Thought it would be good to get a thread on Cyrtosperma merkusii going. This is my larger plant. It's growing better this year than last. The problem last year seemed to be that it was in too deep water. We had an above normal wet season and where it was planted the water used to sit too high. During the dry season I raised it up by putting more soil under it.

This year we've had the opposite for the wet season. Well below normal rainfall. So the C. merkusii has spent very little time in deeper water. My second plant is going into a large pot with no drain holes. This pot is being set into the ground At the moment I''ve filled it with soil, old charcoal and compost. Waiting for 3 weeks before planting in it.Will be good ro see how well it does compared to the other. The other is larger to start with though.

This is this morning's photo, after torrential rain last night. The water level is up but still only just around the base of the plant - soil level. It's had about 10 hours to go down from a higher level following the rain.

Amazing plant! and it looks happy.

Beautiful growth habit Zig. Is merkusii a native? Is it a standard food crop? After reading your post about some Alocasia being food crops it's a question I keep thinking about.

Jonna, they get up to 5 metres tall. I will be impressed with that, fingers crossed.

Evan, it's not native here. I think New Guinea and Micronesia. It was commonly grown on coral atolls in the freshwater lens. Because freshwater and saltwater tend to form layers, rainwater on coral atolls sinks through the sand and forms a freshwater layer on the saltwater. The small tides push the layers up and down but there's very little mixing. This has allowed survival of people on these islands that are relatively barren food and water wise. The islanders would dig down into the sand to the water layer and plant their C. merkusii. These wells also provided drinking water. Diets were limited to virtually only these plants, coconuts and fish. And growing of these plants became steeped in mysticism and ritual. The practice died away a lot with the coming of foreign influences and food.

5 meters!! Wow! All stems coming from the base or does it form a trunk? Interesting about the growth on atolls. I've seen the haloclines where fresh and salt water mix diving in the caves and lagoons formed by fresh water outlets here. It is amazingly clear, the line between the fresh and salt water. You are swimming along, suddenly everything is blurry and out of focus, drop another few feet and the water is crystal clear again. The roots of local alocasia are eaten here as well, the most common one for food and for gardens is called 'malanga' and probably comes from the Philippines.

Mine are about 1.5 metres at the moment, so still a little way to go. They have a large tuber underneath, hence the common name Giant Swamp Taro.

It's in that mixing zone that the blurriness occurs. The light refracts differently with the two. There's several aroids that are eaten, some take a lot of special preparation to make them edible.

Had a lot more rain overnight from a developing cyclone off the coast. Water level went right up, and of course it's flooding in a lot of places. I got 124.8 millimetres in the 12 hours to midday and it still keeps coming. The C. merkusii has more than enough water, it's sitting in 350 millimetres now. The flood debris that can be seen on the leaves on the right in the photo show the water had been up to 650 millimetres deep.

I'm away from home at work and won't be back for a few days yet. But following the weather on the internet it's been raining a fair bit at home and most likely the Cyrtosperma is still sitting in deep water. When I get back it will be time to plant my other C. merkusii. The large pot has had it's mixture of vegetation and soil "brewing" for 3 weeks now. In Micronesia the tubers were placed in baskets filled with leaves of various plants so it was a completely organic medium. There were specific plants used with attention to right order of layers of different vegetation and leaves laid down in very specific patterns. Along with rituals performed at the time, the exact details were family secrets.Mine just have to take their chances with randomly selected plants laid out randomly with no ritual and in a plastic pot instead of a basket. But I'm still hopeful of good results. The difference in this method and how the larger plant in the pond grows should be interesting.

Plant in a pond awaiting transplant (photo taken just after heavy rain).


Pot in the ground but raised just a little to prevent other roots getting in.

Today the smaller C. merkusii finally went into its new home. It's been a mix of a day. Some sun, some rain, but overall very humid. A perfect time for planting out this one. Now I have to organise similar set ups for my Cyrtosperma johnstonii, Cyrtosperma cuspidispathum and Urospatha grandis.

Oh poi now you just need a Lasia spinosa and you will have all the thorny giants. I live in Ohio and my giant aquatic aroids are limited to Cryptosperma johnstoneii and Lasia spinosa. I like them alot and it will be interesting how they far in the winter indoors. How are they doing now? I am thinking you live south of the equator.