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 This is a continuously updated archive of the Aroid-L mailing list in a forum format - not an actual Forum. If you want to post, you will still need to register for the Aroid-L mailing list and send your postings by e-mail for moderation in the normal way.

  Amorphophallus konjac
From: grsjr at juno.com (George R Stilwell, Jr.) on 1998.03.03 at 21:59:59(1938)
Paul,

Amorphophallus konjac grows very well in North Carolina and lots of other
places in the USA.

To get the full details of growing it in the USA, contact Tony Avent
.

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From: ManFont at aol.com on 1998.06.30 at 00:50:24(2380)
Hello, I'm new to this list. In keeping with my usual habit, I am attempting
to learn as much as possible regarding the cultural requirements of my soon to
arrive new acquisition; I just ordered one from Plants Delights Nursery - A.
konjac.

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From: plantnut at shadow.net (Dewey Fisk) on 1998.06.30 at 04:32:01(2381)
Luis,
Sorry, I have some bad news for you... Amorphophallus konjac will not grow
for us here in S. Florida. It is too hot in the winter time... and
possibly in the summer. It needs a rest period that is much cooler than we
can normally provide. I have been told to keep the tubers in the
refrigerator here during the winter....

As far as the potting media for any Amorphophallus, the best, for my
growing conditions, is a light epiphytic mix and a fertilizer with a high
middle number. I use 1/3 peat, 1/3 perlite and 1/3 composted pine bark
which is available from V-J Growers in Homestead and Universal Enterprises
in Pompano.

I have an A. konjac that was given to me several years ago. The tuber was
over 8 inhes across. Each year the tuber gets smaller and smaller and this
last year, it was only as large as the end of my thumb. It did not come
up.

Sorry to give you the bad news....
Dewey

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From: "Jared R. Shortman" <jared at libcong.com> on 1998.06.30 at 12:47:19(2383)
I wouldn't say that A. konjac minds summer heat too much. At least not here
in Tucson. I have several thriving plants and a few more people I know have
some as well.

Jared R. Shortman

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From: DJMJ94A at prodigy.com (MR REGGIE WHITEHEAD) on 1998.06.30 at 12:52:47(2384)
Luis,

Here is another thought regarding your Amorphophallus konjac. At one
time, the name " Amorphophallus konjac" was being used as a synonym
for A. paeoniifolius (a.k.a. A. campanulatus) here in South Florida.
I have seen a couple of these plants, and they do turn out to be A.
paeoniifolius, which grows quite well here. One of the identifying
traits of the A. paeoniifolius is the extremely rough petiole (the
stalk of the plant). Check it out.

Reggie Whitehead
South Miami

From: grsjr at juno.com (George R Stilwell, Jr.) on 1998.06.30 at 17:25:51(2386)
If it ain't the heat, it must be the humi ditty.

Ray

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From: Tony Avent <tony at plantdel.com> on 1998.06.30 at 22:16:33(2389)
Dear Dewey:

I remember you saying earlier that A. konjac doesn't fare well for you,
but we found it in the wild in China in a solid zone 10 site. I wonder if
there are several provenences. As for it needing a dormancy, we winter our
containers in a greenhouse @ 55 degrees. I wonder if there isn't something
more going on here that we don't understand.

Tony Avent

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From: plantnut at shadow.net (Dewey Fisk) on 1998.06.30 at 22:20:57(2390)
>If it ain't the heat, it must be the humi ditty.
>
>Ray

Seriously... Ray... or the lack of...
Dewey

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From: plantnut at shadow.net (Dewey Fisk) on 1998.07.01 at 02:22:56(2393)
Tony,
I do not know what the story is on A. konjac. I have a couple of clones
that were collected in tropical areas and even they do not do well for me.
Better than the 'regular' ones, but not great ...... I have tried a
couple of media combinations and different light situations but if it is A.
konjac - it just does not do well for me. There are so many others that I
just do not take the time anymore to try to find out. Fanny Phillips sends
me one every now and then.... Just to see if they will make it... They
all last for a few years and then end it all... I told her not to send me
any more... no need to needlessly kill them....
Dewey

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From: "Clark Weston" <bk161 at rgfn.epcc.edu> on 1998.07.01 at 13:18:21(2398)
If you can raise konjac in Tucson, I should be able to in El Paso, which
has a similar climate. Would appreciate information on your regimen, either
via private email or to the list, as you consider appropriate.

