Here are my konjacs that have just started growing. I think they are on Aussie time... LOL
Me and my 13 lb. Konjac in bloom. Taken today...
it sure has been an odd yr gardening..
my other tropicals just didnt take off like usual..
?? did you have a wet summer there tommy?? cooler temps??
we were $((&^%$))#$ HOT here..and dry.. we had a really nice rain last friday..
lawn sure appreciated it..
northern ut cities are asking citizens to back off 50% on watering.. its been dry here
i still think im not fertilizing my konjac like they need
?? tommy.. once the konjac are in leaf.. whats your fertilizing routine..what levels
of fertilizer..etc...???
i fertilize everytime i water..which this summer has been about every 3 days.. and i almost
always fertilize with that watering.. but with a slightly weaker solution..
they look great..i do this with all my plants..and i dont think its the best.. im not starving them..
but i think like my EE's.. need much more.. maybe the amorphs too..
???
thanks..
joyce.. way to go on your additions !!!!
Spring started off with really cool temps., I think that was the slow down reason.
I feed sporadically when I think of it. I should probably feed them more than I do.
Peter's classic 20-20-20 at the full rate. Sometimes, 1/4 rate at every watering.
Here's my biggest right now.
And some of the babies:
Great pictures! Those are alot of nice babies. What are the other things in the photo?
I planted in that slow release fertilizer potting soil, but probably should fertlize some during the growing season. I don't know how well that soil actually works.
super pics tommy!!
im hoping we get a nice lonnnnggggg late summer..so at least the konjac will be ok
outside..
im not planning much later than early/mid sept and bring the titanums in..
Mine are in pots and the big guy is already in the solar room because of the leaning problem and the winds....I am getting things ready to come in because this has been an odd summer.
The other plants with those babies are Dendrobium orchids. I've had them about 5 years now. Thanks for the comments!
Here is my big guy I purchased. He stands in the pot close to 5ft. I have not measured him alone.
Looked up the orchid, those are beautiful .
joyce..very nice.. your konjac looks like a very happy
camper..:)
i have another friend lives in st louis..he says summer there hasnt
been very good.. very cool nites.. already in low 50sF
nite lows so far here have been couple mid 60sF.. lately have moved
up into high 60s/low 70sF
i sure would love it to stay this way for at least couple more weeks..
were all at the mercy of mother nature though..
I'm a bit annoyed with how the low temps have hung on here. This August has had the coldest average minimum for 71 years. Days have been warm though. But it's caused by all the very dry air hanging around here. Dry air heats quickly and chills quickly. Not the way Amorphs like it. We still 'officially' have 2 weeks of winter left.
We had snow in May! I had already mowed once and enough snow to turn all the grass white. I cant find the pic right now, that was the strangest thing I have seen, since I left Colorado!
i follow NOAA climate prediction site.. they have been accurate in "general"
predictions of "patterns" of region weather..
i see in the news tonite..a leak from the UN that they have a report that will now
be released (because of the leak) a study they have done on ocean levels..
if carbon emissions stay at current levels and continue to increase at current levels..
the oceans will be 3 ft (91 cm) higher by 2100..
for me it begs the question.. most of these "studies" have usually proven wrong..on the
short side..
for whatever reason/s global weather is changing..
more extremes,colder,hotter,wetter,drier..
as a gardener.. we have to just adjust to what mother nature throws out at us..
i have cut back my watering..my lawns arent as nice and green..but ..they are ok..
i mulched my vegy garden heavy this yr.. im glad i did. its been so bone dry here
anyways.. i go on.. lol
hope spring and warmer temps show up soon for ya tropic.. especially nite temps..
This is our second year of drought. We are on a well, so no watering of grass at all. I water potted plants and that is about it. I lost about 15 hosta's from last year to this from lack of water. The veg garden is kind of on it's own also.
