flycatchers Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Hi I was interested to see on tonights "A New Year at Kew" BBC2 that even Kew get rotting A. titanum tubers :cry: And use sulpher dust and cutting the rotten parts away to try and stem it. At least my tubers are in good company!! cheers bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aidan Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 I remember seeing the plant in fruit at last years CPS Kew visit. They had a lot of mature examples hidden away out of public view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted January 21, 2007 Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 Yes we grow several of the plants at Kew out of the public view and the tubers smell even worse when they are rotting than when they are flowering. There is even talk of a recent discovery of a new way to propogate them other than from seed - should be interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flycatchers Posted January 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 Yes we grow several of the plants at Kew out of the public view and the tubers smell even worse when they are rotting than when they are flowering. There is even talk of a recent discovery of a new way to propogate them other than from seed - should be interesting! Yes I know the smell of rotting tubers rather too well :cry: Does Kew suffer much from rotting tubers? No matter what I try most seem to go that way.... cheers bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hen Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 theyre researching (quite successfully I think) a way to propagate them through leaf cuttings. Should hopefully bring down the price of these giants by a fair bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob-Rah Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Getting hold of these plants is frustrating. There is a seller on eBay selling seeds regularly at £5 a pop. He claims they are all totally fresh, yet the one I had a go with rotted. If they really are fresh when he received them at his end.... for goodness sake why doesn't he germinate them all and sell the seedlings instead? A plant keeps fresh much better than a seed. So many seeds must have been wasted by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flycatchers Posted January 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Getting hold of these plants is frustrating. There is a seller on eBay selling seeds regularly at £5 a pop. He claims they are all totally fresh, yet the one I had a go with rotted. If they really are fresh when he received them at his end.... for goodness sake why doesn't he germinate them all and sell the seedlings instead? A plant keeps fresh much better than a seed. So many seeds must have been wasted by now. Were they from a person in Poland? Mine rotted as well! cheers bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob-Rah Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 I thought mine were in the UK, but I don't really remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aidan Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 I have personal and expensive experience of this. A. titanum seed can not be stored for any great length of time. Fresh seed may germinate near instantaneously. More than approx. thirty days off the mother plant and I believe it will rot every time. Older seed, even if it looks good on arrival it will turn to mush within days of planting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 I wouldnt say that Kew has a huge problem with rotting tubers, but it certainly happens, with all Amorphophallous and members of the Araceae, but is kept under control by removing the infected sections and dusting with fungicide. A large tuber shouldnt have any great loss from this, and as hey produce a new one every season, by the time it has finished growing, a new perfectly formed tuber will be under the soil rather than an infected one. Yes they have started to be propagated by leaf cuttings, but it still very experimental. I will be looking at it as a project in the next few months (i am a student there) and ill let you all know how it goes. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Nijman Posted May 11, 2007 Report Share Posted May 11, 2007 Hello, Maybe they should take a look at the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden. They get plenty of A. titanum plants there! Almost every year they get one in flower. Regards, Alexander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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