Hello all I want to start out by saying that i like this site. It is one of the only sites where people arent talking down to for not being as educated as the kings or something like that. anyway I have amorphophallus henryi konjac and paeonifolius. The paeonifolius is just out of the dirt for the winter and i just removed 13 baby tubers I think there called, from the mother and all of them including the mother bulb wich is the size of base ball have little pink spikes comming out of the tops of the tubers including the mother bulb. When I removed the stem she has a 1 inch pink spike under the stem. Is it growing again? My question is I know this is a bad idea but i cant help myself If theres a chance that the mother will bloom over the winter even if indoors i want to let it happen. I know of the smell so im asking for it. Is this normal or am I wrong in thinking that they might bloom over the winter. Thanks for any help and I will post pictures soon, and I also have palms nana trees and elephant ears of many kinds that are filling up my spare bedroom that are growing like mad at least one new leaf per week from everything but the palms. Thanks
This message was edited Nov 18, 2004 7:04 PM
Amorphophallus question
I am afraid I do not have an answer, but, I do have a question!
I was given a couple plants this summer and both of them lost all the leaves. They both do have healthy tubers. Do I just store the tubers until spring or should I do something special to them? Should they be divided or just left in the pot with limited water?
What are the plants If there amorphophallus just put in a dry soil and set in a basement. but any cool dry place will do. DO NOT WATER or the tuber may rot. other than that im new to them myself and cant help much more than that. they will grow in the spring with no roots and no soil Ive herd not to water them untill they have leaves. but Im not for sure on that.
This message was edited Nov 18, 2004 8:06 PM
The spikes in the top are normal and this is where the new growth will come from when it's ready to grow. I'm not sure of your question but follow your own advice, it's right on... keep it cool and dry, do not water. It may flower this winter for you, but it will begin growing and you can pot it up when it's time.
meltn, I would remove from them from the pot to store them unless the soil is dry. I store all mine at about 45* - 50* in a bit of peat, just as I do cannas. Sometimes just setting on a tray at those temps. Then follow the above advice given from carlab, cool, dry place with no water. When they begin to grow in the spring, pot them up, when they leaf out begin water and feeding.
Thank you Jodi! I almost tossed them when they lost all their leaves. I will store them in the garage with other tubers.
OK, I have a question too. Mine are coming up, they have green spikes. We don't freeze, so mine are in the ground, been dormant since mid summer. Was I supposed to dig them up? Our rainy season is in the winter to early spring.
I have two kinds and they are both coming up.
Susie as long as they are planted in a well draining area I don't see any reason why you should need to dig them up.
The only time I know of that they rot in the ground where they are hardy is either bad drainage in the "cool" season when they are dormant or... the way the bulbs (on A. Konjac, not saromatum or dracunculus) are shaped it's easy for water to get caught and stay on top of them. So sometimes planting them a little "sideways" helps.
I had a huge one year before last year (we were deluged with rain that year!) that was in the ground for the season and thats what happened. Water got caught on top of the bulb and stayed there. The centered rotted out. I dug it up, cut out the mushy and let it stay dormant until this past spring. Instead of putting it in the ground again I potted it up. Boy was I shocked when I unpotted it this fall. Instead of one bulb with multiple stalks like I was expecting... it split into 4 perfectly shaped but smaller only baseball size bulbs. The largest of the 4 was starting to split again down the center. It was actually kind of cool, have never seen one do that before.
Thanks Jody, I'll keep an eye on them. They are planted under an orchid tree with two palms and a royal poinciana in the same area, so there is never an over abundance of water in that garden, but it's my most shaded area.
This is a very intresting plant. I've never seen such a thing. Now I have a question or two maybe someone can answer. In the database it shows several different shots of this plant. One is a medium tall plant with branches y'ing out of the truck. I like this very much. Then there are pictures of a long stock with no leaves and what looks like a bloom and then there is a picture of a plant that looks to only 18" high resembling the tall one with the leaves. What's the difference? Why do some show a plant with leaves and some without? I love the look of the trunk and the way it Y's for branches.
Robin
Well good question but i think i can answer there are almost 170 different types of amorphophallus or voodoo from short plants like henryii well if that is what you call short to titanum. you do not want to smell this thing but I hope to have one in the spring. I love the bloom and the leaves so good thing it comes with both.
I hope that helps
robin
If you are looking at A. konjac or just one particular species... They do start out small, as all plants do, and can range in size from a few inches to approx. 5'-6' high (at least when container grown as most of mine are). When they are large enough/old enough they will flower. When they are in flower, there are no leaves, the leaf stalk will come after the flower.
Yes, I was looking at Konjac. So, if I understand this right. there are still leaves on the plant they are just far below that huge blossom. Interesting plant.
Robin
I guess I may need to dig mine and plant it al little sideways then because my mother conjac bulb was around 7 pounds at last weigh in and was as big and round as a honeydew melon. They are winter hardy here in the ground but my big bulb has a depression several inches deep right in the top thta the new growth comes out of.
All of the foliage has died for the winter on mine and I was removing some of it last week and found lots of little ones at the base of the mother bulb. This is the first year for me growing these so I havent seen it bloom yet as mine had already bloomed when it was sent to me.
I have 2 other varieties besides the conjac but can't think of the name of them right off the top of my head.