Titanums

From: "Don Bittel" <dbittel at treco.net> on 1998.04.29 at 04:09:44(2052) I meant to post this last August when my largest titanum went dormant, but it should be more relevant now. This tuber came from Jim Symon's first batch of seeds. The tuber, washed and dryed, weighed 2425 grams or about 5.3 pounds ( 85 ounces). It was almost completely round, being 7 inches in diameter and height.(about 18 centimeters?) +More The difference from 5 inches in Kathy's tuber to 7 inches with mine might double the weight, but over triple the weight? My tuber is growing lots of roots now, being repotted from a 7 gallon to a 15 gallon container. The spear is just starting, and I assume it will be a leaf. The leaf last summer was about 60 inches diameter and 48 inches tall. I am sure that this is not the biggest tuber that has survived from Jim's seeds. Does anyone else have any sizes?

From: "Victor G. Soukup" <soukupvg at email.uc.edu> on 1998.04.29 at 21:17:41(2056) I am always loathe to get into these things but when there appears to be a lack of understanding of math then I want to try to correst it. In volume measurements the radius appears as the cube, the third power. Thus a diameter of 5 (radius 2.5) gives 15.625 while a diameter of 7 (radius 3.5) gives a 42.875. As you can see, the latter number is approaching three times that of the former. thus the weight of the latter should be roughly three times that of the former. wish that I could get to St. Louis to see this A. titanum when it does bloom. Vic Soukup +More At 11:11 PM 4/28/98 -0500, you wrote: >I meant to post this last August when my largest titanum went dormant, but >it should be more relevant now. >This tuber came from Jim Symon's first batch of seeds. The tuber, washed >and dryed, weighed 2425 grams or about 5.3 pounds ( 85 ounces). It was >almost completely round, being 7 inches in diameter and height.(about 18 >centimeters?) >The difference from 5 inches in Kathy's tuber to 7 inches with mine might >double the weight, but over triple the weight? >My tuber is growing lots of roots now, being repotted from a 7 gallon to a >15 gallon container. The spear is just starting, and I assume it will be a >leaf. The leaf last summer was about 60 inches diameter and 48 inches tall. >I am sure that this is not the biggest tuber that has survived from Jim's >seeds. Does anyone else have any sizes? > > > Victor G. Soukup Assoc. Curator of the Herbarium Department of Biological Sciences P.O. Box 210006 University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221-0006 Herbarium phone: 513-556-9761 e-mail: soukupvg@email.uc.edu

From: Don Burns <burns at mobot.org> on 1998.04.29 at 21:35:34(2057) > In volume measurements the radius appears as the cube, the third > power. Thus a diameter of 5 (radius 2.5) gives 15.625 while a diameter > of 7 (radius 3.5) gives a 42.875. As you can see, the latter number is > approaching three times that of the former. Thus the weight of the latter > should be roughly three times that of the former. Yes! The math is correct. The conclusion, however, assumes that each tuber has equal mass throughout, I.e. no hard central core or the like. I believe this is a correct assumption but have no intention of cutting up one of mine to verify this! Don Burns Plantation, FL USA Zone 10b

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