A Amorphophallus Titanum!!!!!!! Im so freakin excited! LOL
This message was edited Jul 29, 2010 8:39 PM
Guess what kind of plant I just acquired!?
just looked it up--very big! and very pretty! tell us more----------
Well Linda, the one I purchased is a year old established plant. I got a VERY good price on it and I fell in love with the plant after I saw the bloom of one at the Houston Museum of Natural Science recently. Lois was the plant that bloomed there and there was a massive following of her on twitter and in the Houston area. The plant itself can take a long time to bloom, (probably around 6 to 7 years) and the corm/tuber can weight around 75 pounds. They are very cool and this is deff going to be the pride of my plant collection! :)
lol - It's not a very fun guessing game if you tell us right away!!
Seriously, that's pretty cool. Show us a photo. (Do you have it in the house? One of the Lois stories I saw was that someone was supposed to have her wedding there, except there was a giant stinky flower.)
LOL sorry realbirdlady, I dont have it right now but it should be here wednesday! When it gets here I will deff take some pics!
Yes, I have heard that the scent is really terrible, but then, that happens with many other flowers.
They are interesting. Tell me, can you overwinter it outdoors in your zone as it gets so large or will it need GH conditions?
The corpse flower. Yuck. How far does the scent travel? Watch out for the necrophilac neighbors turning loose the big cadaver dogs searching for dead ones. Dr. Hook has spoken at great lenght on this subject.
I read the story on the one in Houston. The exhibit was closed that evening for the wedding that had been booked in advance. Who in their right mind would want to invite people to come to a wedding where they have to stand in a room with a corpse flower that smells like rotting flesh!!???? I believe I would have hired someone to redirect and had it in another part of the garden. I am sure the facility would have offered them a change of venue.
Brandon....sorry if I don't share in your excitement. But if that is your thing, then wtg!! I do realize the bloom opening was a very news worthy event of a very rare flower....just nothing I would care to smell.
This message was edited Jul 30, 2010 4:58 PM
Hey Sheila, here is the deal. The Butterfly center is where they had the wedding, its like a tropical HUGE greenhouse with Butterflies in it. Lois, the flower was in an area that was outside of the Butterfly center before you entered it. Only the Butterfly center was closed but the flower exhibit was still open.
Ok, that makes it a little more reasonable. The news article didn't explain it that well.
No prob, you know the media, if its good news or something positive, its a one liner. If its a murder, they will go into the hardest of facts and details. LOL
This is scary. A respirator is needed?
The strong smell can travel long distances in the Titan Arum's native tropical forests, ensuring that insects can pick up the scent in time to pollinate the flowers during their short bloom. Some neighbors might not like Titan's unpleasanr odor mixing with their grill's sizzling steaks sweet smell. Short term relations may become strained.
how often does i bloom?
Blooming differs from plant to plant. The other one named "Perry" that bloomed the same time as Lois bloomed in 2007. They do not bloom a lot but when they do its really exciting! I have to laugh at some of yalls responses, and this is exactly why I love this plant. I rarely shop for plants at Lowes or Home Depot. ;)
You might be interested in reading this thread http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1084960/ also about this type of plant.
If you like odiferous plants another one to shop for is any of the Stapelias. They have unusual star shaped blooms that attract bugs for pollination by smelling raunchy also. Same decaying meat fragrance.
Yep podster, actually have one. The cool thing is though, I didnt buy it, it was on the back porch when I moved into the house already!!! I was pretty excited.
Which one?
You might like to take a look at the botanic garden where I volunteer. We've been having a couple of blooms a year lately. The two this year were named Maladora and Lil Stinker. Lil Stinker, which just bloomed yesterday, was only 34" tall. We've had some that were almost 6' tall, but our average bloom is about 55". Take a look here: http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/root_images/whats_happening/Titan%20Arum%202010/Corpse_Flower.html
How do you keep them growing during the winter season?
faden, I just got my A. titanum baby from Dr. Licht, Director of Horticulture at UC - Berkley, 3 days ago. A really nice 3", 1/2 pound tuber just coming out of dormancy. Really enjoyed speaking with him. Tell him I said "HI" next time you see him. I've attached a picture of the tuber I got.
