and the small amorph hewitii
they are in 1 gallon pots

I hope someone with more experiance with a big one chimes in soon -- you may need to find a spot indoors before you cant it through the door anymore! LOL
If you dont have room for all the A. hewitii I have a couple of varieties to trade....:)

lol ya.. im thinking by end of sept will be when
the titanum stays inside until may next yr..
im pretty tough ..:) i grow alot of bananas too..
my biggest ensetes get hauled in and out in spring
before they go get planted in gardens.(1st part of june)
i am working on more lights for the biggie though..:)
i have 8 hewitti .the bigger one about a ft tall.and
the small ones i got as sprouted seedlings..
im hooked on amorphs..
i hope to get all 4 of the "tropical" amorphs..
titanum,hewitii,gigas,and decus-silvae..
ive seen gigas and decus-silvae sometimes available from
european growers.. im sure must be some american amorph
enthusiasts too.. just havent found them..yet..:)

I dont have those, sadly--I could offer A. ongsakulii, or henryi.

no worries.. theres a couple amorphs/relatives up on
ebay..out of germany..im tempted to get.. its getting
near to late for overseas shipping ..
i will have to check out the ongsakulli.. im not familar
with it.. is it indegenous to japan/orient?
i see some from africa..s.america show up on ebay..
again ..european growers..
this could become an obsession for me..
mmm.. to late..LOL :)

All my amorphs, including Titan died in hurricane Ike, apparently they do not like being submerged in salt water. I just haven`t had the heart to replace any of them. I sure did miss them this summer.
Thanks for the pics.
Tally HO!

wow..bummer on your loss beachplant..:(
im thinking these amorphs will become like extended
family..LOL i understand some can live for decades..
all the nuturing,love,attention to help them thrive..
and then loose them.. truely sad..
plus..some of these babies..arent cheap..
im still tempted to get a "biggie". .titanum...
40# +.. but i have to get a greenhouse situation worked out
1st.. im "thinking" a corm that size could be close to
flowering maturity.. but more so..the vegetative growth
would could get 8ft +.. i have a tall ceiling..but..
LOL what we do for our amorphs.. :)

well leaf is starting to unfurl from petiole..
yea !!
?? my amorphs (konjac,other spp., and now titanum)
the vegetative growths never get really tall..
im just starting ..so maybe thats some of it..
but i was thinking as mentioned..maybe plan for a 6ft
growth.. im happy.. some discussion has been on this
on other garden site.. and some published articles..on height
and how much light the amorph gets..
mine get alot.. sure like to hear others insights on this..
much thanks..and heres couple pics..

and close up.. the girth of petiole sure has
increased.. i can only imagine how big it will be in
5 yrs.. i'll have a tree!! lol

Well, how tall is she now????

its 52" above the soil now..and the petiole has
really grown..its just shy of 4 1/2 " in diameter..
heres a recent pic.. this yr im going to be ok..i hope..
next season.. mmmm. it may be time for me to put up a
greenhouse..
the packs on the soil are to keep soil warm..
days around 84F..nites 74F..

Spectacular!

Will you be attempting cuttings?

i'll take some pics tomorrow how it is now..
it almost hit the ceiling..now the leaf has opened up..and the 3 branches are spreading out..whew..dodged that one..
LOL i dont think i'll do any leaf cuttings. im in plannings now for greenhouse for next yr..this baby is going to (if i dont screw things up) get huge..
the petiole is just over 5 in now.. one thing i am learning
about these amorphs..they are heavy feeders..i have bumped up my fertilizing ..i think i kept my konjacs on a diet over the summer..my bad.. i do hope if i keep this titanum
a happy camper..maybe in another yr..it will be blooming
size.. my understanding.if you grow them well..the corms can double in size over a season..that could put this one
in 3rd season at 40+ pounds..i think thats close to blooming size..??? what do you all think..
are you growing amorphs grabme?
double in

You better head over to the hardware store and get a ceiling jack to make more room....It will still get taller after the leaf opens!

sigh..u better not be right johnson..:) LOL
i have about 2ft now from top of leaf to ceiling..
i hope im good for this yr..
its definately greenhouse time next yr..
??i take it johnson.. you have a mother plant you got the
leaf cuttings from?? if so..how big is your titanum?? how
old?? has it bloomed??
these plants are great stuff arent they.. :)

Yea a have few amorphs, a nice form of konjac, and some un-ided dwarf. As mentioned, I NEED MORE...

The dwarf was a "mystery plant"
While repoting my largest Gasteria, A plant I had bought over a year previous an acorn rolled out of it, darn squirrels! Upon further inspection it was a tiny aroid bulb, and that little bulb lay dormancy 14 months and still resprouted, once I started treating it right. It was miraculous ! This year, its first full year of healthy growth,it produced 2 petioles. :D
Oddly enough, this year while unpot "Pappy" my konjac bulb, I found the main bulb (2.5 pounds now)3 stolons, 3 marble size bulbils and one rather large bulbil. It turned out, that large bulbil was a massive acorn. Darn squirrels!

