Hi LariAnn,

Thanks for the information. I checked out your link, the rest of your site as well. Very nice! I really like the growth habit of the Alocasia with their petioles and parallel upright leaves “reaching for the sky”. The high relief and contrast at the veins are what I think would add a great deal to my tropicalesque garden. The hypnosa is just too similar to the Colocasia I have. I’ve located one Colocasia, C. gigantea ‘Thailand Giant Strain’ which looks more like an Alocasia to me. Still trying to find out if it goes into true dormancy or if the corms(?) store as well as the C. esculenta I have.

I’ve been thinking about trying an Alocasia which doesn’t go dormant and bringing it inside in the fall. One idea is to grow it in the ground, then dig it and pot it in the fall. By growing in the ground I wouldn’t have to be so conscientious about watering. Hopefully potting it up would slow it down without killing it. Space is my biggest issue inside as these plants get so large. My C. esculenta get over 6’H and 4’W and I’m assuming the Alocasia will exceed this. So goes the garden life of a Yank.

Taylor696 said:

That is 100% understandable!
you are the one who made the hybrid, you dont want others to take credit and the money!

You work hard!!
you deserve it!

I whole-heartedly agree..........don't you LariAnn?

Of course - I made the original point!

So this thread seems to have risen from the dead after a couple of years. We hope you've been busy, LariAnn?

What's new at Ariodia? I clicked on the link on the previous page and only got breeding updates to 2011.

Elaine,
Oh, I've been busy all right, so busy, in fact, that I haven't updated my breeding records online for a while. I'm at the point where any free time I have, I either am out with the plants or trying to relax. Last year was "Caladium Year" in which I did a whole series of crosses between western Caladiums and Thai Caladiums. The results contain some really interesting plants; I call them my "Thaibrids". This year is Philodendron Year, as I have so many blooms coming on that I will be inundated with seeds and seedlings in a couple months if most of them take. I've gotten some new species that will enable my work to go in directions that were impossible previously. Besides that, I've been working on getting a few more plants into tissue culture so I can get them out to people who wish to grow them.

Be patient, and stay tuned!
LariAnn

LariAnn said:Elaine,
Oh, I've been busy all right, so busy, in fact, that I haven't updated my breeding records online for a while. I'm at the point where any free time I have, I either am out with the plants or trying to relax. Last year was "Caladium Year" in which I did a whole series of crosses between western Caladiums and Thai Caladiums. The results contain some really interesting plants; I call them my "Thaibrids". This year is Philodendron Year, as I have so many blooms coming on that I will be inundated with seeds and seedlings in a couple months if most of them take. I've gotten some new species that will enable my work to go in directions that were impossible previously. Besides that, I've been working on getting a few more plants into tissue culture so II can get them out to people who wish to grow them.

Be patient, and stay tuned!
LariAnn

Can we see some caladium pictures??

As soon as I get a moment to snap some and upload them - just when I think they are in good shape for pictures, they throw new leaves that are even better than the previous ones. Patience pays!

I know just what you mean!
Miss Muffet started out all white with red dots, and is now finally putting on some green! Big NoID also went with mostly white on the first leaf. Does more light make them go more green?

Jungle Rain went straight to flowers, the heck with making leaves! Maybe I was a little lax with the fertilizer?

This one might be White Christmas, can't remember. It can't decide what color to make on its leaves either. It seems it got busy and made some seeds last year, here's a random baby starting in the ground!

LariAnn are you still on this site?

@Lariann

phicks said:LariAnn are you still on this site?

Yes, I'm still here - just been really busy with the 10 acre Aroidia Research Center development (the ARC Ranch). We're in process of building greenhouses, laying roads, and setting up growing areas. Lots of work to do, and hybridizing season is fast approaching as well.
Below is the first greenhouse frame up - second frame should be up this week (hopefully).

The first wave of greenhouse building involves 2 20'x40' structures, 1 20'x20' structure, and a planned 30'x50' monster greenhouse. That's just the first wave - I expect there will be more, including a large geodesic dome greenhouse for display/specimen plants. Then there is the office, residence, workshop/maintenance area, etc.

As I mentioned before, lots of work . . .

Busy Busy!!!

It's going to be a big plants plant.

This plant is my Imperial Knight, the closest to a true black mac that I've been able to breed. It has Borneo Giant, Vangigo, blackstem mac and the "brown sinuata" in pedigree. This plant has grown a lot since this pic (to around 6 ft from soil to leaf tip) and I'm really hoping for blooms soon so I can cross it with A. odora. The Imperial Knight won't go on the market because it is too tender, but the hoped-for progeny of the cross will because it should have the cold resistance of A. odora

Such a beauty, LariAnn!

Wow, your ARC Ranch sounds like a huge undertaking ... a lot of work but I bet it will be amazing once finished!

Last summer I purchased "Regal Shield" Alocasia.
It was later in the season, and it did not look all that great.
I brought it in the fall, and allowed it to go dormant over the winter.
Then I began watering it and now have the most beautiful huge, dark, almost black, leaves on it.
On researching this plant, I found that it was bred by Lari-Ann !!!
Just want you to know that some of your work reaches us here in Canada.

Nice to see you back LariAnn, from the sounds of it, I think you need a secretary with all that you have going on.

Quick update - two greenhouses complete with shadecloth, groundcloth and irrigation stubs; GH3 construction begun. Hybridization really heating up - if they all work, busy will not be the word for what comes in two months.