I think climate change is just what it says, bigger changes in weather than what has been normal. I was looking at old pics of the gardens for years back and nothing looks like what it does now, we have been here about 25 years.
i have a friend who gardens big time.. over 1000 tomatoes,potatoes,squash,melons,
pumpkins..etc. she sells at farmers market ..this has been the toughest yr for her in..
im not sure how long shes gardened.. over 20yrs..
she irrigates via a well.. last yr the well dried out late july..she watered via "city water"
had a bill that was nuts!!!
i gotta call her and ask how the water is this yr..were drier this yr than last..so im guessing
shes out of well water.. communitites are putting restrictions on water this yr..
i know many gardeners/farmers/ranchers in texas..oklahoma suffered badly last yr..
its one thing when we have to let plants die just cause water restrictions..another when its your
livelihood...
I'm on bore water, my bore goes down 45 metres but the pump is about 40 metres down. Standing water is supposed to be 6 metres (that is water level below the ground surface when the pump's not operating. As long as I have electricity there's no water restrictions (but plenty of high electricity bills). Although we have a half year of flooding rains, we then have a hot very dry winter. Today got up to 38C, still 2 weeks of winter to go.
They said with climate change we'd get more rain. But that's on average. It doesn't mean we won't get high or low annual totals. That's the thing with climate change, there'll be more extremes in both directions, but overall averages will be up.
Very difficult when you're on the land though. Further south went through decades of drought. That was followed by heavy floods. The cattle and sheep weakened by the drought died when they got bogged in the flood waters and mud. Wheat sown followed by heavy rain grows well but when the rain doesn't stop at the right time it rots. It's never easy.
Yeap when you are left up to Mom Nature anything can happen for sure. Our tiny bit of saving grace (except for driving in it) our winters have been wetter (snow) otherwise we would be in horrible condition.
Just south of where I live by a small 40 miles away the weather has been much wetter and if you go another 50 miles past that it has been flooding. Oklahoma which is usually hot and dry and been very wet this year, along with more EF5 tornados. Oklahoma has always had it's share of tornado's but not usually such high ones.
The days of irrigation maybe soon become a thing of the past.
Found my snow day in May....rofl. All the trees are leafed out, grass is green and we had been mowing 2 days before that... very strange. It is not foggy in the distance but snow. Under the trees and closest to the house it was still to warm so the snow melted.
i saw on some tv program huge lake that fills in when floods happen in central
australia..lake eyre..
my gooly.. its monsterous..and somehow birds know when the lake forms..they are
more in tune to the weather than we are..
i hope to get another 3+ weeks of outside weather for my titanums.. we'll see..
tropic..do you get over to that one nursery..run by a dr.. on east coast of australia..
has great selection of aroids..tropicals..???
for me..i depend on few enthusiasts in germany..and ebay..for my fix of amorphs..
and ive still not given up on getting a musa ingens.. :) lol
VERY nice plant Joyce! I have an aunt Joyce! LOL!
Well I am an Aunt Joyce....LOL
well wont be long before temps drop and we get to see how
we did this summer growing our konjacs..
i was better at my fertilizing this season.. anxious to see how the
corms did..
its truely like xmas..LOL :)
of course the big ones are cool to see if they got HUGE..
i had alot.. probably almost 100 small konjac "fingers" offsets from my
corms ..i stored them over last winter..potted up.. almost all of them put
up vegetative growth..
i think im most anxious to see what they did.
i got some ideas for next yr in my space i keep them
i put them in spot that gets sun up to about noonish.. then dappled sun rest
of the day..they seemed to like it there..
i had some plastic wire shelving i put down..then the pots ontop of that
only ..weight from pots sort of pushed the shelves down..
i want to keep the pots off the ground..better drainage...
i think i'll hit the discount stores and see what i can find ..
good project for the winter...
:)
My small paeoniifolius which started mid winter is still going, it's the only one. The prainii is running full strength as usual in winter. Still only producing leaves so wondering when it's going to decide to flower. The symonianus are showing a slight growing tip so it won't be too long before they start. The 2 smaller titanums are still growing, although the leaves on the larger of the 2 is looking less green than the other. The large titanum is still dormant but I've set a sprinkler on it to keep the moisture up. The albispathus, bulbifer and paeoniifolius are all in soil, so can't see if they're doing anything. The konjac out of soil have started growth, but those that were left in soil still aren't showing.
