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Amorphophallus leaf movement

Has anyone who owns an Amorphophallus noticed that the leaves move over the course of the day?

Mine starts the day (when the lights come on) with the leaves reflexed and spread like a palm (shading plants beneath it) but by 8 or 9 pm the leaves are standing up at about a 45* angle. It reminds me of the aquatic plant Hygrophilla polysperma which has the same sort of leaf movement by days end. Does anybody elses Amorphophallus do this?

FYI, I am growing mine in a 24" or so beneath 400 Watts of MH in a lowland terrarium (showerstall) with 80-100% humidity (+ air movement).
 
Hey, that's pretty neat! Since you're growing it under lights, it's not reacting to the changing position of the sun. My Sauromatums are heliotropic, and will bend almost 45 degrees towards the sun, a neat trick, but very bothersome
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Yes, perhaps that's it, I suppose being grown under growlite it is akin to noonday sun all day everyday.

I was planing to move it outside for the summer but since you mention your plants I wonder if this one will get oddlyshaped as I have no southfacing property I can put plants on, only east or west and I don't want a big leafy "7" sticking out of a pot!
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He he, Josh I never noticed that but I have heard that eating the tuber will cause hallucinations  
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Cheers, Troy
 
For the Sauros, the bending is not perminent nor detrimental. I simply turned it 180 degrees everyday. It will bend to near 45 degrees in only a couple hours. So I can't prevent it from bending even with turning everyday. It doesn't hurt the plant, but it does annoy me
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Sounds to me like a plant that could potentially be pumped with food. And its growth accelerated.
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I'm starting to wonder about the pot size for it because when I received it the pot looked pretty appropriate but this guy seems to be growing at quite a clip and is a few inches taller and the stalk/petiole is thicker than when I got it a couple weeks ago. Since I did not pot the tuber myself I don't know how much in the pot is actually soil or tuber. Do Amorphos make a large root system or just a few thick roots? It's about 24" tall now and in a 4" pot do they put on visible growth each season or just absorb nutrients so they make a bigger leaf next year? If it has stopped growing for the season then I won't worry but if it will keep growing I might transplant the whole soil ball to a bigger pot (without disturbing the roots).
 
Id probably repot it to at least an 8 inch pot. Sounds like its getting top heavy.
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If it's top heavy then repot but Amorpho's don't need that big a pot. They develop a network of short roots that radiate out from all over the surface of the tuber. I grew a metre tall A. paeoniifolius in a 30 cm  diameter (and about 25cm deep) pot and had no problems at all. Of course if you have access to a bigger pot then use it. Just water regularly and, like Kai noted, fertilise HEAPS and the tuber will grow quickly and produce lots of offsets.

Cheers, Troy.
 
  • #10
First of all its KHAI,
The reason I suggested a larger pot is so the plant doesnt dry out so fast. All of the A. titanum that I have grown have not only been heavey feeders but the are also water hogs.
One thing I should note though is that I dont grow in standard hieght pots, I only use Azaela pots for plants.

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  • #11
Sorry bout the name Khai, my son's name is "Kai". Guess I was thinking of his spelling.

Cheers, Troy.
 
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