Any gardener who has mature to become a flora partisan can remember , as a child explore encyclopedias seeing uncommon plant photograph from the past . horticulture in the nineteenth 100 often meant collecting terribly exotic industrial plant merely for the riot - factor . commemorate those grainy , black and white time of origin images , with perhaps a little young woman endure on a giant 12 foot spacious Victoria water lily pad….or whiskered human being with long saws , proudly pose under a felled giant Californian Sequoia log , or a very proper British dude in white and bow tie , standing next to a expectant wooden crate in an brumous indoor garden , next to whom stood a giant twelve foot tall Jack - in - the - Pulpit - ish inflorescence ? Well , that is what grow from this torpid bulb that I now hold , above . Now if that ’s not cool , what is ?
The genus Amorphophallus is gaining popularity with industrial plant collectors , once again . They ’re fun to grow in the summertime outdoors in pots , as many of the coinage are quite easy , and they can be grown anywhere in the country . Although they are tropical , and native to South East Asia , Borneo and the like ; they are dormant all winter long , and the tubs that you must grow them in can just be extract into a cellar or unheated garage where they can stay , nice and dry and not freeze .
I take my eleven species out from under the greenhouse terrace every March , to repot and to research . I love see how big the lightbulb have become , it just seems like magic , some even multiply . Not all species create giant flower , many are smaller , with anthesis no with child than a human hand . The only caveat is that the blooms smell like rotting animals , but I suppose that just adds to the whole experience .
This particularly nice bulb is Amorphophallus konjac , the most coarse specie and easiest to incur . ( try Plant Delights Nursery or eBay ) . Every year I re heap the light bulb , remove it ’s many offsets to partake with friends or flip , or even eat , since the bulb is immensely popular in Japan and Korea where fields of them are an of import farming crop for produce a buckram flour to make Soba noodles with .
Amorphophallus develop differently that other bulbs , so you must imbed the electric light consequently : the ascendent do not come out of the bottom , they come out of the top of the incandescent lamp , and from the stem turn near the bulb . To plant a bulb , Find the largest tub that you’re able to , I use 30 gallon nursery tubs . It found in a unconstipated potting grease , and set your bulb down deep about four column inch from the bottom , and then locate a stain less mixture like Promix on top , the incandescent lamp should be about 8 inch or more abstruse . Do n’t water until you see ontogenesis , around May or June . Amorphophallus incandescent lamp produce more often than not just one long attractively mottle fore with an umbrella of chemical compound leaves at the top , like a giant Jack in the Pulpit , another relative from the Arum family . Fertilize while the plant it grow all summertime , hebdomadally , with a tomato fertilizer so the bulb will grow large . Be certain that your Tomato fertiliser has a the last of the three routine gamy than the first too on the psychoanalysis ( like 18 - 18 - 30 ) , phosphorous and potash are what bulbs need to get giant .
It does take time for Amorphophallus bulbs to build up enough energy to blossom , but they are lovely grown for the foliage alone . A bulb may not blossom for three or four years if you imbed a potato sized lightbulb . This bulb is four year old now , and I have hopes that it may blossom this class or next . The efflorescence on A. konjac can strive 3 or 4 substructure tall , but this species is n’t even close to the largest that we have . That honour belongs to A. titanum , which is one of the more challenging Amorphophallus to grow since it requires a faster draining land variety and warmer conditions . That inflorescence can attain 12 foot magniloquent , and only a few have been successfully conjure up at botanical garden where the event is always celebrated with T - shirt and all night vigil with bubbly . you may do the same when yours flower , we will ! Say tune .
