You don't have a problem collecting amorphophallus, you seem to be doing that quite easily. What you do have a problem with is knowing when to stop, LOL. I can see them placing a court order on you soon to go into rehab.
whos going to grow amorph titanum this year?
I won't mind buying a few titanum seed even but 40 dollars for a seed not going to happen
lol tropic..yea.. i think when the mail gal asks how many tropical plant i have..
mmm maybe i do have a problem.. :)
do they have amorphophallus in rehab??? :)
i am going to try leaf cuttings soon.. one titanum is leafing out nice
now.. other has leaves just emerging..
well "mr slow" titanum is finally gettin the go on !!
snore.. :) im learning..these plants come out of dormancy when they
want.. and they put on the growth ..when they are good and ready..
of course..they need our loving care to give them what they need to
do well...
as of today.."mr slow" is 47 inches (119 cm) tall. above the pot..
it will probably put on another 6+ inches of height before the leaves
unfurl..and spread out..and drop some..
the outdoor "tropical" amorphs probably have maybe another
3 weeks of outdoor living..before nite temps get into low 60sF
and i dont think they will like that..
??? u all think so too????
It's been pretty fascinating reading all of your posts. Sort of on a whim I purchased a 4# A. titanum on Ebay recently, as well as several A. konjac. I'm still waiting for them to arrive. Once I'd actually paid for them I realized that I knew next to nothing about growing them. LOL.
I'm wondering if an orchid mix would be suitable for the amorphophalli as they appear to require good drainage. Also curious if soil sterilization is as important as I have read on certain sites.
As I'm here in southern Florida, I'm wondering if it is "safe" to plant them in the ground or if I'd be better advised to pot them. My gut is telling me that the konjacs may be fine in the ground, but that I should perhaps raise the titanum in a pot.
Any advice you guys can give this budding plant nut would be appreciated. I have a large yard and have been going pretty hog wild collecting plants that I acquire at the Fairchild Botanical Garden and elsewhere. A pricey habit, but a fascinating (and often rewarding) one.
Thanks for reading.
gjames..
these facinating amorphs are facinating plants.. :)
this is just my 3rd season..so i consider myself a "newbie" ..:)
you are fortunate to live so south ..and southern florida too..
i would think konjac would be fine planting in ground where you're at..
im thinking the soil where u r at is pretty compact clay/coral..??
if so..u will need to dig in some ammendment to make sure for good drainage
around the corm ..so they dont sit in to much water..
titanum. even those living in "tropical" areas.. darwin australia.. tropic is there..
plant there titanums in pots..
even though where youre at.."subtropical".. you do have some chilly weather..off and on..
i know lari ann gardiner..in miami area..she puts here tender alocasias under a "greenhouse'
for extra protection from those rare..but happening chilly nites/early mornings..
seems many people use various potting mix for titanum..
winniorchids/tindara.. they use commercial mix..and they are very successful growing titanums
i am sold ..for my purposes.. using 80% pine bark.. 20% pumice.. with added nutrients..
all my amorphs are doing great in that mix.. i do water more often..but no issues with drainage..
and the plants are getting the needed nutrients for vegetative growth..
hope you take pics..and post them...theres so much to learn from each other..
good luck !!!!!
tropicalnut, thanks for your response. I received my A. konjacs today. Will likely find a spot for them in the garden tomorrow. Once the A. titanium arrives I'll decide what size pot it should have. I really am looking forward to this (with fingers crossed).
summer is starting to wind down here..
sigh..means all those "tropical" amorphs get to come inside..
oh boy.LOL
"mr slow" titanum has now surpassed the faster growing one now..
