amorphophallus konjac

From: SongString at aol.com on 2003.05.04 at 18:42:45(10169) I dig my amorphophallus Konjac up after it gets wilted from frost and put it in the basement and forget about it. It always lets me know in the spring, when I happen to find it growing in the basement and think, Oh yeh, I better plant you. I just put it in a plastic grocery bag in the basement last fall with no dirt. IT just sat on the floor all winter. I forgot about it. I was looking for something in the basement on Palm Sunday, I think, and the plant had put out it's shoot or whatever it is called. IT was already over a foot tall. I brought it upstairs and had it on the floor of the living room about a week before I planted it outdoors. It grew about 6 feet in one week, in no dirt. Then instead of it's usual leaves, it had started to bloom. I didn't even know it could bloom and wondered what kind of monster it had turned into. I didn't even know what plant it was, when I got it at a garage sale a few years ago. So, I just had to find out what it was and did some research on the web and finally figured out what it was. I called our local garden store and asked how to contact the garden club and they refered me to the former president of the national mens' garden club. He came over right away and said it was a real Voodoo plant, or A. konjac. He said, when it starts to stink I would know it and it could be smelled for two blocks. Is that true? It has been cool all week, so it has remained unstinky, even though the bloom is getting bigger. IT is over 6 foot tall and had a twin during the winter. The tuber divided in half, just like cells divide in half. IT sure is a curiousity! I live in Ohio. Nancy +More In a message dated 5/2/03 11:18:36 PM, awootten@nrao.edu writes: << Nancy, I have several here in Virginia, but none has poked its greenery above the ground yet...A. bulbifer is coming up however, for the first time in ages in the Spring rather than in the Fall... Clear skies, Al >>

From: ken at spatulacity.com on 2003.05.05 at 01:10:17(10171) It will smell bad for only 2 days and while it's pretty stinky it certainly can't be smelled for 2 blocks. You will want to move it out of the house or into an unused room and close the door, however. It will be happier not in the basement. You can keep it upstairs anywhere you want after washing off all the dirt. It makes a nice conversation piece. Keeping it in the basement will definitely delay blooming. It will bloom earlier if it's warm. Also, putting it in a plastic bag isn't the best thing. If you really want to bag it you should keep it in paper so it can breathe a bit. And as I said before, I'll happily pay shipping for any offsets you want to send me. You don't throw those away, do you? -Ken Mosher +More Andover, CT SongString@aol.com wrote: > > I dig my amorphophallus Konjac up after it gets wilted from frost and put it > in the basement and forget about it. It always lets me know in the spring, > when I happen to find it growing in the basement and think, Oh yeh, I better > plant you. I just put it in a plastic grocery bag in the basement last fall > with no dirt. IT just sat on the floor all winter. I forgot about it. I was > looking for something in the basement on Palm Sunday, I think, and the plant > had put out it's shoot or whatever it is called. IT was already over a foot > tall. I brought it upstairs and had it on the floor of the living room about > a week before I planted it outdoors. It grew about 6 feet in one week, in no > dirt. Then instead of it's usual leaves, it had started to bloom. I didn't > even know it could bloom and wondered what kind of monster it had turned > into. I didn't even know what plant it was, when I got it at a garage sale a > few years ago. So, I just had to find out what it was and did some research > on the web and finally figured out what it was. > > I called our local garden store and asked how to contact the garden club and > they refered me to the former president of the national mens' garden club. > He came over right away and said it was a real Voodoo plant, or A. konjac. > He said, when it starts to stink I would know it and it could be smelled for > two blocks. Is that true? It has been cool all week, so it has remained > unstinky, even though the bloom is getting bigger. IT is over 6 foot tall and > had a twin during the winter. The tuber divided in half, just like cells > divide in half. IT sure is a curiousity! I live in Ohio. > > Nancy > In a message dated 5/2/03 11:18:36 PM, awootten@nrao.edu writes: > > << Nancy, > I have several here in Virginia, but none has poked its greenery above > the ground yet...A. bulbifer is coming up however, for the first time in > ages in the Spring rather than in the Fall... > Clear skies, > Al >>

From: SongString at aol.com on 2003.05.05 at 17:11:59(10173) I only put it in the basement after the fall frost kills the leaves. I dig it up and put it in the basement. It was in a plastic bag, but it was open and could breath. I have a few little tubers available for sale. I already put all of the tubers in dirt. One is planted outdoors and the other is in a pot outdoors on my porch. It is in the 60's so it has not stunk much yet. It got a little warm last week and I could just barely smell it, when I stuck my nose in the bloom. I hope you are right about the smell not being that bad. Time will tell. Nancy +More In a message dated 5/5/03 2:02:39 AM, ken@spatulacity.com writes: << It will smell bad for only 2 days and while it's pretty stinky it certainly can't be smelled for 2 blocks. You will want to move it out of the house or into an unused room and close the door, however. It will be happier not in the basement. You can keep it upstairs anywhere you want after washing off all the dirt. It makes a nice conversation piece. Keeping it in the basement will definitely delay blooming. It will bloom earlier if it's warm. Also, putting it in a plastic bag isn't the best thing. If you really want to bag it you should keep it in paper so it can breathe a bit. And as I said before, I'll happily pay shipping for any offsets you want to send me. You don't throw those away, do you? -Ken Mosher Andover, CT >>

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