Re: [aroid-l] question about tubers vs. bulbs

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at msn.com> on 2003.05.05 at 22:36:38(10181) Dear Nancy, I`ll try---it is growing from a corm or tuber, as a bulb has layers like an onion. As in other plant families, most aroids reproduce both by vegitative means (small new tubers or cuttings, the new plants are clones of the 'mother') or by sexual means (seeds). It now gets complicated---some aroids, and I believe Am. konjac is one of them, are capable of producing fertile seeds without pollenation, and all the new plants from these non-fertilized seed are clones of the mother plant! If fertilized, the seed carry the properties of both the male plant and the female, leading to diversity, some seedlings showing the characteristics of the male/pollen plant, others of the female plant, and others a good 'mix' of the two. This is said to be a 'good' thing, as the properties of two plants are mixed. Your plant will bloom, and then may or may not develop a seed-head. It may be several years before it re-builds enough 'strength'/size to bloom again. I hope this helps. Good growing, Julius +More > Should I call my Amorphophallus Konjac growing out of a bulb or tuber? What > is the difference? Is it just that a tuber may be shaped different than a > bulb? > > Can I get seeds from a tuberous plant, such as the A. Konjac and have new > plants come from seeds from the Konjac, or does it only come from more little > "tubers". Mine has never bloomed before. Does it have to be pollinated in > order to keep growing and producing more plants? If it only grows from > tubers, why does it need to be pollinated? > > I'm not a botanist,and my biology classes were over several decades ago. > > Nancy >

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