Amorphophallus konjac

In 2007 I was lucky enough to see an Amorphophallus titanum bloom in person here.  I immediately decided that I had to have one.  Unfortunately I was quickly forced to realize that that wasn't realistic.  Even small tubers are relatively expensive, they grow huge, and require conditions not easily met in a cold climate unless of course you have a greenhouse.  So, instead I convinced my wife to buy me several A. konjac tubers for Christmas.  Little did she know how many Amorphophallus I would end up with over the next few years.  I received seven tubers from a seller on eBay.  One turned out to be the Typhonium venosum shown here.  All seven tubers grew quite well (below).

Over the years I gave three away.  On the left are the remaining three in summer 2010, along with a few venosum planted in the same pot.  Konjacs produce offshoots every year that will grow into their own separate plants.  In the fall of each year the tubers are dug up, after the leaves die, revealing several small new tubers.  On the right is my largest tuber (early summer 2011) planted along with several offshoots from a previous year.

Finally here is my largest tuber (seen above right) after being dug up mid September 2011.  This tuber weighed in at 1.379Kg (3lbs 0.6oz).  Hopefully this tuber will bloom next spring.