Clark Weston

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From: ManFont at aol.com on 1998.07.01 at 16:16:48(2402)
Thanks to all who have provided information on this matter!

The die has been cast (order on it's way); no turning back ;-))

I will attempt to grow it in South Florida placing the dormant plant in a
small undercounter refrigerator for its resting period. I will endeavor to
keep records of my cultural regime (planting medium, fertilizer, watering,
temperatures, light, etc.) in order to better learn and share with the List of
my growing experiences.

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From: "Dr. Clarence Waldron" <cwaldron at powersupply.net> on 1998.07.02 at 02:23:37(2403)
Konjac does well out-of-doors, in direct sun, here in NW ohio where summer humdity varies from about 20% to 100% depending upon the day.

Clarence

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From: "Jared R. Shortman" <jared at libcong.com> on 1998.07.02 at 13:21:41(2404)
Mark Dimmitt is the man to listen to since he has been doing this (growing
Amorphophallus spp. in this hot Tucson climate) a lot longer than I. However
I have my plants in about a 70% organics (sphagnum peat and reed sedge peat
usually) and 30% inorganics (vermiculite, perlite usually and sometimes
pumice added). Sometimes the mix varies to about 50/50 respectively. The
plants are not in a lot of sun-almost no direct sun. They never really go
dry either. I am a potting freak. I never let the plants get too root bound
(maybe I should try to let them do so?!). My plants don't complain. They
seem healthy. I don't fertilize an awful lot but I also, as I mentioned
before, rarely let any of my plants get root bound. This saves me on
fertilizing I think. I don't have a huge amount of aroids but want more.
Especially Amorphophallus spp. My greenhouse can reach the same temps as
Dimmitt's-into the hundreds some days, mostly the highs in the summers are
mid Nineties (F.). I have a very general philosophy about plants, almost too
simple. If the plant is growing, water it a lot, bump it up, and fertilize
it. If it is dormant leave it alone and keep it very lightly moist (a few
exceptions here, some I let get bone-dry). Of course I grow all sorts of
things.

Jared R. Shortman

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From: GeoffAroid at aol.com on 1998.07.02 at 21:57:22(2407)
If I can add my 2 cents worth to the discussion on A. konjac; here in England
I have grown my plant for some 15 years or so (it originally came from Fanny
Phillips). It has gone through various phases of growth - some better, some
worse - until I settled on a formula which seems to work. Firstly I give it
the largest pot I can find, I am convinced it needs plenty of room to produce
a good sized tuber and to allow the offsets space to develop properly.
Secondly I grow it in full sun when possible; admittedly our sun is weaker
here than in Florida and similar places, but it is also grown as a crop in
open fields in Asia so must be able to tolerate strong sunlight.
Thirdly its dormant season in the wild usually coincides with the dry
season which in many parts of its natural range is extremely hot and dry. I
overwinter my tubers out of the pot, indoors in minimum temperature of 60
degrees Farenheit with low humidity. So far the tubers continue to expand in
size and flower regularly. Soil? I just use a proprietry house-plant mix
purchased at my local garden centre. Lots of water and lots of plant food
though during the growing season.
Hope this adds to the overall picture of this wonderful plant.
Happy growing,
Geoffrey Kibby
+More
From: ManFont at aol.com on 1998.07.09 at 21:05:12(2446)
Got my A. konjac yesterday! Very healthy and about a foot high. It has a very
light creamy white coloration on its stalk with splotches of drab olive green.
I have repotted it in a 10 inch standard terra cotta pot. I used a very well
draining mix composed of aged pine bark, peat, charcoal, perlite (Jungle
Growth Professional Mix) and (oil dry - found at Auto parts stores) high fired
porous clay particles around 1/4 inch.

