From: LARIANN GARNER AROIDIAN at worldnet.att.net> on 2006.09.02 at 23:37:52(14572)
John,
We at Aroidia Research are extremely concerned with growing and blooming
all types of Alocasia for our breeding programs. The Alocasia
sanderiana is in a group that we call the "jewels" and they are much
more finicky than the big terrestrial types like A. odora and A.
macrorrhizos. At this time we are engaged in studies to determine the
best way to grow these Alocasia species using natural bioprotection
microbes such as are available in products that are currently on the market.
Our preliminary results indicate that these Alocasias require not only
the soil microflora to protect them from rotting off, but also require
much more aeration in the root zone than other Alocasias. We have used
a 3-2-1 mix (3 parts composted pine bark, 2 parts perlite, 1 part
Canadian peat) and find that this is working well even for these finicky
types. We have treated them with Bacillus subtilis, Trichoderma
harzianum, Streptomyces lydicus, and other soil microbes, including
vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM) and they are responding in a very
encouraging manner.
In addition to the microbial treatiments, we are growing these plants in
a different kind of container, not a standard nursery pot. The
containers we are testing have 360 degree aeration holes (sides and
bottoms of the container) and this seems to be very beneficial to these
plants. Some that have rotted under other conditions are thriving using
these containers. These containers were originally intended to provide
natural root pruning to woody nursery material (which they do very
well), but our use is not for the purpose of root pruning, but for
enhanced root aeration. See http://superoots.com for more information
about these containers.
At the conclusion of these studies, our results will be published and
available to serious hobbyists as well as commercial growers of these
plants.
Hope this helps,
LariAnn Garner
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