Arum, if you didn't plant them, how did you get them? Seeds?

Susan

Well, I DID plant them last year, but I thought I dug them all up, and here they are, - everywhere! Guess I don't have'ft to worry about loosing them, like I do most every bulb I have. :) Arum

Arum, They are easily hardy to where you are located and further north to boot. Between forgetting to dig some up and the squirrels moving the small tubers around they will end up everywhere from full sun to deepest shade. The 'Indian Giant' variant is the same way :o) Dan

Well, this will mean less work in the fall. :) Arum

It only gets worse. In one years time a quater sized tuber can become fifteen plants. I think they crawl around at night because as you say, they do end up everywhere. Does any one know if they pose a potential threat as an invasive plant, because they do have a habit of choking everything around them and spreading all over the place. They are perfectly hardy in zone 5.

Well, Klavier, they are so easy to dig up that I can't imagine it is a problem as long as you do not allow the weeds to set seed. I always cut my flowers off because they are not that pretty anyway and I'd rather the tuber did not waste energy on flowers and seed production.

On a different note, I've actually got a couple of very large Indian Giant variant from small tubers last year. When I got them they had been grown in shade and were quite tall. The largest tuber was 5 inches + in diameter after I dug it up last fall and now that they are in full cooking sun they are very small, completely unimpressive plants. I was wondering if anyone else had this experience with this variant or if people do not grow them in full sun. I know a lot of people are growing this and I was wondering what others experience was with it :o) Dan

Well, i think these would never be invasive, to easy to spot, and dig up the tuber. Dan,I take it that you grow these for the leaves only? I still get excited when it blooms. :)

Purple loostrife is very easy to spot as well and was once just a garden plant. They are easy to pull out to, yet they are causing tons of trouble for the native plants around here because of the growth rate. Sauromatum Venosum is the fastest reproducing plant I grow.

But Klavier, their a bulb! :)

Hi Arum,

Yep, the leaf and petiole I like, but the flower is an ugly duckling in my opinion. Maybe if the spathe didn't collapse onto the ground the instant it fully opened it would be more impressive. The reason I have many variants of bulbifer or Arisaema consanguineum is because of the variability in the lovely petiole and leaf which you can admire the entire growing season. The flowers get pretty old fairly fast, but I still get a kick out of seeing a new one bloom for the first time. One of the reasons I like the Arisaema is that the flower can last for weeks instead of a day or so!! Have fun digging the Sauromatums :o) Dan

Well Dan,not pretty, but interesting. Fades fast, true. What I need to do is to figure out how to make people want these things this winter. :)

Now Klavier,- if you want to experience invasive, you should experience "Arrow Head". I love to grow about anything, and especially by my Koi pond, so I dug this stuff up and just laid it down till thre was time to plant it. Well, it took root,traveled half way around my pond, and put out these hard tuberous ball things under ground. Wow, did I have a time digging out about everything I had planted for the past few years to find it ! It was really bad, but I got it all! Lots of smiles from me!!!!!! :) Arum

"What I need to do is to figure out how to make people want these things this winter"

I want some! What do I gotta do to get some?

Lynn

Dan- I have sort of the same situation .. I put the regular venosums in shade last year and got nice big leaves ...This year I bought a 3 inch tuber and put it in full all day sun ...I got short squat weedy lookin leaves.... Next year ill try deep shade

Chris

Hi Lynn, A simple e-mail will suffice :o)

Chris, yeah, they are really totally unimpressive, although my regular form gets much bigger in full sun compared to my 'Indian Giant' form....although this is my first year putting the "Giant" form in full sun so perhaps I'm jumping to conclusions to fast :o) Dan

I put my regular form in full sun and it grows tremendous tubers before they split into a million and one others. It grows like star of bethlehem I tell you! You will see, in ten years they will be introducing some kind of beetle or something to kill all the unwanted Sauromatums!:)It is a disaster I tell you! I don't see why the "Indian Giant" form would grow any different than the regular strain. Mine do grow taller in shade, but I get better tuber growth in the sun. I am going to leave all of my plants outside this year. I brought a couple in last year and now they are all out of whack with the seasons, and the ones that stayed out side are doing better than fine. Unlike you guys, I grow the plants for the blooms. They may only last a day, but for practical joke purposes, that is just enough.

Hi Klavier,

Not sure why they would be different either, and maybe after a couple more years I'll realize they are the same, but I've got 2 mommas of the 'Indian Ginat'; a 5.5 inch and a 3 inch tuber and the petioles are around a foot tall.....my regular form growing right next to it is 2.5x as big.....go figure :o) Dan

I think the bed that I have mine in has bad soil .. I put a 3 inch regular variety venosum in the ground and got a plant only 1.5 feet tall...

In the same bed I planted a 3 inch konjac bulb and the plant only got one foot tall .. where a konjac with a 3 inch bulb in a pot right next to the bed got to 2.5 ft..

Will be interesting to see what i get this year in the fall

Chris