I gently teased the roots at the perimeter and bottom and placed it in the new
mix filling in around carefully. It is in a dappled sunlight area to minimize
shock and transpiration for a few weeks. I have watered it in with Orchid type
fertilizer (2-14-13 with micro-nutrients) and Superthrive (10 drops per
gallon).

+More
From: Donna Maroni dmaroni at email.unc.edu> on 2001.07.31 at 15:37:42(7195)
A couple of people here in central NC (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, zone
7) tell me they've planted this out and are now fearful that it will
become invasive because it produces so many offspring. Anyone else had
that experience?

Donna Maroni

+More
From: "Ron Iles" roniles at eircom.net> on 2001.07.31 at 18:40:13(7197)
Ma'am!

You can't be serious? Should you not have posted
this under "Warning" sooner? This IS serious!
Please could all Members report the spread of this
shock horror for my 23(3) lead article "Aroids
Invade the States"? Be wary fellow paranoids,
this thing may intend to hybridise. Oh! By the
way!

+More
From: Paul Tyerman ptyerman at ozemail.com.au> on 2001.08.01 at 04:43:47(7199)
At 10:38 31/07/01 -0500, you wrote:
>A couple of people here in central NC (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, zone
>7) tell me they've planted this out and are now fearful that it will
>become invasive because it produces so many offspring. Anyone else had
>that experience?
>

Donna,

I must admit that I have wondered this a bit too. Certainly once you have
it in a spot there is no way you could get rid of it all (at least if it
grows like it does in a pot). I know that the offsets produced in one year
will quadruple in size and produce numerous offsets the following year (at
least in a pot).

Does anyone know if this multiplication applies in its ground growth as
well? I planted out one (well we think it is one ...... bought as Amorph
abyssinicus but we figure most likely a konjac clone slightly different
from others I have) into my garden this season. The main tuber has tripled
this year (and hopefully will tripple again next season and then flower)
but I didn't even attempt to find offsets. I assume there were some, but
in th ground the chances of finding would be pretty small.

Hopefully someone out there has experiences they can share. Sounds wierd
to be asking whether an Amorphophallus is invasive, but I certainly think a
worthwhile question to get answered.

Cheers.

Paul Tyerman

+More
From: "Plantsman" plantsman at prodigy.net> on 2001.08.01 at 04:45:47(7201)
I couldn't imagine how they'd become "invasive". As much as
large tubers cost, I'd say, "bring 'em on!". Little ones
eventually become big'uns. I think a large colony of these
would be fantastic looking, like a miniature forest from Mars!
I just wish they were hardier here. They will winter over fine
if planted deep enough, but the wet winters make them rot unless
they're planted under the overhang of the house where they can be
kept dry.

+More
From: "Marge Talt" mtalt at clark.net> on 2001.08.01 at 15:18:18(7202)
IMHO, it would be climate dependent. In my cold part of USDA z. 7,
my one tuber (which has never bloomed) has survived in the ground for
about 4 or maybe 5 years. I noticed last year that there are now 3
stems coming up...not exactly rampant growth, let alone "invasive".
It emerges so late that each year I'm certain I've lost it.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net

+More
From: mburack at mindspring.com on 2001.08.01 at 15:21:16(7205)
Ummmmmm I think you all are forgetting something.....
Lets all remember a very important fact here....... There are LOTS of plants (tuberous and otherwise) that "offset" to a great degree...

Do they become "invasive weeds"?

Not normally.

There really isnt anything "specacular" about A. konjac and its vegetative reproductive habits.....'many' plants exhibit that kind of behavior. Have you ever tried to remove caladiums after they have been planted out in a garden bed? Well if not, let me tell you... it is a trick unto itself... and NOBODY worries that they will become invasive.

Regardless... I am convinced that once you have a colony growing....they will rot (as some ALWAYS do) as fast as they reproduce which will certainly keep them in check.

