The Aroid Thread

[Dorothy]

Thanks, Tin
I'll post photos when they open up a bit more.

[Dorothy]

Here is my NOID Alocasia - it looks like Alocasia x amazonica 'Polly' seen here - PlantFiles: Detailed information on African Mask, Amazon Elephant's Ear Alocasia x amazonica 'Polly'

It's potted and sits along side my vanilla vine and Cochleanthes .. it gets dappled sunlight and it's kept close to the sheer-curtained window.
1 - Plant
2 - Small leaves at the base with the bud peeking from behind
3 - Emerging bud
Enjoy

[Tindomul]

All right! Looks like you are going to get a bloom!! I think I keep mine too dark. Congrats Dorothy! You will have to tell me if its fragrant. I didn't smell anything from mine.

[Dorothy]

I'll keep my nostrils ready, Tin ..
Last year, if I remember correctly , the bud blasted
So I am hoping to find out this year
I did have a spider mite problem - I wanted to choke the suckers so I wiped down the leaves with olive oil since I didn't have any neem .. and so far, no mites and the leaves are shiny .. nothing deterimental as of now .. I am keeping an eye on it ..

[Tindomul]

I had mites too. But I got rid of it with Ray's Rise and Shine leaf shiner. Worked wonders on all my plants as far as controlling insects. Right now mine is recovering.

[Dorothy]

No photo of it ? Tin

[Tindomul]

I already posted it on this thread
but here is another.

[mrobert]

So what is the trick to getting Konjiak to grow? I purchased several blubs over the winter and they are still dormant. I have them potted in nice soil and they are exposed to a decent amount of sunlight with temperatures from high-70's during the day to low-50's at night. Is this just too cool?
The climate here is perfect for many aroids, I have lots of NOIDS growing in my garden and the nearby woods. But these amorphophallus just won't grow.
Not sure if this speaks to my conditions well or not but my relatively young calla lilly is about 3.5-feet tall with a equally wide spread...I've gotten nearly a dozen blooms already this year.

[Dorothy]

Here are my NOID calla lilies a bit more open

Tin - Your Alocasia is looking good !

[kavanaru]

Hi mrobert, Amorphophallus konjiak needs quite warm temps.. I keep my dormant bulb wrapped in a piece of newspaper at not lower than 68F, maybe down to 60F at night (I mist them every once in ahile, when I remember, but do not think it is necessary at all - I do it because normally I have many little ones in the same packet) I do not re-pot the bulbs until I do not see new growth... Then I repot them in normal soil, keep them warm, and moist but not wet, until the leaf has open, at that point they start drinking like elephants!! Once the leaf if mature, they can tolerate lower temps, but I think 50 is indeed too low!!
They will also need a lot of light (but not necessarily direct sun - even though they can tolerate it), lots of water and nutrients (now you know where the water used for watering my S/H chids goes)

Once you get the trick with it, it's a very easy plant and will start producing masses of new bulbs every year. I promised to take a pic of my plant, but have not been able yet. i will do it this WE the latest, and you will see what I mean with masses on new bulbes I normally end up composting them, as most of my friends have already been plagued with them