"mr slow" is 87 inches (220 cm) tall ..above the pot..
the petiole girth isnt as big in diameter as other larger titanum..but i noticed
a fair amount of the girth growth with other titanum came after the plant achieved
its full height..??? dont know if thats significant..
we had a MONSTER storm here last sat.. 2 tornadoes, very high winds..some
hurricane like rain.. not typical utah weather..any time of yr..
wind actually blew over the 2nd largest titanum.. i bet that babi weighs over 200#
plant is fine.. sigh..:)
made me think of your weather tropic..u get down under..when you get those monster
tropical storms.. only on a much smaller scale..of course..
still have ceiling room for the titanums..this yr.. LOL
of course the 87 in tall one..will loose some of that height in next couple weeks..when
leaves fill out and spread..
i did take a small peak at the roots of titanum that blew over.. a TON of roots..everywhere
YEA !!! that has to be a good sign..
im liking this new potting mix im using ..more and more..
also..i think using a biological fungicide , humic/fulvic acid,and kelp powder
have helped too..
thanks to tropic for putting me on to using a fungicide.. hopefully that will prevent any
rot in the corms...
i'll get a pic of "mr slow" next couple days..
well heres couple pics of "mr slow" ..lol
certainly came alive..fast..
temps here are dipping into mid/low 60sF so..the tropical
amorphs will be comming in.. probably this week..
oh boy.. cant wait..LOL
were solid in winter here now..sigh.. :( but my titanums are doing good..
one ..i would call a small/medium corm..5 # has put up a monster petiole..
??? its the tallest so far..the unfurled leaves hit the ceiling and now are just
starting to unfurl.. if it had the ceiling height room..it would have been over
9ft tall..it'll be over 8ft when it finishes out spreading out..???its only a 5 # corm???
hey to all of u...??? how long do u find the duration of vegetative growth?? not for
small corms..but 7+# corms??? i have one the 12# corm that is going on 8 months..
the leaves got beat up from a late summer storm..we had powerful winds..actually
topped the pot over ..didnt seem to hurt any growth though..leaves did get a
bit shredded..but..its going good.. was thinking it might start dormancy early spring
2014..putting it just under a yr growth.. ??? thoughts???
i know these plants beat to there own drummer.. which i find interesting..im the
one that has to adjust..:) LOL
ive been giving the full stage vegy growth plants a good dose of P every other
fertilizing..otherwise i give 20:20:20 fertilizer..along with fungicide,kelp,amino acids.
hope alls well with u alls plants....
wow..its been over a month and no one posting on our obsession..titanums..
lol ;)
how are all u all's titanums doing???
i have 1 larger one..i think its the 12# starting its dormancy.. petiole is starting
to shrink..leaves are ok..but some drying up..
other large ones going strong..
1 of the small corms..2" diameter.. is comming out of dormancy..i checked before
christmas.. has a nice white shoot potting up.. YEA !!
small hewetti around 2" diameter..is still dormant.. larger hewettii corm in growth now..
(was around 5 " diameter) is starting to look like waining..hopefully just starting dormancy.. its
been in vegetative growth since may 2013..
i backed off watering some since all plants are in house now.. potting mix is on slightly drier
side..hopefully hasnt adversely harmed corm/roots.. plants look great..so..???
best wishes into new year to all !!!!!
wow..new year..and i cant believe jan is almost over.. glad though !!!!!!!!!!
bring on the warmer weather!!!!!! :)
well the one titanum petiole remains finally sluffed off.. so i got to open my
christmas present !! :)
just a kid arent i..:)
heres a couple pics..
i cant remember what size this corm was originally.. i thought it was the
17# one..but its not.. im thinking it was around 7#..but i have 9 titanums now.and
i didnt mark anything down.. im a BAD scientist!!!
one thing i was amazed by are the massive roots on the corm..
?? is this typical of a corm going out of growth into dormancy??
i dusted the corm with cinnamon (just in case of any fungal growths..)
i'll pot it up again this weekend.. im keeping it semi moist in moisted peat moss.
i am going to put it in a larger pot.. i was going to put in in a 80 gal pot i ordered..but
i think im overkilling..and would kill my back..LOL so its going in a 45 gal pot..
its 31" wide..so hopefully good room for root growth..and "hopefully" corm growth!!!
this corm looks bigger than it really is..the roots are so massive.. the corm
is just under 9 inches wide..
Wow!!!