Dave, I've been to the Dr's place in Cairns, it's an aroidologists paradise. Good luck with the Musa ingens. How many storeys high did you say you were building that greenhouse? I'm going to be away for a month shortly. I probably should have set up web cams in the garden to check in.
be safe tropic!!
i know id love the cairns nursery..i went to there website.. fantastic!!
i probably wouldnt want to leave..LOL
what ever do u mean..how tall is the greenhouse going to be??
?? do musa ingens get tall??? LOL
not givin up though.. im always up for a challenge..
take care...
well the temps are dropping at nite now.. low 60s F..im sure we'll be getting
some 50sF soon..
none of my konjac,and amoph relatives are showing to much stress..
weve had a TON of rain last week or so.. yea..free water!!!!
i'll probably fertilize once more..before the leaves die..and time to uppot..
and see what they did..
just like Xmas !!! :) lol
im especially anixous to see how my biggest konjac did..
i know theres a TON of roots everywhere..
i was better in my fertilizing routine this season.. also..i used a
biological/companion fungicide too.. ??? maybe it helped..
also.. anxious to see how all those baby konjac corms i planted up
did.. in a couple yrs..i could have one major stinky forest.. LOL
Yeap our temps are dropping as well. Big Boy I have already brought indoors, so he is in the solar room just sitting around, looking good. The little guys I still have outdoors in a pot but like you they are not showing any stress, but I will probably move them in this week along with some other tropicals.
Post some pics of your stinky forest, would love to see them this close to the forest. Hope you don't have neighbors close or they might call the police on you if they go to stinking too much wondering what you are doing at your house.....rofl.
I'm still away from home but have been checking our weather on the internet. Average maximum for September so far is 36C. Got our first 38 back in mid August. But unfortunately no rain. Won't be back until end of the month. Where I am now is cold wet and windy with a minimum of 6C this morning. My place minimum was 21C. Probably have a forest of Amorphs emerging when I get back to welcome me home, hopefully.
hope all your amorphs are doing well in your absence tropic..
i got neighbour kid to help me haul rest of titanums in..
geesh.. "mr slow" largest titanum now.. FINALLY... sure was
heavy.. im sure 250+lbs..pot,soil,amorph..
got up the steps..and bottom broke out..LOL.. its in 1 piece..so its
ok..but..geeshhh..
everything fit.. this yr.. next yr.. if i dont kill them.. nope.. :) LOL
some of my konjac leaves show signs of dying.. havent had anything
close to frost.. anxious to see how big the corms got..and how many
side corms were formed..
im only using 2 "fabric pots" so far.. titanums are in them.. and so far..
i like them..
i know they'll only last maybe 3 yrs.. but..the plastic ones dont fair much
better than that.. exposure to sun,rain.. the big ones especially..
i especially like the aeration they provide..
still probably to soon to make them "my pots"..LOL..but i like them
so far..
im hoping to see some "rare" species show up on ebay.. id like to
expand what im growing..
theres one guy ..i think in the USA south..that grows alot of species..and
puts new season corms up on ebay..
Would love to see pics. Mine are still green and doing good but I brought them in a couple of weeks ago but mine came up really late so maybe they will grow longer into the autumn.
sigh..fall is here.. sigh..LOL
we got snow in the mts the other day..rain in valleys..and
temps sure dropped.. sigh..
nites are 40sF i dont think we hit any 30sF here..im sure in northern
utah they did.. days..mid 50sF
the konjac,and relatives look good.. some of the konjac look alittle
frost bit on leaf tips.. they probably got early morning cold. just before
the sun comes out..
it'll be fun to see how they did this growing season..
?? tommy.. have u all had frost where youre at in NY???
Thank goodness we have not have frost temps yet. I am still dragging in tropicals indoors. I need a greenhouse and move somewhere warmer....
