Advice on A. Titanum

From: TM8TERS4U at aol.com on 1999.02.26 at 00:09:56(3078) I have a an Amorphophalus Titanum in a one gallon container. It is about 2.5' tall. About half of the leaf is yellow brown and withering. It seems otherwise ok and shows no sign of going down. Should I leave it alone, or cut it down and let a new stalk grow back? Thanks to the experts in advance. Rick Cohen +More Miami Florida tm8ters4u@aol.com

From: Don Burns <burns at mobot.mobot.org> on 1999.02.26 at 00:57:34(3079) > I have a an Amorphophalus Titanum in a one gallon container. It is about 2.5' > tall. About half of the leaf is yellow brown and withering. It seems > otherwise ok and shows no sign of going down. Should I leave it alone, or cut > it down and let a new stalk grow back? Rick, That one gallon container must be close to showing signs of pregnancy. DON'T TAKE A KNIFE TO THAT PETIOLE! I'm certainly no expert, but here is what I recommend: 1 - Your plant is showing signs of going dormant. In another week or three the leaf will collapse. When it does, leave the petiole alone. Don't try pulling it from the pot because it will still be attached to the tuber. 2 - After another week or two the petiole will separate naturally. 3 - When you remove exhume whatever is underneath you will probably find a tuber that is 5 or 6 inches in diameter. So obtain an oversize container. My tubers that are this size are in 25 or 30 gallon containers. From what I have seen so far, one of the secrets in growing these things is to give the tubers as much room as possible. 3 - I wash tubers down in a solution of water and Physan. Then I'll usually sprinkle a little Captan on it making sure that any soft, or open sores get some of the Captan. 3 - Replant in fresh medium. I think this is especially important if the tuber has any open sores. The medium should be slightly moist. When you are going through the repotting process, don't leave the tuber out of medium any longer than you have to. And certainly don't store it in the open until it shows signs of growth. This is sure death for titanum. No watering until you see the top of a petiole peek out from the medium. This might take only four weeks, or it might take four months. I have experienced both. Once you see growth begin, the watering and fertilization. High phosphorous content preferred. I periodically give mine a heavy dose of bone meal as a slow release source of phosphorous. In the repotting process at Fairchild layers of cow manure (composted I think) are buried in the containers. I have not done this. This is a formula that seems to be working in the south Florida climate. I'm sure you hear a bunch of variations on the above. There are several success stories out there and I hope those will be shared with us. Don +More Don Burns Plantation, FL USA Zone 10b

From: Wilbert Hetterscheid <hetter at vkc.nl> on 1999.02.26 at 17:34:58(3081) What you might want to do is check the base of the petiole by digging into the pot to the top of the tuber. When only half or a part of a leaf dies down, this may indicate a fouling part of the petiole base resulting in lack of food for that part of the leaf that depends on that fouling petiole base-part. If the base-part is indeed in bad condition (slimey, brownish) then try to cut/scrape it away and check if the foul originates from the tuber (in which case your problem is bigger than you want). If so, also cut away the fouling part of the tuber. The extent of the damage may lead you to decide to dig up the whole thing, cut off the leaf entirely and clean the whole kaboodle. Use fungicides etc. to desinfect cut/scraped surfaces. If all this is not the case, then you can leave the plant as it is but keep checking that the dying part does not itself lead to infections of the petiole base. Good luck! . Wilbert +More > ---------- > From: TM8TERS4U@aol.com[SMTP:TM8TERS4U@aol.com] > Reply To: aroid-l@mobot.org > Sent: vrijdag 26 februari 1999 1:08 > To: hetter@VKC.NL > Subject: Advice on A. Titanum > > I have a an Amorphophalus Titanum in a one gallon container. It is > about 2.5' > tall. About half of the leaf is yellow brown and withering. It seems > otherwise ok and shows no sign of going down. Should I leave it > alone, or cut > it down and let a new stalk grow back? > > Thanks to the experts in advance. > > Rick Cohen > Miami Florida > tm8ters4u@aol.com >

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