Titanum leaf cuttings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From: "brian williams" pugturd50 at hotmail.com> on 2002.06.07 at 14:59:58(8966) I have a very good a reliable friend in Hawaii who has recently told me he had been propagating his Amorphophallus Titanum. He said he got about 50 started. This sounded like something to talk about so I called him up to discuss this. He has been taking cuttings from the leafs manly the mid rim. Dipping them in hormone and putting them in a mix of peat and 60% perlite. They were then placed under a misting table were the mist would turn on for 10seconds every 25 minutes. He said later he got greedy and tried smaller cuttings they did not do as well as the larger ones. He also said he has tried it with a few other forms with no luck. Konjac manly. I would love to give him all the credit on this but. I do think he would get bombarded with e mails. +More _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx

From: "Derek Burch" derek at horticulturist.com> on 2002.06.07 at 20:32:07(8967) Brian, better keep this quiet. It isn't all that easy to smuggle out the whole plant, but I can see some botanical gardens waking up to very ragged-edged amorphophallus leaves if this gets out. (Or is it already out to the most dangerous group!) Let me put on record that I don't even know where Fairchild Gardens is, and if I did I wouldn't know where in the side room of the Rare Plant House Craig keeps the titanums. Come to think of it I don't even know what a titanum is. Derek

From: StroWi at t-online.de (StroWi) on 2002.06.08 at 03:35:46(8968) Brian, this sounds very exiting. When your friend says he got the cuttings started, it will be of course important to see, if he gets just rooted leaf pieces. This is known from other plants as well and the rooted leafs can survive quite a while. For such a cutting it will be important that it is able to differentiate a new shoot meristem and for tuberous plants at least this must lead to a tuber formation as well. The propagation with small leaf pieces works very well with Rex-Begonias. +More >From some former mails from Lord P. I understood that "leaf" cuttings from A.titanum are not just pieces of the lamina or leaf blade, but rather parts of the leaf including (a part of) the petiole and maybe parts of the tuber as well, where some dormant meristems might be present. I would be very glad, if some aroider would have some pictures of this old fashioned method of leaf cuttings in A. titanum. >From your description your friend's method seems to be something different. If it would work, that would be great of course! Your notes also reminds me of the recent discussion on bulbil formation in Amorphophallus species that don't do this normally. In Phalenopsis orchids it is possible to stimulate dormant nodes of flower stalks to form new shoots instead of a new flower stalk, what they do normally. The method is applying a paste containing a cytokinin-hormone, normally 6-BAP (6-benzylaminopurine), to the node of the flower stalk. I wonder if something similar like this has been done in any Amorphophallus species, e.g. applying such a hormone containing paste to the junktion of leaf veins or ribs. Looking forward to any comment! Good growing, Bernhard. Dollbergen, Germany approx. zone 6/7 "brian williams" schrieb: > I have a very good a reliable friend in Hawaii who has recently told me he > had been propagating his Amorphophallus Titanum. He said he got about 50 > started. This sounded like something to talk about so I called him up to > discuss this. He has been taking cuttings from the leafs manly the mid rim. > Dipping them in hormone and putting them in a mix of peat and 60% perlite. > They were then placed under a misting table were the mist would turn on for > 10seconds every 25 minutes. > He said later he got greedy and tried smaller cuttings they did not do as > well as the larger ones. He also said he has tried it with a few other forms > with no luck. Konjac manly. > > I would love to give him all the credit on this but. I do think he would get > bombarded with e mails. > > _________________________________________________________________ > MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: > http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx >

From: StroWi at t-online.de (StroWi) on 2002.06.08 at 03:37:28(8969) Derek, well said! "Derek Burch" schrieb: +More > Brian, better keep this quiet. It isn't all that easy to smuggle out the > whole plant, but I can see some botanical gardens waking up to very > ragged-edged amorphophallus leaves if this gets out. (Or is it already out > to the most dangerous group!) But I think, it is not necessary to point this out in THIS forum! Or can you imagine just ONE reckless character in this list, who would do SUCH a thing???? > Let me put on record that I don't even know where Fairchild Gardens is, and > if I did I wouldn't know where in the side room of the Rare Plant House > Craig keeps the titanums. I don't know either where Fairchild is, however I know it's quite a distannce from Dollbergen.... > Come to think of it I don't even know what a > titanum is. Derek Oh,oh, .... however, I know it, since I have one.... > > But to be serious.... The danger for the specimens in botanical gardens is surely there. What would be more intersting is, if the method really works. I do not expect that Brian's friend shows and tells all the details, but maybe he could provide some pictures, if the propagules grow into whole plants (roots, tuber, (shoot)meristem)? IF the method works, Derek's warning has to be considered, if NOT, spread the news and the plants might be save! Good growing, Bernhard. Dollbergen, Germany approx. zone 6/7

From: "brian williams" pugturd50 at hotmail.com> on 2002.06.08 at 03:38:59(8970) My questions (if you know the answers... ) What do you mean by "the mid rim"? I believe he said each piece had about 3 leaf divisions or what look like three leafs. The mid rim would be more of the center of the leaf that is more stem looking rather than leaf. Do you know what sorts of hormones? He said any root forming hormones would most likely work. If it is a powder remember to use your finger to make a whole rather than pushing the cut piece in. You can scrape a lot of the hormone off this way. What temperature was this done at? Well, he does live in Hawaii. I am saying that is was probably hot and humid like most cuttings would like it. Probably in the 75F to 85F range. How long did the rooting process take/did the leaves rot/die back during this? I will have to ask him on this question. How big were the cuttings that worked (overall size, petiole diameter?) (petiole is a word I just learned today--the leaflet's equivalent of a petiole) +More He said it seemed the larger the cutting the better off they did. He tried a lot of very small cuttings with less luck. It seemed he used a cutting about as big as a pencil maybe a tad bit smaller. Were the 50 plants all from the same leaf? If so what fraction of the leaf was used? All the cuttings were from two plants I believe. He used the top section of the Amorphophallus the part that looks like multiple leafs on top. He took cuttings off of the branched out parts. I am thinking this may slow down intake for the main bulb in the long run and cause slower growth? Not sure on that but just a thought? At what stage of growth was the leaf chopped up? (easier to persuade someone to do this if the leaf is already dying...) Well, I do not recommend waiting till the leaf is dyeing I also do think when the leaf first shoots out to start chopping. Wait till the leaf has harden up a bit. I would believe your chances to be greater then of producing starts. I will ask him more on this as soon as I get sometime to call. I should also add to use the soil mix I had talked about before. On these and other bulbous aroids. I know many friends in Florida have used a lot of different mixes but the 1/2 Scotts metro mix 360 with 1 perlite and powdered spaghnum moss mix. I have had great success with this. Used with partial shade and temperatures in the 65 to 85 range Amorphophallus will grow like crazy. Any other question do ask. THANKS _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx

From: "brian williams" pugturd50 at hotmail.com> on 2002.06.08 at 18:42:00(8971) OK well I am sorry for anyone who wakes up to a mutilated Titanum. I did not have that in mind. I am sure Craig Allen will have to be even more on a look out now LOL. +More As someone has said it is possible that the cuttings not actually form tubers. I do not know yet if this is the case. If so I will tell everyone. I am going to try a few on my Titanum and see what happens. I plan to try a few different techniques with some to see what works best. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

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