Amorphophallus konjac
Konjac was my first Amorphophallus and continues to be the easiest to grow. Last year, this particular tuber grew a petiole that was nearly 4 feet high with a leaf span 5 feet wide.
As per usual, I stored the tuber in my basement ignoring it. Two weeks ago, I went downstairs to find the tuber had grown an inflorescence. I wish I hadn't ignored it for quite so long as I did. I promptly potted it and began photographing it regularly. What I found is that the colors appear washed out in regular room lighting. They require very bright lighting to show the brilliance. If you compare the various images you'll see just how many different colors this inflorescence shows.
Click on these photos to view the full image:
 March 10, 2001 |
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 March 15, 2001 Outdoor, cloudy day with fill in flash |
 March 15, 2001 Indoor using halogen lights and fill flash |
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 March 16, 2001 In greenhouse, sunny day, no flash |
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  March 20 The spadix collapses |
March 15, 2001
I had planned to allow it to continue
blooming in the house. After all, just how powerful could the legendary stench be. Today, March 15, I was
working near the tuber and still there
was no odor. At noon there was a mild odor and I figured I could tolerate
this. I laughed at all the fussy folks who grumble about the odor.
By 3 o'clock in the afternoon, my eyes were tearing. I wondered if it was really the plant or if a dead horse had been dug up in my yard. After two hours of using an industrial exhaust fan, the odor lingers. Tonight the inflorescence is spending the night in the garage. The outside air temperature should be down around 32 degrees. That means the garage will probably be around 36 or 37. I'll photograph it tomorrow to show the potential survival (or lack thereof) in cold. I'm committed to aroids and do want to collect photos for posterity, but no photo collection is worth making my house unlivable.
March 16, 2001
OK, so I don't always do what I plan. I changed my mind at midnight and
decided that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if I kept the greenhouse door
closed. Maybe the fact that I was working all night and wouldn't be home
anyway had some effect. I came home to find that the odor was indeed
confined to the greenhouse. In the bright sun, greenhouse temperatures had
rolled up to 90 at which time the exhaust fans were triggered on. The fans
had probably been on for at least 2 hours. Despite that, when I opened the
door, a blast of hot, wet deadness overcame me. I decided there and then
to stop using the cold medicine I was on. Nasal congestion isn't always a
curse. I took a couple photos of the now open inflorescence while sweating
in the dead goat fumes. The colors are far more vibrant in the bright
sunlight. I tried two photos with flash but the inflorescence looked an
unnatural pink. Maybe suffering through this horrid smell is worthwhile
after all. Still I look forward to this bloom dying away.
Summer 2003
This year, I managed to have one bloom outdoors where the stench was less
oppressive. You can see that the bugs tolerated it better than I did.
