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argus_gw

titanum cultivation question

argus
18 years ago

Hello,

I have a five or six amorphos that I got this year (all are doing wonderful) and was thinking about getting a titanum. I saw Black Jungle selling ones in 3" pots for $40. I know I need a green house to induce it to flower, but can I grow it outside in my zone? Also how fast do they grow? I have a small yard now and can't house a full sized monster, but would like to have it well started for when I move to a bigger house in a couple years. (well, when housing prices drop :-/ )

Thanks

Comments (16)

  • cactusfreak
    18 years ago

    That is a great price. PD was selling them for $100.
    It will take many years before it gets big I think. Since it takes 10 years to flower.
    I'm not sure of the zone but I think you would be ok. With some protection. A cage with leaves or straw and maybe a heating cable in the ground.
    Anyway I think you could leave it in a pot and bring it in if it went below 40* for very long. The botanical gardens all grow them in pots.
    I planted my 3 seeds in one pot and they are doing really well. Went dormant once and up again. All in less than a year. One of the sites that had a live cam going when it was blooming earlier this year kept charts on temps and all.
    I don't remember which site it was.

  • bluebonsai101
    18 years ago

    As for temps....just look into the place they grow natively and check the temps range.....I believe it is very narrow....highs of maybe 85 and lows of 70or so.....there is a very nice cite called Sumatra Flora that details a lot of where these plants grow natively, what they are found growing in, altitude, temps, etc. I'd personally grow it in a pot with drainage that is better than anything you can imagine....again, this is all available on-line from various botanical gardens. The botanical garden here grows theirs in 1:1:1 turface, pine bark and charcoal which is what I used as well.....mine are doing well so far, but they are only 1.5 years old so I think it is way too early for me to make any seriouus comments about their culture. I'm a firm believer if you have not grown it for atleast 3 years then you likely have not worked out all the kinks on any given species, but maybe I'm all wet on that one as well. PDN had them for $70 and they are absolutely reliable. You may be able to buy seed and grow them yourself....they were being offered for $11 each earlier in the year so you could try four for the price of your seedling.....and they are insanely easy to germinate in my limited experience, Best of luck :o) Dan

  • handspeakboy
    18 years ago

    MY green thumb turns brown when it comes to Titanum, but a friend had great success and very fast growth from applying bottom heat from a seedling heat mat. His were on thier 3rd leaf at 2.5 ft tall while mine were stagnant with only the first leaf.

    Chris

  • susanlynne48
    18 years ago

    I know Titanum is a bit of a picky amorph, but is konjac somewhat easier to grow? I want to order one from Tony next year, but not if it's going to be a sulky plant to grow.

    Here in OKC you can only grow Titanum in a greenhouse. They had one flower this year at the OKC Myriad Botanical Gardens, with pollen donated from another source.

    Susan

  • bluebonsai101
    18 years ago

    konjac is by far the easiest plant to grow in the genus....maybe one of the easiext platns to grow period....sort of like Hippeastrum.....put it in a pot and watch it do its thing :o) Dan

  • susanlynne48
    18 years ago

    Oh, great, Dan, I killed my Hippeastrums, so that doesn't make me feel any better. LOL!

    I am determined to try it next year anyway. Saw some on another website that were selling for $48. I think it was www.nurseryman.com.

    Susan

  • bluebonsai101
    18 years ago

    I hope it wasn't konjac for $48....that would be rediculous....even a blooming size tuber is likely not worth that much in my opinion, but perhaps others will say I'm crazy as usual :o) Dan

  • susanlynne48
    18 years ago

    No, it was Titanum.

    Susan

  • bluebonsai101
    18 years ago

    Hey, there is a big ol' titanum on ebay for a few hundred $$ for those of us who have limited patience and big budgets :o) Dan

  • susanlynne48
    18 years ago

    Well, I'm 50% there. I have limited patience.

    Susan

  • pilotkh4
    18 years ago

    Hello Argus,
    I think I share most of your frustrating (and expensive hobbies). I collect unusual tropicals and herps. I have been growing A. titanum here in northern Australia for four years. I grow it in a mix of composted pine bark, course perlite, peat, vermicutlite, and fine granite chips 6:1:1:1:1, this is the mix I use for most stuff from lowland nepenthes to palms. My biggest one is about 7' tall now and this is it's 3rd growing season. I feed it mostly on the dirty water from aquarium water changes (great stuff), liquid potash and fish emulsion/seasol. You can't overfeed them in my experience. Wild amorphs around here grow in humus rich soil under a very thick layer of rotting leaves etc. If you can grow lowland nepenthes outside in your zone you should be able to grow titanum. N. bicalcarata is a good indicator. I agree with bluebonsai when he says try seeds. A lot cheaper and very easy to germinate if kept warm. I planted twenty this year from two batches (one old and one fresh) and only one didn't germinate.
    I recently moved my biggest one out into almost full sun under a leafless plumeria after seeing a fantastic specimen growing under a very sparse canopy in almost full sun. I haven't yet been game to put one in the ground as we have some pretty nasty nematodes here but I will put a few of the latest seedlings in the ground soon and see how they go.
    Good luck with it,
    Brendon

  • argus
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Hmmm...It seems that seeds are the best way to go. What is the best source to get them? Should I wait on e-bay, or is there a reliable website? There are a couple species I'd like to try growing.
    Does it matter when you start them growing? It seems this late in the year they would go dormant as soon as they start, or can you even find seeds this late?

    Thanks,

  • bluebonsai101
    18 years ago

    Argus,

    Check with Troy at Sumatra Flora as he is the largest supplier in the world right now for these seed. SOmeone in the U.S. is handling his Amorphs now, but I can never remember who and their prices are higher than he used to charge. As you likely know this species does not have a set seasonal requirment and goes dormant and flowers when it darn well pleases. If you grow them inside for the winter they will be happy and will grow for atleast 1 year and perhaps 18 months or more before their first dormancy. Mine that I started from seed more than a year ago are still sending up new petioles all the time and so far have been one of the easiest speices to handle, although I've only brought 2 out of a short dormancy so far and the tubers are still small and easy to deal with. I imagine that once they get to 20 pounds and produce a 6-8 foot tall plant I'll have to get rid of most of mine since I simply will not have room anymore...assuming I have not killed them by then :o) Dan

  • susanlynne48
    18 years ago

    Will Troy sell seeds to us? I thought I saw someone say that he won't sell to the U.S. anymore, except thru his U.S. distributor. But don't know if that included seeds, or just his amorph plants. I see on his U.S. site where he has a listing for other aroids, like colocasia, alocasia, etc., but doesn't have anything listed under them yet.

    Susan

  • night_breed
    18 years ago

    Worldwide Tropicals is selling 5 seeds for US$55 including postage within the US.
    There's a link to the page below.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Titanum Seeds

  • bluebonsai101
    18 years ago

    Hi Troy,

    Thanks for the link as I can never remember these guys for some reason!! It also nicely makes my point in that you can buy 5 seed for $55 or you can buy a 2 inch tuber (5 cm) for $75. Assuming you keep them alive you will have five 2 inch tubers in a years time easy and then you've theoretically got $375 worth of tubers....well worth the year of effort and you know you have no chance of getting a bad tuber or something happening to the tuber during shipping. Besides, the seed are very easy to germinate :o) Dan

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