Furthermore, Ive read that Kew gardens managed to get a titanum to bloom in under 10 years, or in its tenth year.
It was a break through because no one else had done that "in captivity". Third year seems unlikely, but im crossin my fingers for ya.

dont ya just love the aroids..and amorphs !! :)
addictive..i think titanum will be a challenge for me
just because of size..a couple yrs..its going to be a tree
heres some pics..

and another angle ..same titanum
its 57 in above the pot now..

Hi,
My mother plant is just starting its 3rd growth cycle from seed, and I'm guessing its going to hit about 24-30 inches tall -- I know it should be bigger, but last cycle it it didnt put on much growth.
BTW I took a couple of leaf cuttings when the petiole flopped, and one of them is rooted up and making a small tuber.
Mike

Im soooooooo envious...Ive got get one...

My dwarfs still got a leaf maybe Ill try with it before it gets any more yellow...

* Posted by johnsonm08 5 (My Page) on
Wed, Oct 17, 12 at 21:31
"You better head over to the hardware store and get a ceiling jack to make more room....It will still get taller after the leaf opens!"

They tend to get smaller with the leaf opening out. While it's growing and "rolled up" all the rhachis are vertical. Once it starts unfurling all the rhachis become horizontal, basically losing you that height.

hi tropic!! how are things? how did your amorphs
fair during your winter?? winter for you i guess.it never
really gets cold there does it?
i wish we were going into spring..instead of fall..
alas..lol..
how are your larger titanums? i still havent gotten
a paeoniifolius.. i was hoping someone would have a
HUGE corm up for sale on ebay.. otherwise i'll have to
wait for spring..
its the addiction to these plants..lol
?? any suggestions for me on my titanum??
one thing thats different for me growing titanum over other
plants is i need to remember to water/fertilize it more than i would other plants.. keeping the soil on the semi
moist side.. i have alot of perlite in the soil mix..
so the soil drains well..therefore..i need to water more
often.. ?? which im thinking isnt a bad thing?? the fast
draining soil that is..???
will post another pic in a month ..what the progress is..

Fabulous thread, great to see these!

My old plant got badly damaged last season, wind damage then a tree branch fell on it. It went into early dormancy after only a couple of months of growth. Needless to say the tuber had shrunk. But instead of as previously, its dormancy only lasted about 9 months (previously 12). So it's growing again and is about 40 mm out of the ground so far.

One of my seedlings went into dormancy (its first) in mid winter and then resprouted after only a couple of weeks. The other seedling is still going. After its first year it developed a second leaf. A few months later it developed a third leaf. When the third was unfurled the first leaf withered. A couple of weeks ago the second leaf withered so now it only has one which is still going well. Both the seedlings are in the shade house since they're still small.

The big plant (40 mm so far) is also in the shade house but I'm thinking of moving it out so it has more head room. Behind the shade house I'm putting up a bamboo frame that will stop any branches coming down on it. The shade house will also protect it from south east wind which is the main one over the year. Unfortunately you can't predict which way the wind will come during cyclones, but I can make some adjustments if that eventuates.

My A. prainii grew through winter again but as the weather heated up it's gone into dormancy again. Some of the A' paeoniifolius have broken ground now, along with some of the A. galbra. The A. bulbifer should be through soon. The A. symonianus, A. albispathus and A. konjac seem a bit slower than the others.

With all the extra tubers I'm getting I hope to get a start on the new Amorph garden where I just toss them and leave them to their own devices. I've picked an area where the wind at flowering time will take the 'fragrance' away from the house.

I checked on my newer cutting today and it started to spike so i potted it up. This one was from a leaf as the mother was starting into dormancy.

Great stuff man, keep the pics coming.

You have definately got a knack for this, that leaf looks horrible, I assume it looked better when you cut it off.
Its hard to believe they can have that much will to live and the ability to put it to use like that. Amazing!
Just for reference what size that pot, and do you have more pics posted on another sight we can see? Id like to see what the bulb looked like before you potted, I cant get enough of that.

you really have a talent there johnsonm !!!
ive kicked around the idea of cutting some leaves off mine
and trying layering to start sprouts..
?? any suggestions?? do you keep your attempts in enclosed
in a greenhouse tent..keep humidity high?
??? tropic.. ive read that titanum can have a real sporatic
dormancy.. do you know of..or experience any kind of
"average" dormancy..?? any specifics on period of dormancy
and corm size? difference at different ages of the corm?
i have more than just curiosity on this..
if i were to get a really BIG corm.. 40lbs.. which im thinking would be (if grown well) maybe a season from blooming.. how would i keep this monster..LOL
as in the vegetative stage..also varying..??? but if
i could get one to be in vegetative stage during our summer
here..i could work it..LOL..
actually i think im probably delusional..LOL i need a greenhouse !!!!
also..good question grabme.. with a 40lb corm..im going to need to find a BIG pot to put that babi..