How do you get motivated with this weather . We are covered with snow!!
Belle
i bet u know the answer to that belle...:)
we all find our ways to get gardening..even if the weather isnt cooperating..
lol weve had a couple rainy/wet snow days .. welcome the moisture for sure..
its been a pretty dry winter here..we had snow in nov..then nothin..
i also have a hewettii to unpot soon..the petiole has slumped over now..
hope it put on some size!!! :)
it just like christmas..get to see how the plant did..or how well i grew it..
potted up the hewettii, will get the titanum potted today or tomorrow..
interestingly.. my largest titanum corm (last yr) and potted up 1st..somewhere
early may..is going strong..and showing no sign of wanting to go into dormancy..
whew..i didnt kill it..sigh..
im anxious to see how big the corm is..i do think i wont get the kind of corm growth
results that those of you that grow titanum in greenhouse..or tropical climates..
i do hope that i can keep these wonderful plants going..and MAYBE!!! get some to
bloom one day !!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
i know theres been discussion on what size titanum corms need to be to flower..
ive read (real examples..not just talk) of titanums flowering as small as 30#..and then
needing to be much larger... again.it will be interesting to see how big my largest corms
got this last grow season..
??? how are all others titanums doing?????
titanum in last pic..is now sending up a petiole..
seems fast to me..???
largest titanums.. 1 is slowwwwwlllllyyyyy going dormant..LOL
i think i should be glad.. :) i am anxious to see the corm..
other large titanum.. going like crazy.. no leaf drying or any signs of
wanting to rest..
3 of the other titanums..that went dormant late last fall (odd seems to me??)
and just sitting there.. corms are nice and firm.. small white petiole showing..
but no significant growth of petiole for months..
these plants truely do grow to the beat of there own drummer..
surely makes them interesting.. :)
??? hows everyone elses doing??????
My largest is still dormant, about 6 months so far, usually starts again about September. One of the smaller ones went dormant a couple of months back, first time since it was a seed. It had been going constantly with sometimes 2 or 3 petioles at the same time. The other small one is still going, probably not too long before it goes into extended dormancy. Seems as they get older they need more sleep (long "nanny naps"?).
The older leaf cutting finally withered without producing any sort of tuber, the younger leaf cutting is still going but slightly yellowed. Seeing it's been going about 3 months I'm more confident it'll eventually produce a tuber. Here's hoping anyway.
if anyone is interested..on ebay..theres a 35# corm up for sale..
out of calif.. if i was out there..maybe..sigh..im hooked..LOL
actually..im at 11 titanums..i think im good..with that species..:)
just got 2 gigas out of germany..both are leafing..
hope to get a couple more gigas..and same with descus-silvae.. that one
is still eluding me.. hopefully this yr....
titanum in previous pic.is sending up petiole.. white is about an inch tall now..
it sure didnt stay dormant long..
tropic.. with multiple petioles on 1 corm.. do u think it helps build the corm more..
than with just 1 petiole???
i know that is more common on smaller corms.. not sure ive seen multiple petioles on
larger (30#+) corms.. i know lou ..winniorchids..(new hampshire) gets multiple flowers
on same corm.. thats very cool !!!!!!
i also see at muttart conservatory.they have time lapse video of there biggie that
bloomed last yr..its online now.. i think theres was around 220# when they planted it
summer 2013..
I found that the plants with the multiple petioles didn't really seem to get that much bigger real fast. It surprised me. But I've been very slack with fertilising as well, so maybe that was a big part of the equation.
Only have one of the small ones active now. Before this current leaf it had a short dormancy of about a month or so. The other small one went dormant for the first time a couple of months back, and the large one is still dormant, from about last November or so.
Checked the pots a while back. Heavy rain had been getting into the pots more than I'd thought. When I dug down the soil was all soggy. Dug out the tuber and checked it, no sign of any rot. So I left it out to dry a bit. Put some more drier material in the pot to absorb some of the moisture plus some slow release fertiliser.
