I think everyone here highly recommends Troy. You will see his posts occasionally (under Nightbreed). I know Dan (BlueBonsai) has personal experience with his plants/seeds.

Susan

Not worried about the quality of Troy's stuff considering all the accolades he gets here. His site is Sumatra Flora and you need an import permit/phyto maybe a cites, not sure, to buy direct. I'm only looking for a single plant (hewitii) so I'm not sure buying direct is worth the trouble.

He now has a US distributor called Worldwide Tropicals or Worldwide Orchids and I can't find any info on them on garden watchdog. Wondering if anyone else has gone this route.

I havent bought from troys us distributer but I have emailed them to ask a question or two. Prompt, very nice, informative emails.. So I cant tell you about what youll get in the mail, but I can say they have awesome customer service

Chris

Thanks Chris.

I took the plunge on a hewitti in a 3" pot.

The U.S. source is way too expensive in my opinion, but that's just me. Unfortunatley, Troy is unwilling to sell to anyone in the U.S. now as he has set up a sole-distributer deal with these guys...oh well. As for hewitii....you can buy seed for $1 each from Malesiana and then grow dozens for the price of one plant from these guys....seriously, the seed are easy to germinate (they do take 3 months though so they are slow) and then you can sell off the extras if you do not want them...a bit slower, but way cheaper and pretty darn easy if you ask me...just my 2 cents....I've got maybe 30 of them growing out back from seed now....one is 2 years old and really is starting to look like the king of beasts it is supposed to be.....well, it is maybe 12 inches tall anyway with a true leaf canopy....not the 5-7 leaflets that indicate it was just germinated :o) Dan

Troy's seedlings are a bit pricy for me, when I can get something similar from Tony for less. I know his plants are more rare, but $145 for 3 plants in 3.5" pots, is like, over the top.

Susan

Hi Susan,

I think once all the fanatics are done paying silly prices the cost will come down for these incredibly difficult to grow species!!! Bear in mind that PDN was charging $100 for a titanum a year ago and now it is down to $70 and likely to go lower as the market saturates. Of course, decent size tubers will always fetch a premium, but 3.5 inch pots are nothing more than seedlings or tiny offsets of most species. I still say that if you can find the seed it is a good alternative, but a slower one admittedly :o) Dan

That's why I'm still looking for the seeds. I don't mind springing $25 for a nice plant, but $50 is above and beyond, and I don't have to be the first kid on the block to have one of this or that. My competitive edge took a nosedive when I became single.

Susan

Hi Dan,

Seeds are likely the sensible way to go on hewitii but I've never been sensible nor patient. Have germinated and grown on Arisaema but so far not Amorphophallus, probably should give it a try. Worldwide is selling on ebay and you can get things for less than they list on their website (as long as you resist the temptation to get into a bidding war) but still not cheap.

I'm far from wealthy but it seems to me I'll easily get $28 worth of pleasure out of this badboy the first time it comes out of dormancy, everything after that is gravy as far as I'm concerned. Besides, I was "good' this year......... so far.

Susan, I don't think people who really enjoy these or other unusual plants do it to be the "first kid on the block" or for competitive reasons, but I could be wrong. Actually I'm not entirely sure why I myself collect and grow unusual plants other than that they are interesting, challenging and often hard to find (I think "the hunt" is a big part of it for me). Having success with something a bit more difficult is very satisfying as well.

I'd be interested to know why others get "addicted" to growing unusual or hard to find/grow plants. Wish there was a plant collectors forum.

Well, actually there is another forum that just got started www.blueboard.com/aroid. You have to register to participate, but there is a lot of collector info on it. You might enjoy it because it a lot more sophisticated group of people. Me, as a beginner, enjoy this forum best. There is also a bit of trading, seeds offered, etc. I didn't mean to offend anyone with the "first kid on the block" comment. It just seemed to me that a lot of folks can be kind of edgy about getting that unknown before anyone else does. Doesn't have a thing to do with the fact that they have been looking for it a long, long time (which some have been). Yes, $28 is a reasonable price for that, but some of the others are priced WAY over the top IMO. I don't want something just because it is rare, but because I like and admire the plant itself. To me, just because it is a new discovery, doesn't warrant an exhorbitant price tag.

Susan

Does anyone have any links for sources to buy seeds from? I'm looking at buying seedling titanum for $40, but is that a good price? I'd also be interested in a couple other seeds.

Thanks,
Robert

HI Robert,

I think that $40 is the best you can hope for with titanum seedlings.....I'd say yes, as long as you can see it is really titanum from the pic.....it is an easy species to ID from the picture if it is a quality shot. I just got in seed of angustispathus, kachinensis, impressus, longituberosus, macrorhizus, mossambicnesis and yunnanensis this weekend....I'm am so excited. Most of these are either going to be grown by me or shipped to a good friend in Austrailia, but I may have a few of the non-African species available...I've already put the word out to people that know me so they may be gone by the end of the day...drop me a line and I can let you know if there are any still not accounted for in a day or so...but they are ready to be planted so I can not wait too long.....some were sprouting the newspaper they arrived in :o)

Why I got addicted.....because I love to try and grow these incredibly beautiful plants that are tropical in appearance and yet can be successfully grown by us northern geeks.....sometimes with insane difficulty I might add...need I say more :o) Dan

Dan, I just sent you an e-mail. Wanted to know if you have some of the smaller varieties that I could start under flourescent lights. Thanks,

Susan