New Bat Flower- Tacca thread

My HD is pitiful! I can't get anything interesting from mine! You are so lucky!!!

So far I have located one local source for the white ones and they are selling at 40.00. I like the white but would absolutely take the black at 6.50.

I will go once again to my HD tomorrow but I am sure it will be another day of heartbreak for me- last 2 times I was there they had all the house plants out in the sun to make room for Xmas decore. So did Lowes and Walmart.

I'm going to my HD tomorrow to look for black Tacca. If I'm going to kill them, I'd much prefer to kill a plant at that price as opposed to what I've been spending only for the tacca grim reaper to pay a visit.

Oh yeah, that's the ticket!

I'll make a deal with you. if you find them at your HD, buy one or two for me and if I find them at my HD I will buy one or two for you. Let's kill them together at this price.

LOL.

How's is everybody's doing? Mine aint lookin too good. It's done blooming, now it's turning yellow. I hate heaing my DH say "I told ya so"!!!

I have read that they will go dormant. Think thats what is happening?
Dawn

Ummm, not good news at all because mine always turn yellow before they go to tacca heaven.

I take that back, one simply went limp then shriveled up and turned brown.

Well I don't have any spoecific tacca experience but wouldn't it seem like maybe it's too wet?

I hae no clue. I thought they liked a lot of water. I'm gonna take it out of its pot tonight and look at the roots. Can't hurt at this point.

Update on my tacca. In front of a tinted west window in my office, flourescent lights overhead during the day. I repotted about a week after I received it and I'm not misting, I try to keep it damp, but it has dried out a couple times (3 day weekends). It has the same 2 buds, the stems may have grown a bit. I've removed 2 yellow leaves over the course.. I told my co-worker yesterday, I don't think it's doing very good...... may be one of those plants that is just too picky for this gal. I'm sure it's needing humidity, but guess I'm just too busy to tend to it right now. (Bad AuntB) lol

if drying out is the problem , have you thought about adding some watersorb gell to the potting mixture. I travel a lot and although its no subtitute for a god watering it does help plants from completely drying out. Be carefull not to add to many, sit them in water first so you can see how many you are adding.
http://www.watersorb.com/index.htm

Thanks, for the idea Celt.

Celt-
If I could go buy the black bats for $6.50, I'd buy them all up, and stick them on ebay!

I'm sure you could double, triple, (or even more) your money.

Way ahead of you i checked it out but the black ones aren't selling for much more than that on ebay, its the white ones that are getting the money.

Lol...well, good thing you checked. Maybe I ought to sell some of mine. I bought too many, lol...
-T

This is mine today. I dont see it very often, about twice a week, its in a room away from the main house. I think it likes it that way. I cant over water. Seems to be doing OK. We'll see.

Viv

So i dont know much about these yet, where is the polllen?, on the tendrills ? how are they pollinated? , moths or maybe small animals brushing off the tendrills. Are they fragrant at all ? Im doing an experiment with mine. i have a new camera that can take movies so i have it on a tripod and im going to try and make a mini movie of one opening.

They smell kinda weird, and strange. I think I heard, or read, that they are pollinated by flies. It sure made sense, once I'd had a whiff of the bloom, lol...
-T

Viv your's is spectacular! From what I have seen in photos it looks like the white ones are bigger and they seem to be more oh I don't know, Taaa Daaa! The black ones I think are very cute and they appear to be smaller. Does anyone know if one is easier to grow than the other? I am thinking of stiking mine in, when I get one, w/ my orchids- no greenhouse, but they have more available water for humidity, though not enough that I think it's significant. Not sure if I am making sense. I guess because I have them in an open area I don't really feel that they are getting the amount of humidity that they would like. I would think the watersorb crystals would be a good idea for these guys.

Here is mine! Poor thing. I don't know what to do with it. I'll start with taking it out of the pot and ... Don't laugh
d

D-
Do you have a bathroom that has a window? The ones I've kept in my bathroom, that gets really steamy from the shower, have done really well...

It looks- and again I am not a bat flower expert- like too much water. Now I am the world champ over water-er. Maybe give it new soil and make sure the drainage is excellent...cross your fingers (that's what I usually do!).

I Agree April...not that Dawn has overwatered, necessarily, but I'm afraid that some are overwatering.

The moisture they need is as much on their leaves as it is their roots.

I emailed the Natural Selections Exotics people, when I first got mine, and asked about what type of potting mix I should use, for the one I was going to pot up.

They said that while it is not an epiphyte(like most orchids) that they pretty much like the same, or similar conditions. So far, mine hasd indeed acted happy in the environments that I usually provide for my orchids.

He said a good orchid mix with even some coir mixed in, would be ideal.

I have a total of six white bats. One of them started to turn yellow on me, just like Dawns. I intended to trade it, so kept it away from the others, to remind me. But it started looking too bad to trade away. The soil was moist, but it still looked wilted and dried out, so realized it just needed more humidity.