The leaf cutting is still going, though a definite yellow shade of green. But it's still there so it should be producing some sort of a tuber. I won't try it again during the dry season, but next wet I'll do a lot more.
No sign of growth on the larger tuber. The smaller (dormant) one has a short sprout so maybe it'll be coming out of dormancy soon. I've got a better cover over the pots but rains have pretty well ended. There's a cyclone brewing up off the north coast which could bring us a lot of rain but it's increasingly looking less likely. So looks like a long dry season, up to October.
ive been ready tropic about the drought in queensland.. i know thats to the
east of you.. ?? one of the worst droughts ever i guess?? :(
weather has been very irratic all over the globe..
i have some amorph enthusiasts in germany,holland.. they mostly grow there
amorphs inside of course.. but N. europe has had some very extreme weather..
cold..and ALOT of rain/snow.. then siberia had one of its warmest winters ever..
?? go figure..
here in utah..central.. weve had a moderately dry winter.. still snow in mountains..
but its melting pretty fast.. :(
i think i need to bump up my fertilizing program on my tropicals too..
amorphs,EE's,nanners..
i do like the use of the endo/ecto mychorrhiza ive been using as a biological
fungicide..
i didnt loose any titanums this winter.. yet..LOL :)
i see foster botanical gardens has a titanum in bloom now..
hope ya dont get to strong a storm tropic !!!
darwin is pretty low elevation..isnt it???
the titanums,and hewettii are all waking up.. AHHHHHH
lol.. would be nice for some spacing out of vegetative growth..
well i do still have 2 of the larger titanums that are still in veg growth
from last summer.. so they are near 12 months in leaf..
1 larger titanum has been showing signs of leaf drying out,but the petiole
is still st8 and solid..its been this way for almost 2 months.. hopefully its
putting all the fertilizer/nutrients into the corm growth..
other larger titanum..going strong..no sign of wanting to sleep..
temps here are warming up.. some really nice days..near 80F..nites high 50sF
hopefully in couple weeks nites are warm enough to put titanums outside..
i think there will be some hewettii,and gigas showing up on ebay soon..so
hopefully add a couple each to the other "tropical" amorph collection..
still on lookout for descus-silvae though..sigh...
Dave, I came across an interesting (for you I hope) post about "Flex Watt Heat Tape". It was about growing palm trees, but the point being made was that air temp was less of a problem than soil temp. You might want to follow it up (if you haven't already). This is part of the calculations he made:
"Here's a quick energy calculation for a 24" box size in the ground. The rating is 20 Watts per foot for 11 inches, and assuming you really only need to heat an 11" buried cross section, you need about 8 feet, or 160 watts. Running that for about 10 hours per day (might even be too long) on average from Thanksgiving through March first, about 100 days would be 1,000 hours x 160 watts or 160 kwh. Those cost on average about 20 cent/kwh, so it would cost no more than $32 for the year. That's not bad.
Additional savings can be had by using foam insulation in the ground on the sides so that you limit the area that is heated. You could place insulation on top as well to reduce radiative losses. Could be fun to try this out.
Next question is, what species to try this out with."
much thanks my good man!!! i'll do some surfing for
"flex watt heat tape"..
ive read by much more experienced growers than me.. one who posts
here some..lari ann gardiner..big time aroid grower/researcher..in florida..
ive chatted with her some on my situation..utah..and growing tropicals..and not
in a greenhouse..
one thing i got from her was same as your comment on soil temp/air temp..
of course our beloved plants..amophophallus..and other aroids.. couldnt survive
"cold" air temps..but one thing they definately benifit from is "warmer" soil temps..
i know one major contributor to my killing my large titanum 2 yrs ago..was i cooked
it..sigh.. i was trying to keep the potting mix temp in the 80sF.. WAY TO HOT !!
this yr i was fairly successful with heat mats and thermostats..
i am always on outlook for better/cheaper/more affective heating of my potted amorphs
during our winter (end of oct- april).. if i came up with a somewhat simple heating of
pots outside..i could extend time plants could stay outside too..
id like to do same for my flower beds outside where i plant,aroids,bananas,and somewhat unsucessfully (so far) gingers..that is heating the soil.. im pretty sure i could with heavy duty
heat cables hooked up to thermostats.. keep settings around 80F so even with heat loss..the
soil would stay maybe in low 70sF..
lol..what we do for our plants..lol
much thanks tropic!!! if ya run into any more ideas im very open to them...
much thanks !!!!!!!!!!!