Tater, that's one the difficulties of growing A. titanum. Most amorphs growth & dormancy cycles coincide with the warm & cold seasons and go dormant when the weather cools down. Titanum differs in that it goes dormant when it feels the need to. Young tubers actively growing during the winter can be maintained indoors with adequate warmth, light and humidity provided. But when it gets big and decides to grow through winter a tall greenhouse is needed.
Since you must have two blooming to pollinate them (female flowers close before the male flowers release their pollen) maybe one day Brandon & I can hand pollinate a bloom. Properly handled, pollen can be stored for up to one year. That could be a long time from now though. First bloom is, at a minimum, on a 6 year old tuber. Could be much longer. Brandon's tuber is one year old and mine is two. With their first bloom the tuber is usually too small to provide enough energy to developing fruit. It can starve the tuber to death.
good to know those plants are in good hands!
it looks like it takes time, love and dedication to keep up with their growth--how much fun it must be to havecuh a rare and unusual plant-----does it scare you at all to have that responsibility?
Podster, the OTHER corpse flower that Brandon has is Stapelia gigantea. It was my mother's and when Brandon & Megan moved into the house they inherited it. Even though its stink is very strong it can be fun (in a mean sort of way). :D On a calm day the scent doesn't spread very far. To the unsuspecting visitor, tell them how good it smells. They'll stick their nose right in and take a big whiff. The reaction is priceless! Mean, yeah, but they'll get over it. :)
Linda, It's not scary but it does require a lot of education of titanum. We're fortunate in that we have been in contact with some of the best experts in the world of this species. I've had an interest in A. titanum after learning about it as a kid about 45 years ago. For many years acquiring one was an impossible dream. Now, with more universities and gardens growing it, they're still rare in the plant collecting world but can be found if one searches hard enough.
With 25+ years of horticulture under my belt education is still a never ending process. Nothing short of learning as much as you can about a genus BEFORE taking the leap suffices. Some are very easy. Others require a lot of help in learning. Still, this does not guarantee absolute success. Local growing conditions can alter some of the suggested care and adjustments may be needed before losing the plant. Sometimes you have to just bite the bullet and give it a try. Many years ago I planted one of the first Queen palms in SE Texas. It was never grown because it was believed that they wouldn't survive our winters. Twenty-five years later they're as common as dirt here.
Amorphophallus A. Prainii
Does anyone know where I can find one of these. I have a friend that has been looking for one for awhile?
Sorry I can't help, taters. I did some searching and the only source I could find commercially is in New Zealand! If he/she is really serious about finding A. prainii I suggest joining the International Aroid Society (www.aroid.org). Membership is $25/yr. This is a very good way of putting one in touch with lots of other collectors.
Thanks for the help!
You can try asking on the Aroids forum. Someone there may know.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/aroids/all/
I'll tell Paul you said hello, Steve! He's a wonderful person and a great director of the Garden. He's the only director we've had in the last 20-30 years who puts the Garden's interests first. The previous ones, for the most part, only wanted the position so they could add it to their curriculum vitae.
Good-looking tuber too, but that's what I'd expect from the Garden.
I'm glad to hear that Paul ACTUALLY has in interest in the plants & gardens and not just being an administrator. Does seem to be a great guy. The tuber actually exceeded my expectations. She's a beaut!
so what is your next search for?
Yes, he does. He's definitely a hands-on administrator. He came on board officially July 1, 2003, but was already there a lot when I started volunteering in March of that year. By the time he was "official" he already knew what he needed to do to make things better, and he didn't waste any time.
He also loves growing plants from seed (especially bulbs), so we see a lot of his plants in our propagation area once they're past the seedling stage.
Another search? Umm? I don't know but whatever it is it better not take another 45 years. I'll never see it! :D
at one time that prehistoric fern was expensive and sought after but now it seems more common--did you get that one?