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M y Sweet Bulbifer, - I Loved it till the END.

ARUM
18 years ago

Bad year for my Amorphophallus. My big Konjack put up 5 separate leaves,( I was hoping it would put up one and would continue to grow into a huge bulb), and my Bulbifer which I grew from a bubil rotted. I guess the drainage wasn't good enough. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!! Did you ask if I would like some cheese with this whine? :) Arum

Comments (7)

  • kwoods
    18 years ago

    I feel yer pain ARUM. I put one of my bulbifer in a thrive or die situation this summer and although it did neither it did kind of go backwards (much smaller corm).

    Cheer up :Â) one thing I do know about growing plants/gardens.... there's always spring to look forward to.

  • konjacking
    18 years ago

    Arum,
    How could you kill Konjac? They grow like weeds! I live in Michigan and have them come back each year from pieces left in the ground next to my house! I didn't even bother digging those up this fall! so far the largest one I dug is 17 lbs 13 oz. can't wait to see the flower it puts up this spring!
    David

  • bluebonsai101
    18 years ago

    Arum, My condolensces on the bulbifer!!! As for the konjac....I personally like it when they split like this. I can not tell you how many times I've put 10-15 pound tubers in the ground and then they do not have a long enough growth period to use up the whole tuber and you actually pull a smaller tuber out of the pot. This year I had 6 tubers all larger than 15 pounds that went in the ground.....now I've got 6 tubers that are around 5 pounds each.....the difference in the size of the plant they produce is really not that impressive and I'd really rather have them put up 3 petioles or more and then pull out 3 tubers that are all 5 pounds each. That way you have more flowers in the spring and still get wonderful plants. This has been my experience with these for many years and so I'm always wondering why people want these monster tubers up north where the growing season is soooo short. I hate pulling the tuber out of the pot and seeing 5 pounds of last years tuber on the bottom of my new one....always breaks my heart...please, please oh great konjac Gods allow my large tubers to always put up multiple petioles and divide happily :o) Dan

  • susanlynne48
    18 years ago

    Arum - so good to see you back over here! Although you DO grow lovely MG's (from what I hear---I know you're hoping for that digital soon).

    What did you use to amend your soil?

    Dan, weren't you the one who recommended mixing pine bark with the soil amendments for better drainage? I did that this year with some of my new colocasias/alocasias.

    Also, are amorphs more susceptible to root rot than other bulbous plants?

    If an amorph puts up too much foliage, can you not cut some of it off, so the energy goes into one stem and the bulb, rather than all 5 stems?

    Sorry for all of the questions, and once again, I'm so so sorry, Arum. BTW, I just got about a 3" tuber of konjac in the mail. I am going to store it for winter and plant out in spring, hence, all the questions.

    Susan

  • ARUM
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Kwoods, I'm already devising a sneaky plan to get another Bulbifer, but starting it from a tiny bubil again though is out of the question! Thanks for your comment. :)

    David, if I had a Konjack that was almost 18 pounds like you do, I certainly wouldn't whine either. Mine was 11 pounds before it divided.

    Dan, theres just something special about the idea of pulling a 40 pound tuber out of the ground! And yet,the great Konjack Gods struck him with their wand and "SHEHSAM"!!!, he was divided into a bunch of babies. I haven't taken him out of the half barrel yet,( the area that was divised to make a really huge bulb), so who knows what will be found? The garden is full of TONS of small ones, now the challenge is to get a really BIG ONE!!! One like iamwhatiam's, -( Mich), who seems to have truely disappeared.

    Susan, yeah I still don't have a cool camara that takes pics you can post. However, I do have the most beautiful MG's you COULD ever see! :) I used miracle grow soil, and also those little white balls that make for good drainage. (for my bulbs, not the MG"S),- Perlite? No, I'm not an expert on all that stuff, I just like to grow things, and most of the time it works. Thank you ALL, for your concern for my Amorphophallus blunders. May my Bulbifer rest in peace. :) Arum

  • bluebonsai101
    18 years ago

    Susan,

    Yep, I use pine bark and perlite....I can not use any peat as that causes rot in a hurry for me in my rainy environment. Yes, you can theoretically cut off all but one growing point to get a big tuber.....unless of course it doesn't consume the entire tuber from the year before.....it happens to my huge ones all the time!!! Yes, they rot easily......konjac and bulbifer not a real problem, but many of the wonderful Thai species with long thin tubers are a hassle if you grow outside like me....if you have a GH then I think almost any of them would be quite manageable. I do not think you can rot a Colocasia/Alocasia/Xanthosoma unless you really give it the college try....although I only grow a few so perhaps I shouldn't say anything.

    Arum.....you can get a 2 inch bulbifer for $5-6 nowadays....real common, real cheap.....I wouldn't sweat it for a moment. If you pay more than that you overpaid in my opinion....or maybe I'm all wet on that as well....on ebay they may cost a bit more, but that is because people have to get back the listing fee, ebay fee and PayPal fee....all-in-all that is more than 10% of the total. Sounds like you need to talk mom and dad into a digital camera for the holidays....you do not need a fancy one....mine is a simple-minded (best for me) point-and-shoot :o) Dan

  • ARUM
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Ok guys, I am once again trying to grow a giant Konjac bulb. My sister gave back the one I gave her,( shes not as thrilled with them as I am), which was about 11 lbs, and Dan, I did what you said, and already pinched one little shoot that came up. The big one in the middle of the bulb is also coming up and the leaf should be a really good size. Hopefully it won't divide this time. :) Arum

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