There has been increased visitor activity in the Parlor today at the Conservatory. Thank you! There has been a little disappointment expressed by a few visitors, as they had hoped to see a huge flowering inflorescence. We are very fortunate to have a really cute and small inflorescence to watch this time. It is actually one of the smallest recorded blooms in the last 100 years! So come prepared to see a 27" tall structure when you visit today.
There have been many questions about why we used such a huge pot (44") to display the Amorpho. When the corm was repotted in October 2007, a decision was made to pot it into a very large pot so that the corm would have plenty of room to expand and not have to be repotted as often. In hindsight, that may not have been the best decision but it will be very interesting to see what happens!
There have also been many questions about the life cycle of this plant. There is a graphic available in the Parlor as well as in one of the links that explains that these plants either flower (occasionally) or leaf out (usually). In the Parlor, the there is actually a second terracotta pot that contains the leaf form of the Amorphophallus. Look for it behind the huge pot!
More shade was added to the Parlor today as well as the addition of two room humidifiers. The temperature in the Parlor yesterday was in the 80's and the humidity dropped to less than 15%! This morning, temperatures are in the upper 70's and the humidity is holding about 45%. It is still not greenhouse conditions but better than a few days ago!
There is more color in the spathe today! Could it mean that we might have the inflorescence opening in three or four days? Stay tuned!