GMBTH-Its in a 6" pot--I didnt take all the soil off, so there really wasnt a photo opp, but the tuber is quarter size.
Its usually recommended to try this with a new leaf, but I figured -Why not?-It had started to yellow along the edges so I knew dormancy was coming on.
L-I have a plastic "critter keeper" with a heater attached to the bottom(its a setup you can get at a pet store for hermit crabs). I have 2" of sterilized soil in it and cover it with saran wrap to keep the humidity high. 14 hrs fluorescent light.
Mine has only been dormant a couple of times-10 weeks or so, but this last time it was longer Most of my other amorphs do what they want when they want....
Mike

Lomodor, You are going to need that greenhouse soon by the look of it, that bad boys lookin good. I asked you in another thread roughly where you live, I basically just finished my greenhouse, if your anywhere near me, zone 6 is pretty big maybe I could help, im pretty resourceful. :D

johnsonm08 Thanks for all the info really good stuff!
That seems like a pretty good sized bulb considering...
I cant wait to try this for myself, even if not with a titanum...yet :D

Lomodor, titanums don't seem to be regulated by any outside stimulus, not unusual considering they're a 2 wet season equatorial. I'm in a one wet season equatorial climate, so local plants do conform to the annually alternating wet and dry seasons. Day lengths are fairly constant throughout the year so the titanum just eats (grows) when it feels like it, sleeps whenever (just like teenagers would like to do). With my 3 plants, they've all behaved differently, but getting irrigation throughout our dry season means they have it "just like home".

thanks all for thoughts..
grab..im in mid state utah..our coldest month
jan..maybe 10F but not for long..
greenhouse im thinking of i would use polycarb..10MM so
it will have good insulation..
my biggest concern is height..i plan on 12ft..but im thinking after a few seasons and sucessful growing that might not be tall enough..sigh
tropic: i stay jealous of you being in tropical australia.. you just put the plants outside.and not many worries of cold nits.. sigh..LOL
im going to have to be the one to adjust to growing these
amorphs.. i think..not the other way around..LOL

heres a question to u all.. my big titanum..going good!!
has put out a "sprout" ..dont know what else to call it..
i had one about 6 weeks ago..but i broke it off..oops..:(
my bad..well..another one is back.. about 2 inches tall
right now..i just noticed it.. duh..LOL
would it be comming from a root.. the corm?
should i let it be.. dig around it a bit and see if i can
separate it ? i dont want to do any damage to the mother corm though..
what do u all think???
thanks

another question...with titanum.. what has been u alls
experience with duration of vegetative growth stage?
did u all find any affect of a "short vegetative" period
on the growth of the corm?
also..i guess the dormancy can be pretty varied.from what im reading of your experience..tropic??? do you think a longer dormancy was influenced by any outside conditions?
also the other way around..a shorter dormancy influenced
by outside conditions??
love this stuff.. learning alot..:) thanks all...

after a bit more poking around online this post seems to be the source for info on the topic, atleast as far a google is concerned. Good stuff!

My attempt at a cutting was a failure, my plant was just to close to dormancy, I removed a portion of a leaf but i began to turn yellow in hours, the remaining portion of the leaf yellowed 5 days after. The bulb had no live roots at that point, Oh well.

I wonder if on your next attempt you could possibly take some more pics, Im a bit unsure as to where to cut, ive read plenty but a good ole pic helps my brain alot.

Thanks for the great post

how are everyones ammorphs..especially titanums..doing
this winter..at least winter in N hemisphere..:)
for next growing season..im not going to "overthink" things
as i did last yr..LOL can you say OCD..LOL
i think comments on using more perlite/pumice is something im going to incorporate in my soils.. and use a potting mix
with fungicide added to mix.. sigh. learned my lesson there..
no more of my own compost,or leaf commpost..i think its just to much organic matter for titanum..with its propensity to rot.. again another sigh..
anyways.. hope to see some pics.. looking foward to great
new growing season !!!!!!!

Oh no- did you lose your big one?
Pics later tonight of mine
Mike

ya i did.. %#(*%#( lol
it was my fault ..the plant was doing great
up to end of nov..the leaves were sort of wilting..so
i was thinking plant was going into dormancy..wrong..
it just didnt look right..good colour in leaves..but the
stalk wasnt shrivelling up.. and the pot was HOT..
so i decided to unpot it and see.. only to find a much larger
corm..sigh..but all mush.. again $%(#$$&*(%$
from my investigations..the corm got attacked from the fungus in the soil.. i "was" using my own mix.. wrong..
way to much organic matter..great for garden soil or outside but in a closed system like my pot..and titanum being vulerable to fungus.. it just made mush out of the corm..
so.. im not giving up !!!!! :)
i have a corm comming in spring..and THIS time..:) im using a high quality potting mix..with a fungicide..
still going to add kelp meal,slow release fertilizer..but
no more of my own compost,and leaf compost..it was the undooing of that wonderful plant..
sigh..
looking foward to seeing your pics ...

