy- need help
Do you know which species you have? It's usually the flowers that have the smell, not the leaves. Normally the nutrients are absorbed from the leaves into the tuber for the following years plant. By cutting the leaf off prematurely you also cut off the last bit of plant nutrient. I'd put something around the plant leaving the leaf exposed and wait until the leaf dies off naturally.
Thanks bunches. This soil in the pot is what stinks. I didn't want to disturb the tuber by re-potting. BTW, it's an elephant yam.
I've heard Amorphophallus paeoniifolius called "elephant yam" or "elephant foot yam". This is a close up photo of the stem on mine. As long as you can prevent the freezing cold getting to the tuber it should be okay. And no watering either. When the leaf had dried off them you can store the tuber in the normal way.The longer the plant has the leaf the better the plant will be the following year. Leaves taken off earlier can result in a smaller tuber and smaller plant.
I live in TN and I'm in the same situation as you right now with the weather. The ones I can't fit in the greenhouse I dig, bang the dirt off,rinse them. Then I just let them dry leaf stalk,roots and all and eventually it forces it to go dormant. So then you can pull the leaf stalk off and cut the roots back after they dry up. In fact some times this is a good thing, some of the madagascar species (and others) are prone to rot so its better to dig it earlier when the leaf yellows to avoid rotting. But I'd let them go as long as you can thats always best. If your soil is smelly its probly too wet, I would dig it to make sure your bulb is okay. This works for me :o)
This message was edited Oct 27, 2009 12:20 AM
Thanks y'all. I love my stinky pals and would hate to not do things properly. We've had lots of rain here, so perhaps I should go dig them up.
And yes tropicb, your pic is the one I have, one of my favorites. That is till I see another. lol
Thanks again, youv'e both been so helpful. :)
Have you ever left them in the ground? Do you dig them up every year and re-plant?
I have VooDoo lilies and I have one leaf that is still pretty and Green.
I took this early in the week. It should be huge next year. But I just leave it in the ground.
but it is not the same Variety as your plant is. I am also in a different temperature zone too.
Plants are interesting, aren't they???
@ridesredmule, I leave the hardy ones in-ground and bring in the rest. Indoors here looks like a jungle. lol But I wouldn't have it any other way. And yes plants are interesting, fascinating in fact. I never get tired of what I see, always some new discovery or hybrid.
I am really getting worse since I have retired.
they give me something to do. I know about your jungle cause
I have one too and I love it.
Charleen