A. konjac

From: plantnut at shadow.net (Dewey Fisk) on 1997.07.02 at 02:37:55(907) As Corresponding Secretary of IAS, I have received several requests for information on Amorphophallus knojac as a food crop. They want to know cultivation and nutrition. Does anyone know of some references that I can give these people... Thanks Dewey +More Dewey E. Fisk, Plant Nut THE PHILODENDRON PHREAQUE

From: "Geoffrey Kibby (IIE)" <G.KIBBY at cabi.org> on 1997.09.30 at 18:24:49(1356) Hi all! I am so excited I just had to share this with you. I have just dug up my Amorphophallus konjac for its winter rest as usual; although it has always grown well and produced a reasonable sized tuber (and even flowered once) it has never gone on to really large growth. I have read the postings about leaving room below for the new tuber to grow and have always been careful to give it a large pot with plenty of depth, but the tubers never got much larger than my fist. However, I noticed that the many offsets it made always ended up cramped at the edges and began to wonder about sideways space as well. So as an experiment I gave it this year the largest tub I could find - nearly two feet across - and place it outdoors for the summer. It grew fantastically well and now it has made a tuber nearly three times its normal size! over 6 inches across and about 3 pounds in weight. I realize there are much larger plants around but for me this is a tremendous improvement. It also has the flower spike pushing up immediately after the growth so I look forward to a towering flower spike as well. So perhaps if your plants are not producing large tubers you might try giving it lots of room around the tuber as well as below and perhaps this will work for you as well. Compost used was plain ordinary houseplant compost and I feed it regularly throughout the growing season with LOTS of water. Regards, Geoffrey

From: Roger Sieloff ISDH <sieloff at doe.state.in.us> on 1999.05.23 at 03:57:03(3387) I live in Indiana and have grown A. konjac for nearly eight years. They grow all summer and get dug up for the winter, since they tend to freeze if left in the ground. The tubers (bulbs, corms?) multiply nicely by way of rhizome-like growths, but never really get any bigger than onions. However, the two small tubers I gave a friend are now enormous, having increased in size about five times within a couple years. I believe the secret to growing Amorphophallus is sunlight. Mine grow in heavy shade, and my friend's plants seemed to get full sun, at least half the day. Apart from this, they got the same treatment. Roger L. Sieloff

From: "William Perez" wpz at sprynet.com> on 2000.02.22 at 20:50:42(4108) I am searching for an A. konjac tuber that is as near to blooming size as possible. Ideally, it would be blooming size, but the closer the better. It's for a japanese veggie display at the New York Botanical Garden. Does anyone have one to donate or sell? Or can someone point me toward a source? Thanks. Sincerely, William Perez

From: Dyeingduk at aol.com on 2001.09.14 at 01:41:21(7486) Well as we all have, i bought some A. konjacs on impulse because they were cheap. They all came up fine and have been growing great for a few months. Now the problem. I live in Miami and have learned they won't grow here, due to needing a cold dormancy period. So first if they can be grown down here please tell me, otherwise, i was wondering if a nice refrigeration when they go dormant would work. any thoughts? Thanks, Paul Marcellini

From: "George R Stilwell, Jr." grsjr at juno.com> on 2001.09.14 at 04:44:24(7488) Refrigeration (40F) for 3 months works well for Arisaema. Perhaps it will for A. konjac as well. However, you'll need a much bigger refrigerator. Ray +More GRSJr@Juno.com ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

From: Carol Ann Bonner cadastra at mindspring.com> on 2001.09.14 at 05:46:06(7489) At 08:41 PM 9/13/01 -0500, Paul wrote: (about A. konjac) I live in Miami and have learned they won't grow here, due >to needing a cold dormancy period. Is that true? I've been keeping all my Amorphs in pots wintered over in warmish greenhouses, and a botanical-type friend told me this year that my konjac was the biggest of that species he had ever seen. Admittedly, it hasn't bloomed the last couple of years. Some of my Amorphs are starting to go dormant. This is the first year I haven't been able to harvest and distribute the extra tubers, and I don't want to leave them in the pot lest they contribute to a bad case of konjac suburban sprawl. How do people store the bare tubers? Is that okay, or is it better to leave them in the pots and harvest them in the spring? Carol Ann +More Nashville

From: Don Martinson llmen at wi.rr.com> on 2001.09.14 at 15:19:33(7490) >At 08:41 PM 9/13/01 -0500, Paul wrote: (about A. konjac) > I live in Miami and have learned they won't grow here, due > >to needing a cold dormancy period. > How do people store the bare tubers? Is that okay, or is >it better to leave them in the pots and harvest them in the spring? > >Carol Ann >Nashville They certainly don't need what I would call cold. I've stored mine bare at room temp (70F/21C) as well as in 20 gallon pots of soil stored in my basement at 59-55F (10-13C). They seem to do quite well either way. They bloom, if large enough (4 inch/10 cm diameter), for me in March. When the amorphophallus bloom, can Spring be far behind? -- Don Martinson +More Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mailto:llmen@wi.rr.com

