The world of Amorphophallus {Corpse flowers}

What is that awful smell?!

Remember as a kid you sometimes would read about those giant smelly flowers in botanical gardens? Amorphophallus are the holy grail of the plant kingdom! In my experience (as a 11 year old) corpse flowers are pretty easy to grow in my region of South Florida (Zones 10b to 11a).

Planting Soil

They do best in barky-sandy soil, and should be fertilized in\with a good amount with Tomato fertilizer. Never over water them as they can be quite sensitive to bulb rot, only water when soil feels dry. 

The personal mix I use is: 2 parts coco chips, 1 part orchid moss, (add a little charcoal + bark and terracota balls) 1 part peat moss and finally, 1 part coarse perlite. Use a pot at least 2-3 times the width of the corm to plant, and plant bulb at least 4-6 inches below surface.

Note: never plant a bulb when it has fresh, moist wounds or cuts, let it sit for about a week in a dark place to let it heal first before planting, as it can cause rot. 

Propagation

When propagating amorphophallus the most easy ways are from seed or natrual bulb offsets division. To propagate from seed simply harvest seeds after bloom, let it dry and remove the outer flesh, then plant (may take up to a month to sprout). To do offset division, cut off the snake-like stolons, or baby bulb attached from mother bulb (each offset must have a growing tip on the end of it) during dormancy and let it scab and heal, before planting. If any goo or jelly comes out from the bulb- don't worry! it is completely normal- just let it dry for a week before putting it back in soil.

General Information

Typical emergance of sprout is in April to late May- so don't worry if you do not see anything from October to March. Also it is okay for the single leaf to die anytime in fall or late summer, it's just going dormant.

Amorphophallus usally take a few years to bloom from a baseball sized bulb- but hey, if your lucky, it can bloom! If your planning to grow the titan arum- that may take up to 7-15 years to mature and bloom!

I personally had a Amorphophallus Henryi bloom from a baseball sized corm (bulb), And boy did it smell!!! It smelled of animal dung mixed with dried urine! I will be offering some amorphophallus plants in summer so watch out! 

This image shows a Amorphophallus Henryi flowering from a baseball sized corm\bulb.