I think they are famous for their smell (given the nickname “corpse flower”) and tiny flowering window, but I like them because they look awesome imo.
Are they hard to grow? Has anybody had any luck getting them to flower? Are they expensive?
I’d presumably grow them in a greenhouse because of the climate where I am from in the UK, so a project for the years to come when I can afford a greenhouse!
by PompousPuffin
11 Comments
It’s an endangered plant species from Indonesia, I doubt that you can buy genuine seeds legally but if you search for it, you probably will find quite a few sites that offer to sell them, right next to the listings for kitten flowers and blue watermelons.
i have. it’s not “hard” to grow, it’s just hard to fit anywhere while getting enough light. the leaf gets to multiple meters tall. and even taller if the light is weak.
seeds or small plants are available from growers or botanical gardens on ebay or facebook groups once in a while. never seen wild-harvested seed thankfully.
I have arum cornatus which are much smaller but fairly stinky. Flies hover near their flowers. Early on, one year, I grew them inside as the VOODOO Bulb and that was a mistake, phew! LOL!
They’re kinda huge and smelly.
https://www.chicagobotanic.org/titan
They include time lapse gifs with people milling around them, it will give you an idea about scale. The Chicago Botanic Garden keeps it in their greenhouses. This really isn’t an at home plant.
My science teacher (Michigan U.S.A.) had a very large one in our classroom back in the mid 90’s. As far as I remember, it only received window light and light from the overhead fluorescent fixtures.
It flowered one year and the scent was absolutely awful.
Stink blossom
Im growing them. Have a few. Think I paid $90 for my largest corm a couple years ago. Plant Delights sells them. As does Ecuagenera. They aren’t hard to grow. I haven’t had mine long enough to get a bloom yet. Figure I have a couple years.
They’re awesome but the time investment for a single bloom is insane. Not to mention the space they take up. If I had several acres of garden, then sure, but you can’t even eat them, so..
Probably a few people on r/amorphophallus
I’ve purchased a bulb or something like it and actually got close to the flowering stage
I grow konjac arum (Amorphophallus konjac) I was gifted from an old botanist. Definitely a statement piece in the landscape. The worst part is blooming before it’s too warm to move outside…..