Would you like to grow a tuberous rooted plant native to Indochina in your window garden or greenhouse?
Hydrosme (he-DROSme) is a member of the arum family and sits on a family tree with the calla lily, jack-in-the-pulpit, skunk cabbage, and many other familiar plants.
Hydrosme Rivieri
Hydrosme rivieri (sometimes listed as Amorphophallus rivieri) is a curious tuberous plant is usually grown indoors.
It may be planted in a shade garden or shady border after all danger of frost is past. Its growing season is from February through September.
The large, brown, and flattish tubers are round underneath with a deep indentation on top (like tuberous begonia or gloxinia tubers).
Around the upper edge is a horny formation from which new plants grow. Mature tubers sometimes measure eight to ten inches across and weigh as much as six pounds.
Planting The Tubers
Smaller, 2- to 3-year-old tubers will bloom if 3” inches across.
Plant the tubers in February in rich, porous soil. Water sparingly until new growth starts, then keep the soil moist.
Large tubers will bloom if set in a bowl or pot without soil, but the small tubers must be planted in soil. They grow very fast and bloom in 4 to 6 weeks.
You will see a pink “nose” rise from the center of the tuber. This will grow into a stout but hollow scape about 2” inches around.
Snake Palm’s Features
This scape or stem is dark green, marbled white or cream, and looks like a large marbled snake; thus, the common name is “snake palm.”
It sometimes grows as much as 5″ inches in one day. When the scape is about 3′ feet tall, the large calla lily-like spathe begins to unfold.
It is a beautiful maroon “flower” with a nine to ten-inch white and dark purple twisted spadix that arises from the center.
The lower section of the spadix is white and knobby. Each little white knob has a small opening from which a very evil odor ascends.
Leaf Scape
The odor attracts carrion-loving insects which pollinate the flowers to bring about the production of seeds.
If the plant is kept in a cool room, the flowers will last from 3 to 4 weeks. Each tube produces only one lily.
After the flower scape turns yellow and drops off, keep the soil moist, and in a short time, a new scape will grow from the tuber.
This is the leaf scape, and if grown in a good strong light, it will be green-marbled cream and pink. When three to four feet high, it branches out into a palm-like leaf.
Leaf Formation
From three marbled and rounded large stems, three more leaf stems from near the center of the big palm. This leaf formation looks like a beautiful but unusual umbrella in the garden.
When fall days begin to cool and the nights are chilly, it is time to bring the tubers inside to store for the winter.
If grown in a pot, withhold water and leave the tuber in the pot until spring. Store in a dry temperature not below 50° degrees. Too much cold or dampness will cause the tubers to rot.
Heavy Feeders During Growing Season
These plants are heavy feeders. Feeding once a month and using a well-balanced liquid fertilizer during the growing season, the tuber will increase in size and store plenty of food and moisture to start new growth in the spring.
Propagate by offsets growing out of the top of the parent tuber. When the new plant is five or six inches tall, remove it from the parent tuber with a sharp knife.
Cover the cut with sulfur to prevent rot. Plant the new plant in a three-inch pot of good sandy loam.
44659 by Selma Loving