Marc Burack

+More
From: Steve Marak samarak at arachne.uark.edu> on 2001.08.01 at 15:52:32(7206)
I've had konjac outdoors here for 10 years or so (NW Arkansas, nominally
USDA zone 6). They survive with ease, apparently not minding either the
annual summer baking (+40 C, no rain for weeks) or winter soaking (-25 C
overnight, occasionally, usually more like -20 to -15 C, but with most of
our rain, no snow cover).

They are persistent, yes - it's difficult to get all the little offsets
when you dig them. But I don't see how they could really be invasive. The
offsets don't get more than a few inches from the parent, and the seeds
are way too heavy to carry on the wind.

So while the clumps get thicker, with more shoots, the actual area
involved doesn't really get much bigger unless I am involved, digging and
replanting. In fact, if I don't get in there and spread them out, they
cease to do as well after a year or two - self-limiting from the crowding,
I suppose.

While we're on the subject, since konjac is the only Amorphophallus I can
grow outdoors year round, I'm still interested in locating some of the
"giant" or "dwarf" clones, if anyone can point me in the right direction.

Steve

+More
From: "Alan Galloway" alan_galloway at bellsouth.net> on 2001.08.01 at 20:56:20(7208)
>
> While we're on the subject, since konjac is the only Amorphophallus I can
> grow outdoors year round, I'm still interested in locating some of the
> "giant" or "dwarf" clones, if anyone can point me in the right direction.
>

Steve,

There is going to be a dwarf A. konjac in this year's IAS auction, see
www.aroid.org.

+More
From: Tom and Ann Kline TomAnnKline at worldnet.att.net> on 2001.08.01 at 20:58:30(7209)
In Falls Church I have had a tuber in the ground since 1992 which
survived our big freeze in Jan '94 with -10 F. This was a blooming tuber
which I had put in the ground because it was too big for me to carry in
and out each year. This tuber had a leaf that had a five foot diameter
which has reduced to two over the years. I had tubers in four other
places from the same period, which had multiplied so slowly that I had
maybe four or five leaves in each place vice the single original, nothing
more, but last winter proved too much for two of the clumps and now I
have only one good sized clump with seven leaves which came up as Marge
said in late June. It certainly isn't invasive in this climate. Besides
even if it was invasive/ it isn't too much work to pull out/cut down/ dig
out any tuber that is unwanted. Ann Kline Zone 7 A Virginia
+More
From: "Derek Burch" derek at horticulturist.com> on 2001.08.01 at 20:59:25(7210)
And, of course, there are those of us in South Florida who have not yet got
over to Dewey's to check out his heat-loving clone, and who are green with
envy at the thought of even one konjac flowering, let alone worrying about
whether they are going to take over the Everglades. Derek

From: Paul Tyerman ptyerman at ozemail.com.au> on 2001.08.02 at 03:32:10(7212)
>
>They are persistent, yes - it's difficult to get all the little offsets
>when you dig them. But I don't see how they could really be invasive. The
>offsets don't get more than a few inches from the parent, and the seeds
>are way too heavy to carry on the wind.
>
>So while the clumps get thicker, with more shoots, the actual area
>involved doesn't really get much bigger unless I am involved, digging and
>replanting. In fact, if I don't get in there and spread them out, they
>cease to do as well after a year or two - self-limiting from the crowding,
>I suppose.
>

Steve,

Some good points. Thanks.

I wasn't really concerned about invasiveness from the point of view of
spreading, just more from the point of view of removal.

Has been a very good discussion. Thanks to everyone points. Has certainly
stilled any minor concerns I may have had.

Thanks!!

Cheers.

