The Aroid Thread

[Faerygirl]

Alocasia tigrina reticulata. Funny thing about this one...I've had it for several years. In 2004, we were hit by 2 tropical storm/hurricanes within two weeks of each other, Frances and Jeanne. Our power was out for 21 days, so there was no electricity in the greenhouse. It flooded in there initially, there was a foot of water, but it ran off pretty quickly. Out of all my collection of in-ground greenhouse plantings, this was the only plant I thought I had lost. But just THIS SPRING, FOUR YEARS LATER, it suddenly just REAPPEARED in the same old spot it had been planted in before. Why it stayed dormant so long, I have NO IDEA. But it just proved to me, never give up on anything!

[Faerygirl]

Philodendron "Ace of Spades" showing 3 leaf phases...brand new Cabernet Red, slightly older maroon, and old dark. This is a fantastic climbing philo for those who have room to grow it. It does tend to get huge, these leaves are over a foot long and pretty much almost as wide. It needs a strong totem. This one is on the same totem with a variegated green and white Philo that goes by several different names. One is Philo imbe. Also in this pic is Monstera obliqua (Swiss Cheese) and Rhaphidophora tetrasperma Ginny

[Faerygirl]

This is probably one of my favorite philos, P. verucosum (probably misspelled that). It was a teensy tiny thing when I got it a couple of years ago, now that its firmly established itself on the totem and started to really climb the leaves just keep getting bigger and better.

[Faerygirl]

last one for tonight....
Cercestes mirablis. I really, REALLY like this plant. It started out sort of puny, but after almost 2 years its finally developing into a nice plant. Its in the photo with some Anthurium luxurians x dressleri, which is also a nice plant to have on hand if you like Anthuriums. The new leaves are red/gold, quite showy. Philo gloriosum also in this pic.

[Tindomul]

WOW faerygirl! Thanks for sharing your great collection with us. Very cool! Those first two Philo's are great! Really nice. Do you make your own totems, or do you buy them? How are they made, or what are they made of? Thanks.

[Faerygirl]

Thanks, Tindo!
I make my own. I use large diameter (1.5-2") PVC pipe and wrap it with old cocofiber from basket liners. I like the PVC center because you can add those little elbows and slanty pieces to change directions, and you can extend the totem almost indefinitely as the plant grows. Most of my totems end up at a height of 12 feet and are attached up top to the stabilizing cross struts of the greenhouse so that the weight of the plants won't topple them.

[Tindomul]

I have a Philodendron superbum. This is a real climber, but I don't have a totem for it. When I got it 6 months ago it was about 12" long, now its about 36" long! I'm real happy that its growing well, but without a totem, I'm afraid it will break. Are totems the only way to tame wild Philos?

[Faerygirl]

Climbing philos need a support of some type. They are programmed to increase in leaf size and trubk size as they ascend, so if you try to force a climbing philo to stay grounded it will most likely stay small leaved and not reach potential. You don't have to use a totem, you can let it root to the wall of anything. They will root directly onto the wall of my greenhouse if I let them (I don't though because I clean the walls with a pressure washer 2x a year and it would damage them). I have one huge Red Emerald that is totem-less, but I have it secured to the cross beams of the greenhouse wall with heavy duty rubber bungee cords. I have also seen them inother tropical houses allowed to climb on mesh "hammocks" that are suspended between 2 points.

[Faerygirl]

This thread seems to have stalled so I thought I'd see if anyone might be growing other types of aroids.
Ones you might not think about but that pack a big punch and are easy to maintain are Anubias species. These are most commonly sold to aquarium hobbyists for use as submerged plants, but some of them also make great non-submerged plants. I read once that in their natural habitats they generally undergo periods of total submersion combined with drier periods where water recedes and their tops are exposed, so I decided to try a few. I bought this one at the pet store aquarium dept. The literature I read stated that they don;t actually like to be "planted" but that they attach to stuff like submerged logs. So I tied the roots of mine to a stick and put it in the greenhouse stream just near the little waterfall feature. Its grown from a tiny little $1.99 plant to a beautiful blooming aroid. I think this one sort of resembles a peace lily (spathiphyllum) but there are several different species that have different shaped leaves.

[Faerygirl]

Another cool aquatic aroid is Lasia spinosa. You need a large space for this though, preferably a pond as it does get pretty huge. In nature these come from Viet Nam where they grow in streams and wet places as mat forming spreading aroids. They are dangerously armed with sharp spines. They are also called "Unicorn plant" because they have a really cool twisted bloom.

I have a very large colony growing in my greenhouse pond, but discovered quite by accident that this plant is most likely hardy here. I divided a piece off my plant for a trade and the trade fell through, so I threw it out into an outdoor pond to trial it. It lost its topgrowth when air temps hit the lower 20's, but as soon as it warmed up it started to regrow, and now its in bloom. Here are 2 pics, upper and lower. The variegated EE with it is COlocasia Yellow Splash