My dormant "seedling" titanum has broken ground. Don't know whether it realises it's the dry season (winter) yet. Will be interesting to see whether it produces multiple leaves like before, or just follows the dormancy pattern of the older plant. The other "seedling" that was still growing still isn't going into dormancy. But its leaf is showing a bit of yellowing.
The leaf cutting is also still goingl, although it doesn't look at all that good. But it's still hanging in there and must be pumping a whole lot of nutrients into that little tuber. When the newly emerging one spreads its leaflets out I'll take a couple of cuttings from it as well. Now that one leaflet has produced a tuber I'm going to go into mass production.
very cool tropic .. i think these plants follow the beat of their own drummer..
i know my "tropic" amorphs sure do..
one of my smaller hewettii has gone thru vegetative growth 3 times in less than
10 months?? whats up.. LOL
the last petioles (there were 2) ..not uncommon with smaller corms(immature)..
both leaves went maybe 4 months..maybe.. 1 wilted couple weeks ago..last one..last
week..so i unpotted it..to check the corm.. go figure.. there are 2 nice sized ( 2 inch..5cm)
in the pot..now thats new for me..??? not complaining.. lol
both side by side..not the old corm..and new formed one.. and now just noticed
a new petiole up on one of the corms..
one of the medium sized titanums is active alive.. it went dormant early spring ..repotted it..
now its shooting out nice roots..and the petiole has put on couple inches in last couple weeks
the other 2 larger titanums.. sloooooowwwwww.. LOL they both look great.. leaves on 1 are still
sort of drying..no yellowing though.. the other..leaves nice green colour..but petiole is leaning..
its firm..and ive checked make sure im not watering to much..and its draining well..so..
they follow beat of their own drummer.. :)
smaller titanums are breaking potting mix..outside..once nites stay
in mid 60sF..im sure they will shoot up fast..
thats what happened last yr..
i was amazed at how fast the petioles ..even on the largest titanums...
grew.. i am keeping them in a bit less light than last yr..
they get all sun up to noonish..then some shade..then full afternoon
sun after 5pm..
last yr..the 2 i had in south facing area..actually got sunburned on the
petiole stem.. didnt seem to adversely affect the plant though..
they are tough plants...
well maybe..just maybe im catching on how to grow titanum..LOL :)
my last vegetative growth titanum gave up its leaf the other day..
it was starting to show signs..yellowing leaves,leaning..got up one morning
and it was collapsed.. my cats looked at me like.." it wasnt us"... lol :)
i dug it out..wow..what a root system.. and the corm did put on some growth from
last planting.. YEA !!!
i've got to take pics..so i have as reference for next yr when (if i dont kill them) to compare
on growth..
i have a big 80 gal ( 300 liter) fabric pot for the big titanum to go in..
i can feel my aching back already come oct when its gotta come in the house..
LOL
Yep, you want them to grow fast, then you pay the penalty.
I managed to get a quick visit home today (wouldn't have normally been there until end of the week. Gave the titanums a bit of a shower with dam water (oxygenated). They looked like they could use it. Day times it pretty hot and dry. Checked on my leaflet cutting. The leaflet is still hanging in there despite looking a bit worn. The little tuber at the base is getting bigger, probably about the size of a broad bean. There's a little lump on one side. I suspect it might be going to grow a leaf. Took some photos. It's in sphagnum moss which is completely soggy. I was worried before that it might be too wet but it (the tuber) seems to be growing quite well. Didn't want to move it in case I upset it. Thought that too wet in winter might not be good. But in the past I've changed thing for plants when I thought it was best for them and ended up killing them. Seems they know best. So I'll leave the titanum wallowing in its very soggy medium and hope it stays happy.
