The Rise and Fall of Titan #3

This is a cool time lapse of Titan #3. The pictures were taken with a Plant Cam borrowed from the WIU Office of University Relations. It begins on June 16th when the inflorescence was only 29 and 5/8 inches tall with the camera taking one picture every three hours. On June 24th, you will notice the whole plant has been rotated approximately 180 degrees. With the opening of the spathe getting closer, the Plant Cam is reset to take a picture every hour. The 6 p.m. picture from June 29th is of me attempting to pollinate the Titan. The 10 a.m. picture from July 1st has myself and Dr. Edwards caught taking male and female flower samples.

This video can also be seen at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBZcPpR54Po

The same video but taking only one third of the time to play can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQB0O_S7JOQ

Titan #2 Update

Just to update what Titan #2 is doing. It is a little over four feet tall this morning and the leaf sheaths are starting to split and expose the top of the leaf.

Better Luck Next Time

It appears my attempt to pollinate did not take. The peduncle (inflorescence stalk) is turning from green to yellow. I now expect the entire inflorescence to wither and the corm to go into dormancy with no fruit and consequently no seed developing.

Let a Little Air In

This morning, after seeing all the mold on the spadix and the outside of the spathe, I decided to peel the spathe back to see what was going on inside. The white cotton like stuff is mold. I am hoping it will go away with exposure to light and air. The female flowers or carpels are the reddish orange objects while above them are the male flowers. Interesting item, there appears one female flower in with the males. At this point, the carpels still look good so there is hope my efforts at pollination may be successful.

Titans 2 & 3

The spadix and spathe of Titan #3 continues to wither. Hopefully, the peduncle will stay and have fruits developing on it. The camera for the LIVE! Video Feed on ustream was moved this morning so Titan #2 can now be seen. The above picture is from the same height and angle as that video camera. The white stake to the right of Titan #2 is for reference. It has black lines that are one and two feet from the top of it.

Spadix Collapses

The spadix on Titan #3 collapsed sometime between early Sunday afternoon and late Monday morning. The peduncle (infloresence stalk) stills seems very solid. This gives hope to my attempt at pollination.

Behind the Spathe

On the lower portion of the spadix and concealed by the spathe are the actual flowers of the titan. The solid yellow items towards the top of the picture are the male flowers. The female flowers are the red-reddish orange items. The little yellow specs are pollen.

Still Hanging On

This is what Titan #3 looked like this morning. It is still open some and has a very light smell.

WIU Titan #2 Update

Titan #2 is slowly growing. This morning it was measured to be 26 inches tall. For the past eight days, it has been averaging only about 1 and 1/4 inches of daily new growth. The picture compares titans 1, 2 and 3 when they were all at approximately same height. If you notice, the shape of Titan #2 bud is different than 1 and 3's, which were inflorescences. I'm thinking #2 will be a leaf. As I know more, I'll post it here.

No Flash/Flash

As you can see by the captions, both of these pictures were taken this morning of Titan #3. The one on the left is without flash, just natural light, while the right picture is with flash. This is just to show why the Titan appears to be darker in color in some pictures and not in others.

Oh yes, Titan #3 is still open this morning and smelling (some but not like Tuesday night - Wednesday morning). The greenhouse will be open pretty much regular hours 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday.

The LIVE! video feed will be up for a week or so.