Paul Tyerman

+More
From: magrysbo at shu.edu on 2001.08.07 at 23:38:18(7221)
Paul,
This is certainly the way Sauromatum (Typhonium) venosum behaves! Yong ones
pop up all over the place in my garden and the only way I can distinguish
them from Arisaemas they get near is lack of a cataphyll and, if not in
deep shade, the characteristic purple spots on the petioles. I should be so
lucky with the arisaemas.
Bonaventure Magrys

+More
From: "Derek Burch" derek at horticulturist.com> on 2002.01.05 at 23:07:57(8030)
Our strange winter in South Florida has just given me my first konjac
flower. Small potatoes to all you people further north, but I have never
flowered one before. It grew normally in its pot this summer and went down
in mid-November, only to push up the flower just in time for New Years.
I know that Dewey has a strain that is more heat tolerant than most, but
mine was one of three sent to me by Fanny Phillips from her Washington, DC
garden of horrors. The other two went in the ground, and were lost last
winter, I am hoping that this one is just a tougher character. Derek

From: piaba <piabinha at yahoo.com> on 2010.03.05 at 18:38:51(20698)
what's teh origin of the name konjac? is it a native name?

=========
tsuh yang

+More
From: "Eduardo" <eduardo.goncalves at inhotim.org.br> on 2010.03.07 at 17:47:45(20705)
Dear Tshu Yang,

As far as I know, its name came from the japanese konnyaku, that is a
jelly
food made with konjac´s special sugars (glucomannans) that is usually
eaten
with soy or fish sauce.

Very best wishes,

Eduardo

+More
From: "Derek Burch" <derek at horticulturist.com> on 2010.03.07 at 21:19:18(20714)
A sneak peak into Dr. Misra’s article on kojac culture in China gives
this
on local names, although he does not commit on the origin of them:

“Konjac (Amorphophallus konjac syn. A. rivieri) is an important
commercial
crop grown in China, Japan, Indonesia, and elsewhere in subtropical
Asia.
Other local names include: Japanese: konnyaku; Chinese: pinyin, and it
is
also known as konjak, konjaku, devil's tongue, voodoo lily, snake palm,
or
elephant yam (though this name is also used for A. paeoniifolius).”

Enjoy his whole article in Volume 33 of Aroideana that will be out in
late
summer.

Derek

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From: "Derek Burch" <derek at horticulturist.com> on 2010.03.07 at 21:19:18(20715)
A sneak peak into Dr. Misra’sarticle on kojac culture in Chinagives this on local names, although he does not commit on the origin of them:

“Konjac (Amorphophallus konjac syn. A. rivieri) is an important commercialcrop grown in China, Japan, Indonesia,and elsewhere in subtropical Asia. Other localnames include: Japanese: konnyaku;Chinese: pinyin, and it is alsoknown as konjak, konjaku, devil's tongue, voodoo lily, snake palm, or elephant yam(though this name is also used for A.paeoniifolius).â€

Enjoy his whole article in Volume 33 of Aroideana that will be out in late summer.

Derek

HTML

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From: Peter Boyce <phymatarum at googlemail.com> on 2010.03.07 at 21:20:13(20716)
There is an interesting link here:

http://www.konnyaku.com/e_data/konnyaku.html

Peter

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From: Christopher Rogers <crogers at ecoanalysts.com> on 2010.03.08 at 16:43:52(20721)
.. . . and it is really tasty . . .

D. Christopher Rogers

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From: Christopher Rogers <crogers at ecoanalysts.com> on 2010.03.08 at 16:43:52(20722)
.. . . and it is really tasty . . .

D. Christopher Rogers

HTML

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From: piaba <piabinha at yahoo.com> on 2010.03.10 at 22:43:26(20740)
hi all,

thanks for the replies. yes, i'm aware of the konnyaku food product, i'v
e eaten many of them, incl. just sauteed or curried konnyaku, and the fruit
jellies, but i wasn't sure if the name came from the japanese or the japan
ese adopted the name from somewhere else.

+More
From: piaba <piabinha at yahoo.com> on 2010.03.10 at 22:43:26(20741)
hi all,

thanks for the replies. yes, i'm aware of the konnyaku food product, i've eaten many of them, incl. just sauteed or curried konnyaku, and the fruit jellies, but i wasn't sure if the name came from the japanese or the japanese adopted the name from somewhere else.

HTML

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