Aroid raises a stink!

[nepenthes gracilis]

Well it happened...overnight as a matter of fact and I loved it!

My Sauromatum venosum flowered for me! Too bad it only lasts one day, I was tempted to keep sniffing the vile stench from the spathe! These pictures are with my old camera (as my new one is under warranty and I'm getting a better one (the C-770 UZ to be exact) so please excuse the semi-bad quality.

Man I LOOOOOOOOVE Aroids now! Must get more! Thanks to Larry, now I'm hooked on them! Thanks for the Aroid fever Larry!

Notice the weak smile....stench was horrid.....

 

[larry]

FABULOUS!!!  Totally impressed that you got that small tuber to grow so big in one year, then having it flower the next.  The stench is horrible, I think A. titanum smells better than S. venosum.  When mine flowered, taking pics of it was hard, the stink made me dizzy

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Hey larry, Thanks for the wonderful comments! I must be a bore Aroid guy too, this Family is pretty easy so far.......except Dracunculus vulgaris......not good luck, almost all of my tuber rotted...

Need to get some more....i might have saved one mature tuber.....but who knows

Anyways, the spathe is wonderful looking, but no most certinaly not good smelling.......yuck, like a cow pasture with a hint of urine almost.

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Anymore questions comments concerns?

 

[rubrarubra]

How do you start the tiny bublets growing. I got dime size bulblets of A. konjac and a sauromatum venosum. The konjac rotted, and the sauromatum hasn't grown. What kind of soil/fertilization/water does it need?
Thanks,
Peter

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Well Peter, they need a very organic soil with lots of time release fertilzer as Larry said to use, which seems to make them very happy. Watering seems to be a need of very moist, not soggy but very damp, then gradually reduce the water after it has flowered to that of a typical plant but don't ever let it dry out. These guys are also very photosensitive, they can move towards sunlight so much that the leaves will bend and almost snap, so make sure they get a nice even exposure, not just in one area, or you can rotate the pot frequently.