We are finally getting rain after terrible drought again for the second year.
we had a hot dry summer here too happ.. up until about a
month ago.. then weve had alot of rain.. my lawn just flipped to
solid green after july/aug with hot dry weather..
i just wouldnt water like everyone else did.. we live in a desert..seems
a waste to use so much water on just the lawn.. now.. my tropicals..:)
thats a different matter..LOL.. but didnt use near the water on them i would have
on the lawns..
im gonna need a tall greenhouse next fall for sure.. my biggest titanums wont fit
in the house next yr.. looks like a project to work on over the winter..:)
Same here don't water grass at all but I am on a well. I water the tropicals or anything in a pot and the vegetable garden and that is it. We weren't so terrible hot this year just no rain at all. Getting some now but still have not made up for last year and now this year added to it.
Yeah my next project is a greenhouse built onto the front of my garden room. It will not have a north 'glass' wall because here there is no reason for it except to use energy.
well weve had our 1st hard frost now..
gotta get everything out of the gardens now..
weve had rain/snow..wanna wait for it to dry a bit..then
start emptying pots and see how my amorphs did...
yea.. christmas..:) lol
hope u all will post pics when u start seeing how your
konjacs..other did this growing season..
what may have helped corms get big,,didnt work..
same here..
Brought mine in and they are still growing nicely. No frost yet, down in the 40's but I am ready for when it does.
Just dug out my biggest, it didn't seem to grow any bigger. All my small corms are out and dry and in the house. I have one more 5-6 incher to dig out, our first frost is usually the middle of October. I can't believe the season is over already....sniff......
me too tommy.. sigh.. its what we get for living in north usa..
but we do have wonderful autumns..:)
im sure u do too..
ive unpotted several konjac, relatives..
i planted all the small side corms larger corms put off last yr..
they formed nice 1-2 " corms..YEA..
i havent unpotted largest konjac's yet.. i have them in a sort of
frost protected area..outside.. im waiting for the petiole to start to
wilt..not yet..so..
tons of roots..and root hairs.. so im encouraged by that..
i like the potting mix i used this last growing season..
i also used a biofungicide this yr on regular watering..
i'll get pics on soon..
Ok what potting soil did you use, that you liked?
Mine are not wilting yet, the big one seems to be a little drooper but a long ways to go. My little pot is still going strong but it was really late starting.
Does anyone know can you mail a small one while they still have a leaf ?
i have wondered if a longggger growing season (extended in greenhouse,warm shelter)
would allow the konjac corms to put on more size..?? thoughts??
ive read,reread posts here on potting mix's best pot drainage,etc..much thanks to
talpa "al" for his expert writtings on this !!!
i made my own version of 5:1:1 mix.. i use 70% small pine bark fines, 30% pumice
i add slow release fertilizers, fish bone meal, zeolite,oyster shell powder..
i am very pleased with this yrs roots on my amorphs !!!
my larger konjac were actually pushing out the bottoms and sides of the pots..
i used pots with 6"+ room on all sides of corms.. the side corms,roots filled up many
of the pots.. i wondered why the potting mix was heaving up over sides of some of the
pots..
happygarden..i would think how big the leaf is on the corm..and how well u can pack it..
if its not a "rare" amorph i guess it wouldnt matter to much..
?? you must have a friend that wants to start growing them.. they are very
interesting, fun to grow and observe plants !!!
Yes, she wanted one but wasn't sure if I should wait until it lost the leaf, but if I do that the problem would arise about the temps. No it is not rare and it is not large. I would guess the leaf is about 10 inches tall or so.
I will try doing my own soil next go around, I have just used potting soil but careful about watering and since we have been in a drought rain has not been a problem. I water only around the edge cause I don't want water sitting on top of the korum. My downfall is I am horrible about fertilizing.....I should do alot more, I rationalize it by saying that I live in the middle of farm country and there is so much fertilizer in my pond I shouldn't need to fertlize. Sadly parts of that is true.