way to go tropic..
i only have 1 titanum in full leaf still..others are shooting new petioles up..so
weeks before i get any possible leaves for cuttings.. i think i will try it again..
u mention sphagnum..ive given it some thought on using for leaf cutting starts..and for
keeping dormant titanums ..and other "tropical" amorphs..
ive gotta find source for bales of it though..not these little 2 qt (1 liter) packs..
tropicbreeze is that a titanum piece of a leaf? I am sort of a newbie and don't quite understand.
well finally got out early and took some pics..:)
forest of mostly konjac..with 3 titanums in various stages
comming out of dormancy..
unpotted titanums are the ones that most recently went
dormant.. largest one is just over 10 inches wide,other is
7 inches ..
Love the pics! That last pic is too cool. An entire jungle of great plants!!
Joyce, the whole above ground structure is a single leaf, which has a lot of leaflets. I cut off a large leaflet, put some rooting powder on the cut, and placed it in sphagnum moss in a pot. It gets watered regularly. I'm away at work most of the time so everything is on automatic irrigation.
That's one way of getting more titanum plants. Trying to get seeds from them for propagation is a long wait.
Gotta tell you I expanded the picture of the leaf. The moss is really gross looking when it is magnified..lol
Well that sure is interesting.
i was expecting my larger titanums to "rest" for a bit..not so..all of them have
petiole shoots showing..already..
one titanum.."mr slow"..lol.. is even comming to life..
last yr..it was so slow going ..the petiole took forrrrreeeevvvverrrr to get into leaf..
so far its following same pattern this year..
and so far..i do like the heavy fabric pots im using..
i'll see how that goes this fall when i have to haul them inside..
i like that i can get really wide pots..giving the roots plenty of room to grow out.
and ..ive done some pot exploring..im a curious sort..:)... the roots are going all
the way to sides of pots..some of my larger titanum corms have equal distance of
total diameter on all sides.. 10" corm..has 10" on all sides to grow out roots..smaller
corms have more..
i like the kelp/fulvic/humic/biological fungicide mix ive been using..in addtion to my
fertilizing..
last yrs roots on corms were massive..lots of root hairs too..
im fertilizing heavier this yr too.. hope that helps corms put on some massive size..
i might have to ship the big ones to you tropic.:) you have the tropic climate,and room..
i also am using spaghnum moss (long new zealand) wetted on my "tropical" amorphs..
between just going dormant..and when they come back to life.. i like it so far...keeps corms moist ,easy to use,reuse.
Sounds like what you are doing is working perfectly. Post some pics when you get a chance. Would love to see them.
joyce..will do..
i think considering that im not growing the "tropical" amorphs in a greenhouse..
and here in utah..im sure not in the tropics..LOL :) i am doing ok..
im thinking reason my titanums arent putting on big growth each successive growth
cycle..is because of that..they get a good 5 months of natural sun, unfortunately low
humidity..then in the house.moderate light..and moderate humidity..
not the perfect conditions for these wonderful plants..but..ok
i really want to eventually get all 4 of the "tropical" big amorphs to bloom.. that would be
very cool... LOL am i a nutcase gardener or what..??? LOL :)
I can understand being a nutcase wanting them to bloom.
We are obviously 'nutcases' growing tropicals in zone 5a without a greenhouses...rofl.
what did everyone go away..i promise..i'll take a shower..
its starting to cool off nites here..:( sigh.. means..soon..usually end of sept..if im
lucky early oct i'll be hauling in all the tropicals.. this yr..probably early..
this hasnt been a kind summer..nite temps... for my tropicals..
one of my titanums..that got over 7 ft tall last season.. it barely hit 41 inches above the pot
:( bummer.. looks great..just not the monster i hoped for..
hopefully the tuber puts on some nice size though..
also. just repotted last titanum that has broke dormancy..
Don't know about you but we are going to hit the 50's at night this week!! I think we are going to have an early fall. I have already started getting the garden room ready to start moving things in. Summer went by fast!