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btropical256

amorphophallus early flowering

btropical256
18 years ago

Ok well my Amorphophallus konjac is getting ready to flower for the first time. Its currently shooting up a quarter of an inch a day. I have a picture of it currently. Its now 4 1/4 invhes high but its getting bigger daily.

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Comments (15)

  • kwoods
    18 years ago

    An early riser! Mine usually don't get moving 'til late feb. early march. Please keep posting pics as it goes to flower. Any idea on when it went into dormancy? temps? Been jonesing for something green in Jan. besides amaryllis, maybe I could give mine some encouragement.

    Very cool..... maybe I better go check the boys in the basement.

  • konjacking
    18 years ago

    I just looked at some of My Konjacks , and they too look like they are starting to grow. Seems like last year it was end of February when they took off!
    David

  • ARUM
    18 years ago

    Yeah, maybe it's time for me to check out MY big guy...

  • btropical256
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Mine went to dormency later then usuall as i had to bring it in as when frosts started coming it wasnt really dorment yet it was flopping over a bit. So i brought it in for some time and let it dry out then it was warm out and i took the bulb up from its big pot and it was mid november by the time. This thing hardly wants to sleep at all. I have it in my cool basement which is like 60 deggres. I am happy its going to flower early as like you said it would be nice to see something come up.

  • ARUM
    18 years ago

    Well,- this past year I had a 11 pound Konjac which when planted put up 5 shoots. That wasn't what was intended, as I was trying to get the bulb to get as big as it can get. Found out later that ALL the shoots should have been pinched except one if it was to to stay as one. Funny thing is that I had given my sister a good sized bulb as a gift, and she insisted that it be taken back, and give her a smaller one. Now I have a big one again and I'm going to try to keep it from splitting. Wish me luck! :) Arum

  • konjacking
    18 years ago

    Arum,
    I had the same experiance in the past. Cutting off all but the largest shoot will give you one bulb.
    If you let all shoots develope, you get that number of plants. This year my largest one got up to a little over 16 pounds. I have now clue how big it will get this summer fater flowering! 20??
    David

  • cheerpeople
    18 years ago

    Gee,
    I'm going to the basement and checking on mine when I get home. They never go this early.
    Karen

  • susanlynne48
    18 years ago

    btropical - how big is that tuber - looks to be pretty good sized! Do the warmer indoor temps have anything to do with it sprouting earlier than it should? Maybe keeping it in a cooler location, like the veggie drawer in the icebox? The garage? The cold closet that's next to the outside of the house? What can you do to maintain dormancy?

    Susan

  • btropical256
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    I think the slightly warmer temps encouraged it to come out quicker. Here it is at 16 inches tall as of right now. When i went out to eat and came back 2 hours later it had shot up another half inch. This thing is really growing quick at 3 inches a day currently. i have a picture of it below. Its starting to get a top on in like.
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  • btropical256
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    today it was at 19 inches.

  • susanlynne48
    18 years ago

    BT - that is astounding! I assume it is under flourescents in your basement? What is the temp? Just curious about the conditions under which it is growing.

    What is the pot size? I know, I have lots of questions.

    Susan

  • davidoff
    18 years ago

    How tall is it??? :D It seems to grow sooo fast...Could you post any pictures?

    Cheers

    David

  • btropical256
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Ok well today its at 42 inches and the pictures below show it today. its growing about 4 inches a day lately. It should bloom in another day or two. The pot its in is this ceramic 8 inch diameter pot in which i just stuck the tuber in for the winter. Also below are some pictures from like 5 days as i didnt post them. The daily sequence of pictures will be on my website soon as it blooms. MY website is phillygardening.s5.com

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    Todays pictures
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  • laiquatan
    18 years ago

    I tried to encourage my konjac (and bulblets) to keep their dormancy brief, but they've utterly ignored me so far. I tried keeping them in the refrigerator for about a month and then left them in 68 deg temps for a long time but there's no change. I'm thinking I might split the bulblets into 2 groups: exposing one to a whiff of ammonium (if a nitrogen surge might trigger changes) and one to a whiff of vinegar (if lower pH triggers; CO2 might be better but I don't have a good source of fairly concentrated CO2). I'm also trying to avoid root-rot on my paeoniifolium (happened before, and my daughter dumped a ton of water in just as it was going into dormancy) so I think I might try letting it spend its dormancy out of the soil this time. We'll see if anything makes any difference. :P

  • susanlynne48
    18 years ago

    .......as my A. konjac tuber sits in the kitchen at 72 degrees, waiting, waiting, waiting.......

    Susan