Sorry to hear that! I use a commercial mix, but sift out the finest particles then add coarse perilte. I also dont water it nearly as much as some sources say it needs.
Here is the pic. The taller is my original plant and the small is the newest baby. I sent the 2 stem baby away to a new home. Now that the holidays are over I will start a new cutting in the next week or 2 and start a new thread with pics of the steps.
Mike

Here is a pic from the local botanic gardens --I guess its about a 12' er.
Mike

great pics mike !! maybe my new corm..if i dont
kill it..sigh..lol can get size of your 2nd pic
in a yr or so !!!! :)
great pics on yours mike..
love the patterning on the petiole..leaves are very
interesting..
late summer i had it out front..and mail man was so intrigued
by it.. he took pics of it several days..LOL
dreaming of spring.. aint showin any signs of showin
up anytime soon though.. sigh..
were having zero temps F nites.. lucky if we get mid 20sF
days.. enough of january ....

brutal lomodor, real sorry to hear that...

I wonder what role the heat played, it seems like it may have been a big factor, but i dont know, just a guess...

It lloks I may get to join the titan club soon, it seems I may have a couple of nice tubers lined up for warmer weather...
:D

great news grab.. i havent given up on sucessfully
growing..and eventually getting a titanum to bloom..
:)
im pretty sure where i went wrong was in the soil..
titanum seem to be very susceptible to fungus..
and the soil i was using..a great soil wasnt the best
for a potted up titanum..lesson learned.. :(
ive learned from some of you here.. i plan to use a
bio fungicide from now on with all my amorphs..
?? so grab..where are u getting your titanums from??
tindara? friend..?
when ya get them..hope u post unpotted pics..and growth
progress.. i know im going to keep more pics of mine at
various stages..
sort of science project..:) LOL
good luck to ya !!!

yea they should be getting to me thru a gardenweb friend :D

i cant stop takin pics of my plants, i just dont have the time or constitution to get em on here...

thats super grab !! good friend !!
i hope ya will post pics of the corm..and its progress..
ive learned so much this last yr..
definately things not to do..sigh.. and not to
overthink on some things too..
so typical of me..lol
my small titanums are doing great.. not making same
mistake with the big one..
i'll get another big one this spring.. probably get
a mid sized one too.. nothing is better than excess..
lol
weather here is giving us a slight break.. days moving into
low 40F by weekend..wow..heat wave.. LOL
anxious for spring !!!!

heres pic of latest titanum thats come out of dormancy..about 6 weeks ago.. last 2 weeks its really shot up..its 7" tall..when i repotted this corm it was just under 1" diameter..
looking foward to getting my "biggie" next month..:) its like
christmas..lol.. i plan to get a couple smaller ones too..
also on outlook for the other "tropical" amorphs..they show up on ebay ..from germany off and on..
hope to see how others are doing with their titanums.. and pics!!! :)

i am always amazed at how much these plants
grow..in such a short time..since last posting..that particular
titanum is now 13" tall.. lol im guessing it'll put on another
couple inches before leaves unfurl.. very cool..
i hope i can care for it well enough so the corm more than
doubles this growing season..!!! :)
?? does anyone else keep a plant journal on how some plants do over time?? im thinking of keeping one..with pics.. for my own info..and i am getting old..LOL so my mind doesnt play tricks on me..:) LOL
hope u all post pics of how your titanums are doing!!
hint... hint...

Hi,
This is the one from the 10/24/12 post, the new leaf started before the old one was dead. The new leaf is about 18" and roughly 2x the size of the old one (which is still attached even though its crispy). I guess its not going to go dormant.
Its growing really fast--at less than a year and its already 2/3 as tall as the mother plant I took the cutting from.
Mike

very cool johnson !!
i wish i had taken some leaf cutting from my big
plant last fall.. sigh..lesson learned..lol
i have all my hewetti,titanums out this afternoon..
i think its 70F ish.. but nice and sunny..
always warms up the pots..and i "think" ..yea..i think
i hear them out there singing..LOL :)
i bring them in hr before sun goes down..

anyone else having trouble posting pics?
i tried to upload current pic of small titanum..and wont
go thru..tried several times...????

I'm having trouble reading this thread, can't get it to download properly, especially the photos. It ends up crashing on me. I think the thread's getting too long. Maybe time to start a new one.