LeafVibe

So if there was every any doubt about my A.konjac blooming, today was the day that you couldn’t hide it. I thought yesterday was bad, and I was proven very wrong unfortunately.

This morning I was awoken by my mother. What did she have to tell me that was so important at around eight in the morning? She had just come home and was hit by a wall of smell; a fact I confirmed when I walked to the front of the house. There was a barrier of smell like a wall that once you hit engulfed you.

You see the Plant Room (aptly named after one of the spare bedrooms was convirted to a semi-greenhouse) is right next to the front door. The flower had secreted its smell all night long, and with the air off in the morning, it settled around the foyer with no place to go. My unfortunately mother happened to walk in and face the full monty of stale, stench-filled air. Of course, this was much to my amusement as she told me to do something about it. Fact of the matter is, I couldn’t do anything and jus had to let the smell wear off whenever it could be.

Problem was that yesterday, it didn’t smell that bad. It was manageable. For some reason it really wanted to drop a bombshell of a smell. It was easily ten times worse than yesterday, and in fact my  eyes actually watered from the stench. I don’t think I’ve eaten anything today.

Just a little while ago I gathered the strength to take some pictures of the monster. You can take a glance at them below. To be completely honest, I really hope we can get the real greenhouse set up. The last thing I need is any of my larger species to bloom while in the house. Lesson learned.

Tags: amorphophallus, konjac
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Ah, I’m starting to get used to the aromas that permeate throughout house every couple of weeks. It never seems to get boring with each little waft that comes from under and above the door. This week, of course, was no exception.

My A.koratensis bloomed today. It wasn’t as potent as my bulbifer, but it made its presence known. Not really much to say about this one, but there are pics attached of course. One thing to note here is that the bulbifer really opened up; I’m guessing it’s to better allow insects to come and go and to ensure pollen is released as best as possible? The konjac is also trudging along. Nothing to report on it yet other than: It’s still growing.

Tags: amorphophallus, bulbifer, koratensis
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A couple of months ago I mentioned the growth of my newly-acquired Amorphophallus dactylifer. The great news was that it was a flower as I had suspected, but the bad news was that it never bloomed for a reason I don’t know. The only theory I have is perhaps it just didn’t have enough resources to finish the “project.”

Below is the progress over the course of December through the first week of February. I documented the growth and death of the flower, including some pictures from when I cut the spathe open to see how far it had gotten. The tuber is fine, so hopefully in a few weeks I’ll see the leaf, and try again next year or whenever it feels like trying to bloom again. At least right now I am looking forward to the blooms A.bulbifer, A.konjac, and one of my A.koratensis, the first of which (A.bulbifer) should bloom next week (I should seriously consider practicing my bloom predictions better).

The pictures are below, chronologically ordered:

Tags: amorphophallus, dactylifer
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This is the start of my blog; an actual one that I’m going to update frequently (at least try to). What exactly is this blog dedicated to? Well if you haven’t correctly guessed by looking at the domain, it’s main focus will be that of plants… in particular, what I’m currently growing. What I’m growing will be saved for another time due to the mere fact it will take some explaining (it’ll be interesting, I promise), but suffice to say that there is plenty to write about.

The reason I decided to start this blog was mainly for two reasons. The first comes from my general interest on the subject—something in which I will get into further in later entries—while the second comes from not only wanting my own space to talk about the plants I grow, but sharing the frustration and enjoyment that often comes with gardening of any kind. In the long run I’m hoping that this will also serve as a source of information for others, and while I admit I’m still learning (who isn’t?), perhaps my experience would help someone in the future get started into the field.

I think that’s all for now. Hopefully in the next few days I’ll start to customize this blog to better suit my needs and the topic on-hand, and definitely have something more interesting to read. See you then!

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