Re: How big is big enough? and how tall do they get?

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at msn.com> on 2002.04.15 at 02:50:46(8550) ----- Original Message ----- From: StroWi To: Multiple recipients of list AROID-L Sent: Sunday, April 14, 2002 12:37 PM Subject: Re: How big is big enough? and how tall do they get? Dear Bernhard and randy, This is going to be a MOST difficult one to determine! Aroids are strange plants, and some will bloom at a VERY early age/size, even the giant species! There are two pages linked to the MOBOT aroid pages detailing two different A. titanum`s that bloomed at a very small tuber size, and several other species (A. konjac among them) have also bloomed when small/young. Cyrtosperma cuspidispathum has been recorded blooming when only 6 " tall, this plant can and will grow to over 3 m tall! Perhaps a big part of the joy of growing these plants is in the 'surprise' of never knowing for sure exactly when one will produce a bloom!! This brings me to once more mention something that has not been well recorded for most aroids, which is the production of inflorsences by small or weak plants that only contribute pollen to the reproductive 'chain'/gene pool. This is well recorded in the genus Arisaema, where the 'normal' unisexual spadices (male above female separate floral zones) are modified, the female zone is lacking in the flowers borne by smaller, weaker plants, and these can only contribute pollen to the gene pool, as these small plants do not have the tuber size/stored 'energy' to be able to sustain an infructesence through it`s lengthy development. I strongly believe that this occurs (does anyone have records or references to this??) in genera that have bisexual spadices such as Anthurium and Urospatha, Anaphyllopsis ond others. A small, weak plant will bloom, but will only produce pollen. If fertilized the fruit can and will not develop as the smaller weaker plant can not sustain a developing infructesence. Anyway, good luck with your quest for information on blooming size, and the use of growth retardant on giant species of Amorphophallus, though this aspect baffles me, I thought that the whole 'point' of obtaining a giant species was for it to grow TALL/BIG! Best Wishes, Julius +More >>Randy, I think this is something most Amorphophallus growers are interested in. The list you propose is a very good idea! I would like to take the chance to add the question how tall they get at a definite tuber size (lets say at good light and growing conditions): Would any one know, if there is a close correlation between tuber size and PETIOLE HIGHT in Amorphophallus titanum? If someone has figures or even an idea, I would be very intersted. (It could tell me when to built a higher greenhouse for my A.t. or do something different; see below) I ask this in the same context as I asked for the effect of growth retardants on the petiole hight of A.t. or other big aroids with a single leaf some time ago. I did not get a response when I posted my question, but I think it should work, since growth retardants generally inhibit cell elongation to a certain extent. (Normally they are used in horticulture to shorten internode length in ornamentals like Poinsettias and others) Looking forward to any comment! Bernhard. Dollbergen, Germany approx. zone 6/7 "Randall M. Story" schrieb: > Hi, > > I'm curious if there is any interest in starting a discussion or compiling a > list as to what constitutes "blooming size" for various species. I'm > thinking primarily of Amorphophallus and related stinky tuberous aroids, > although it need not be limited to these. > > I realize that estimates depend on one's growing conditions, the particular > cultivar, luck, etc. However even SOME guess as to when a particular plant > "might" bloom, with a size range or "ballpark" number would be useful, to me > at least. It would be nice to know whether a particular tuber has a chance > of blooming at 1 inch or 4 inches or not till 8 inches in diameter! > > This information seems particularly hard to find, even more so than > estimates of cold hardiness. > > Do people think this is a good idea? If there is any interest, people could > send me their experiences and if I get enough responses I could post a list > here. I'm guessing that even a short list of the most commonly available > species could be useful to a lot of us. > > A specific question I have at the moment: how big does an A. bulbifer tuber > have to be to have some chance of blooming? > > Thanks, > > Randy Story >

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