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 2001.09.14 at 15:19:55(7491) Dear Paul, If they were mine, I`d wait for the leaf to turn yellow and begin to 'go down', stop watering at this point and dry the pots out completely for a couple of weeks, dig the tubers up and store them in the fridge veggie drawer till next spring, but wait to hear from some experts before you do this! Cheers, Julius +More >>Well as we all have, i bought some A. konjacs on impulse because they were cheap. They all came up fine and have been growing great for a few months. Now the problem. I live in Miami and have learned they won't grow here, due to needing a cold dormancy period. So first if they can be grown down here please tell me, otherwise, i was wondering if a nice refrigeration when they go dormant would work. any thoughts? Thanks, Paul Marcellini

From: mburack at mindspring.com on 2001.09.14 at 15:20:08(7492) I have been growing konjac for years in south florida....some I have refrigerated....others I havent.... It doesnt make a difference with the way they grow. Marc +More aroid-l@mobot.org wrote: > Well as we all have, i bought some A. konjacs on impulse because they were cheap. They all came up fine and have been growing great for a few months. Now the problem. I live in Miami and have learned they won't grow here, due to needing a cold dormancy period. So first if they can be grown down here please tell me, otherwise, i was wondering if a nice refrigeration when they go dormant would work. any thoughts? > Thanks, > Paul Marcellini

From: Jonathan Ertelt jonathan.ertelt at vanderbilt.edu> on 2001.09.14 at 16:21:04(7493) - Don Martinson wrote: >They certainly don't need what I would call cold. I've stored mine >bare at room temp (70F/21C) as well as in 20 gallon pots of soil >stored in my basement at 59-55F (10-13C). They seem to do quite >well either way. They bloom, if large enough (4 inch/10 cm >diameter), for me in March. When the amorphophallus bloom, can >Spring be far behind? Just far enough behind that one has to deal with the various odors of these wonders inside, because it's still to cold out! Thank goodness for back rooms that aren't used much, among us who don't have greenhouses to smell up! Good Growing. Jonathan +More Jonathan Ertelt jonathan.ertelt@vanderbilt.edu Greenhouse Manager Vanderbilt University Biology Department Box 1812, Sta. B Nashville, TN 37235 (615) 322-4054

From: Plantnut3 at cs.com on 2001.09.14 at 19:23:50(7495) I do not know about use of refrigerator but the Konjac keeps well in Dormancy if store in a cool dry area where they do not freeze see Vol 16 of Aroideana it covers many of the Anorphophallus Ray Maynard I live in zone 8 of Georgia I am growing several varies very well. They have a tendency to go dorm earlier due to the heat of our humid, hot summers.

From: "Eduardo Goncalves" edggon at hotmail.com> on 2001.09.15 at 00:57:07(7497) Dear Paul, My plants of A. konjac came from the Northern Hemisphere and they grow pretty well in Brazil! I have never put mine in the fridge and they are growing stronger each year. If A. konjac needs a cold dormancy period, nobody told it to my plants... I won?t tell! (My fridge only have room for a few Arisaema). +More Very best wishes, Eduardo. > > >>Well as we all have, i bought some A. konjacs on impulse because they >were cheap. They all came up fine and have been growing great for a few >months. Now the problem. I live in Miami and have learned they won't grow >here, due to needing a cold dormancy period. So first if they can be grown >down here please tell me, otherwise, i was wondering if a nice >refrigeration when they go dormant would work. any thoughts? > Thanks, > Paul Marcellini _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

From: Steve Marak samarak at arachne.uark.edu> on 2001.09.15 at 04:02:35(7502) The first few years I grew A. konjac, I didn't know it was hardy, so I kept it indoors over the winter. It was stuffed in a box and kept in a cool corner, but didn't receive any chilling. Amorphophallus for me have always chosen for themselves when to go dormant and when to break dormancy regardless of what I do, and konjac is no exception. It would inevitably break dormancy well before our last frost date, usually choosing spring break with uncanny accuracy to flower (my wife, a teacher, is home over spring break; one year I came home to find towels stuffed in the guest room door in an attempt to keep the stench confined). But they did flower and grow just fine without any cold. In fact, they flowered more reliably than they do now, outdoors. Now, I get anywhere from none to several inflorescences in a given year. (Two this year, and seeds have set, but until I protected it, something was eating them.) Steve +More -- Steve Marak -- samarak@arachne.uark.edu

From: Dyeingduk at aol.com on 2001.09.17 at 02:45:42(7510) Well thanks for all the replies. I think I will leave them out this yr. and if they come up larger next yr. I will leave them. However if they appear worse next yr. I will try refrigeration. If it never blooms i won't be too distraught, I really just enjoy the unique foliage. Thats what got me into Amorphs., before i ever saw a bloom. Well thanks again. Laters, Paul Marcellini

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