I started the shower and got it really steamy in there. I placed the poor plant directly in the shower, where it was the steamiest. I closed the door, and left it there, the remainder of the day. That night, I placed it near the others, and it is there, still, (where I should have stored it all along!). I didn't think a few days without humidity would matter, but it did.

I think this time of year, is especially hard on a bat plant, indoors. Many people are running their heat, already, which can be extremely drying. We may not notice it, as much as a plant would, but even people find it necessary to run a humidifier, for the dry air, this time of year. For this reason, I was sure to place mine so that they were not in the direct path of a vent...

All the ones in that bathroom(it is the master, so yes, we can still walk around in there, lol) are doing wonderfully. Many have gone dry in the soil, but have not even wilted. I really believe that the humidity is AS, if not MORE important that watering of thier roots...

just my opinion
-T

Thank you for the information - it really makes a lot of sense and is good to know as I intend to have one pretty soon.

YOU HAVE 6!!!! I see you are attempting to corner the market on white bats! LOL. I am green w/ envy.

I'm not keeping all six, lol...I just got a good deal on them. I thought they'd make great trade material, or quick cash on ebay, closer to Christmas, lol... Ü
-T

hoarder hoarder hoarder ;)

My HD does not have them. I feel deprived. Unfortuntately, this is not the time of year to buy them mailorder as the risk of them sitting out on the stoop with day time temps already in the 30's is very real so I'm going to have to go taccaless until next spring.

Well I think that they are available in HDs that live in the real tropical areas- I will check mine today, but have very little hope of finding them here although earlier this year after I got such an amazing deal on my Philodendrom Pink Princess I saw them at my HD- more expensive and not as nice as the one I was lucky enough to stumble upon.

Every time I say or write P. Pink Princess I can't help but think of the advertisement for a game that was out when my 19 yr old was very young for a game called "Pretty, Pretty Princess" she wanted that so badly. So Lauren, did I buy her that game?

I have no doubt you bought her the game ;) I would have if I had a daughter. It was a dress up board game and a girl can never have too many of those. It saddens me that little girls these days don't seem to be interested in paper dolls these days. I recall loving my paper doll collections with the little tabs to hang their clothes on them.

April, do well with your tacca adventure. I'm counting on you to get the growing of them down pat so I can get some seed off of you and try from scratch.

Nope didn't buy it for her. I was trying really hard to get her away from all the girlie stuff- she was the extreme girlie kid and I was trying to broaden her horizens. Not that she didn't have a whole trunk load of hand made dress up stuff (my mom and made both she and her younger sister all sorts of dress up clothes, etc.) sorry I know this was all OT.

I am going to get the bat flower thing down and w/ any luck you and I will both succeed!

set up! set up! set up! ;)

I don't think this tacca deal has anything to do with luck or else I'd have one growing right now given the sheer number of times I have tried to grow it. I was recently reading a Dr Seuss book to a friend's little one. It was titled Green Eggs and Ham. I swear as I was reading that book I was thinking of how the words could be changed to "I can kill a tacca here and I can kill a tacca there and I can kill a tacca everywhere"....

LOL...that's just too darn funny; who knew Dr. Seuss would be mocking you!


Finally got to my HD and as I suspected no bat flowers. : (

This message was edited Nov 11, 2006 2:38 PM

OK, I took the tacca out of the pot. The soil was not too wet. I thought it was pretty good my self. I looked at the roots and could see new growth on them. They were white and healthy looking. With that being said, it must be the humidity like seedpicker said. I had it in the house in my LR where there is a large west facing bay window. That is were most of my plants do great in. However the humidity is not as high as this thing must need. I do mist my plants in this room but this thing must need more. My only other option is to put it in my sunroom that is heated to a minimum. I have noticed that the humidity is around 70%. I will put it near a wall for more warmth. I don't know what else to do.
Thanks for everyones suggestions!
Dawn

Dawn-
I think it will do much better in there. A cold room will not bother them. Plants need a winter rest, anyway. They can take it to almost freezing, and 40 is no problem, if they are acclimated.

We've dropped below 40 already, and the ones I have planted outdoors, haven't skipped a beat.

Thanks seedpicker. The temps are only going down to the 60's tonight so I will put in the SR tonight. That way when it does get cold it will already be used to that room.
I read that they can go dormant. Is this the same as completely dying about the soil?

Don't really know for sure, since I've not had them that long, but I've had a lot of other plants go dormant in the cold section of the greenhouse, and they didn't necessarily die back to the soil. They just slowed down.

I'm thinking/hoping they will just slow down...most plants take a little break after flowering, anyway...
-T

Thanks seed. I will put it out there tomorrow. It is oustide tonight. I am hoping it stressed from the trip and bloom at the same time. They did suggest taking the bloom off so it could focus on a healthier root system...
dawn

I know...I should have removed my bloom, too, but just couldn't...
-T

I wouldn't have been able to do it either.

Well mine started opening today, very cool to watch and im filming it for an experiment with time lapse growth. An amazing thing is that although the leaves dont move around much the flower is all over the place , it moves a good 1-2 inches in different directions during the day, maybe its following the light.

Wow that's pretty cool!