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Thread: These are kind of fun

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
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    MN
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    Default These are kind of fun

    Amorphophallus

    I just got my first one last year. At that time, the tuber was about the size of a quarter. Now, it's about 4 1/2 -5 inches across. They just keep getting bigger and bigger. 10 lbs is not uncommon, 20 lbs.+ is not unheard of. If nothing else, they can be grown for their really cool foliage. To me, they kind of look like some primeval palm tree. I think I still have a couple of years to wait before it blooms. I'm not sure what I'm going to do then because the stench is supposed to be unbelievable - kind of like a dead, rotting goat or whale. Should be interesting.

    Amorph Konjac is the most common. They can be kind of expensive to buy, so it's best to find someone who grows them. They multiply like rabbits. I think I got around 10 extra tubers from my original one last year.

    Like orchids, the people who grow these really seem to get into collecting all the different species. Ya know, you just can't have one. Anyway, there are cult like groups of folks who are REALLY into these things. Beware!

    Here's a few links you might want to check out. I think these are all non-commercial Louis. Hope I didn't mess up there.

    http://www.kallus.com/aroids/amorpho...jac/index.html

    http://www.geocities.com/inthedirt86...ophallus2.html

    http://www.desertsong.com/sgvcss/Amorphophallus.html

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Massachusetts
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    Default

    That is one incredibly weird plant. It makes all the strangest orchids appear normal. That first link about bringing a plant in had me rolling on the floor!

    Julie

  3. #3
    Real Name
    Louis J. Aszod
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    Wow--I have never heard of, let alone seen a plant like that. The one at the Huntington--amazing!

    Very cool, Kev. Very, very cool.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
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    MN
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    Default

    They really are easy to grow. You should try one.

    Wouldn't that be something to have one of those blooming in your HOT, HUMID greenhouse??

  5. #5
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    Massachusetts
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    I could just see that in my garden...hehe!

    The neighbors would be trucking in oxygen!

    Julie

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2004
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    Myrtle Beach, SC
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    Default

    I've got an Amorph. konjac, now about the size of a quarter. Problem is, it was about that size last year.

    I've also got an Arisaema dracontium which came back this year (my Arisaema triphyllum did not). I've also tried Dracunculus vulgaris, which didn't work out well.

    I just haven't had the greatest luck with Aroids. If I can get the konjac to work, though, I definitely want to expand the collection.

    For those of you who haven't seen the Amorph. or Dracunculus in person, they are indeed huge, really cool, and amazingly disgusting. I found my Dracunculus corm packaged up like a regular bulb from a company that usually sells Gladioli and Tulips and such. It said 'Fragrant' on the little card – no mention of in what way it was fragrant!

    Oh – also, the foliage is really cool. They have these very complex single leaves, and spotting on the petiole, as well as (sometimes) an odd knob which gives some similar aroids the popular name 'Giraffe Knees.' Here's a nice picure of a single leaf. Yes, that's just one leaf.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    MN
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    How are you growing it in the summer? Sun? Shade? Partial?

    I know a lot of people in the south say they grow these in partial shade, but from what I've learned from northern growers is that we have to give them almost full sun - you know, the difference in latitude and therefore intensity of sunlight.

    I only have a couple of the Asian arisaema. Really like them. Of course, they have to stay in the basement for winter in my zone. My A. speciosum is already completely leafed out, though. It sprouted really early.

    Another good "fragrant" one is Typhonium venosum. Still has the nice corpse aroma, but a much smaller plant.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2004
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    Myrtle Beach, SC
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    Oooh! Arisaema speciosum looks nice.

    Yeah, I gave the Amorph. konjac pretty near full sun last summer. I seem to remember that it was reluctant to start growth, so it didn't really get a full season in.

  9. #9
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    Laughing ! and we thought Bulbo growers were odd . If I was still in So. Ca. would have a big collection of them to keep company away that just had to go to Disney Land Thanks for the links . good stuff . Gin

  10. #10
    Real Name
    Louis J. Aszod
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    I ran the Amorphophallus idea past Bruce last night and was rewarded with a cold stare, and after a few moments passed he said, "If that thing starts to stink I'm geting the saw and cutting it down."

    Hmpph.






    So where do you get them? (The kinds that grow really big....)

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