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  Dry heat death for aroids?
From: Leslie Georgeson skinnychick2 at yahoo.com> on 2003.08.05 at 22:33:10(10474)
Hello fellow aroiders,

We recently relocated to Tucson, Arizona where it's not uncommon for the temperatures to rise into the triple digits during the summer months (which is pretty hot, considering we just moved from northern Idaho, where the snow drifts can reach over 12 feet high).

At any rate, I had to transport my horde of plants with me and am now wondering how they will fair in this heat. My aroids include Alocasias, Colocasias, and Xanthosomas that I fear will simply melt away at these temperatures. Any suggestions or expert advice how I can keep my "beauties" alive? Right now I've got them all inside, except for a Colocasia gigantea, which is under the sheltered patio with my Abyssinian bananas and palm trees. This Colocasia will be my tester plant to see how it fairs. If it does well, I may bring out a few others, but I'm a bit leery about how they will do in 100+ temperatures, even in the shade.

Any advice on growing these plants in high temperatures will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Leslie

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From: "BambooChik" bamboochik at earthlink.net> on 2003.08.06 at 14:23:29(10476)
> [Original Message]
> From: Leslie Georgeson
Hello Leslie...I don't think the heat will be a problem. I think your
problem will be lack of humidity. I grow hundreds of aroids here in the
deep south where summer time temps. are regularly in the mid to upper 90's,
but we have high humidity to go along with it.

I would set up a misting system on my patio if I were you and have it set
to run every 15 minutes or so with a few second shot. It wouldn't take
that much water and you could turn it off in the evenings.

As far as your Colocasia's go, they would be perfectly happy to sit in a
wet, boggy, pot and would do very well. Xanthosomas, also should do fine
like that; at least mine do here.

Definitely keep them under shade of some kind as the constant desert sun
would not be good for them. Even the Alocasia species which would enjoy
more light would melt under those conditions without shade.

I am sure that there are more experienced growers here as far as your
conditions go who will have good advice for you, also. Sincerely, deb

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From: POHLMAND at aol.com on 2003.08.06 at 17:22:46(10477)
I live in San Bernardino, California where the temperatures reach into the
100's every summer. My anthuriums, colocasias, amorphophallus, etc. all do very
well in the shade on drip lines. I have had several of the large anthuriums
over 25 years.

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From: Leslie Georgeson skinnychick2 at yahoo.com> on 2003.08.06 at 19:45:59(10478)
Hi Bob,

The plants I would like to bring outdoors include Alocasia macrrorhiza, odora, fallax, portei, zebrina reticulata, and frydek; Colocasia gigantea, illustris, black magic, red stem, and nancy's revenge; and Xanthosoma robustum. They will be under a covered patio for most of the day, but then the sun comes around in the afternoon, so I may try to shade them with my palm trees or bananas. I'm also going to put in a misting system to see if that helps. Any other info you can offer in terms of growing the above species outdoors in Tucson's dry heat would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Leslie

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From: MossyTrail at cs.com on 2003.08.07 at 01:12:42(10479)
"BambooChik" wrote:

>Hello Leslie...I don't think the heat will be a problem. I think your
>problem will be lack of humidity.

Finally, someone said it: "It's not the heat, it's the lack of humidity!"

I always did think that "dry heat" nonsense was ridiculous; I find that dry heat affects me worse, because it sucks the moisture out of me. Give me the humid kind!! As for aroids, I concur -- unless they are naturally desert species, the dryness will probably be the biggest threat to them. There are reasons why desert plants have waxy coatings, reduced or absent leaves, etc. The misting system will probably work, but will also probably be expensive in water bills. Definitely go with the shade!

Jason Hernandez

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From: "Cooper, Susan L." SLCooper at scj.com> on 2003.08.07 at 12:20:57(10480)
Hi Leslie,
I live in Wisconsin, but the sun is strong here in the summer- I made two
shade houses on the cheap- one using a wire dog kennel with a shade cloth on
top and sides, the other using a carport setup- for less than $100 you can
get a 10x20 set up, and put shadecloth on it.
Susan

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From: "BambooChik" bamboochik at earthlink.net> on 2003.08.07 at 12:36:30(10481)
Leslie, some more suggestions I thought of after I sent my first response:
Mulch! mulch! and more mulch! Also, you could make some water filled
pebble beds to set the pots on for added humidity directly surrounding the
plants. Where there's a will there's a way!

I am a nut for cactus and succulents even though I live on a wetland. I
deal with them the best I can, altering conditions when possible, they live
on just fine in raised beds and pots filled with desert type soil and roof
covers of clear fiberglass and sometimes oscillating fans if the air is
very still in order to drop the humidity around them.

Is there nothing we won't do for our plant children? ;-) Sincerely,
deb/S.AL

From: "Alan Galloway" alan_galloway at ncsu.edu> on 2003.08.17 at 02:50:43(10492)
Note from moderator -- this note was originally sent to
aroid-l-owner@lists.ncsu.edu -- it appeared to be directed
to aroid-l@lists.ncsu.edu, hence me forwarding it onto the
list.

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