Last year I decided to try and keep a few of my A. Portora actively up and growing thru the winter, in the greenhouse.
There was a time I thought elephant ears require a dormant winter, I'd been told that and witnessed them give it up, now I realize it's these damn dark winters that force that dormancy on them, that and the over all decline in conditions!
It forces dormancy in me too...
At any rate, I kept 3 portora up all winter, they never missed a beat! But it was a slow beat, they are rockin now tho!
I push my EEs hard at times, even in this extremely variable may weather they have thrown a leaf a week! A few of my colocasia have managed 2 a week! But it was 55 degrees last night, I hate that, I know these tropicals don't enjoy it much either!
Anyway, as usual, I have a bunch of tubers that promptly bloom when I toss em back outside, more now than ever, my collection is recovering!
I think they do this because the plant gets abruptly halted, and still has a bloom deep within the tuber, if that makes sense.
So...I notice cataphylls are pushing out of the 3 portora I keep active, (along with the 4 pound tuber I dry stored, and many other EE too)
I keep a close eye on them as hybridizing is a growing interest of mine
(I owned 2 self made hybrids, and a seed sport of a few ears but lost them when my greenhouse froze, one was my pride and joy) but I awake the other day and do my daily exam of my plants, and I can see the spathe starting to push open the petiole and emerge, but on one of them, I could clearly see the male flowers with no spathe surrounding them!
I thought it was odd, made a mental note and moved on...
Well that bloom is out! As are many more and to my surprise this is what I see:
Never seen anything quite like it, I suppose it may be a side effect of forced blooming, but these 3 I kept active and growing had ample opportunity to push blooms out in the greenhouse, but they grew leaves instead, so maybe my "bloom deep within the tuber" theory is bunk, I dunno...
I do know this one bloom has a practically non existent spathe, tho it is there...but otherwise seems perfectly normal.
I certainly lack the expertise of this forums moderator, but I have never seen the like of this, and I have grown a few aroids in my day... Fun stuff I thought I would share, please comment on it, especially if you have insight as to why this might happen, or if anyone's ever noticed this before, I certainly have not, but Ive seen as many blooms in my life as Lariann probably has seen in a day...hopefully she chimes in, it's her baby after all.
Thanks for reading my ramblings...
