Hi Jess, You should contact Michael Pascall from your neck of the woods (Australia anyway) for advice as he grows these very well. I can say that since they are from Brazil they are not likely to be amused by low temps. I can also report that they have no clear dormancy as long as you keep them warm and wet...they can grow continuously for over a year no problem....they are not like an Amorph paeoniifolius.....more like an Amorph titanum in that regard. The should be kept just the tiniest bit damp when dormant....in my experience and what I've heard from others. I do have gigas and it is beautiful...the petiole is just marvelous. You are incredibly lucky to have one of these and I hope you do well with it. I also hope that others can give more advice that have been growing them for a longer period of time. I've had a gigas for only around 18 months. Best of luck :o) Dan

Thank you very much - that helps a great deal. Haven't got the plant yet - looking at buying one and wanted to make sure I could accommodate it properly. Looks like it'll need a greenhouse during winter where I live, I'd say it'll be happy here in the summer months but in winter it gets to about 8 degrees C overnight.

Has anyone tried these as an indoor plant?

Cheers,

Jess

HI Jess,

Well, I muddle along with them as house plants....along with my Amorph titanum and hewitii. I keep them constantly on heat mats so that they are warm year round. I did manage to kill a couple of Dracs. by putting them under grow lights in my basement with the Helicodiceros and Arums....it was too cold for the Drac. and the tuber rotted because of the cool, wet soil. They will do amazingly well in front of a south facing window (in our hemisphere) on a heat mat for the winter. Again, in my climate they are potted in what I use for my bonsai.....it drains immediately and they still only get watered every 3-4 days with my Am. titanum to make sure they are not overwatered with our short days and cool conditions near the window. The petioles on these plants are just amazing...like a reptilian skin....rough and mottled...really beautiful. D. gigas also has a nice leaf....not as nice as some others maybe, but it is wonderful. I would also say that the petiole gets pretty tall from a modest size tuber so make sure it is deep enough to support the petiole...you should keep getting petioles for many, many months to come. Please let us know how it does for you and maybe post a pic :o) Dan

I will try and find out how the gigas I sent down to Victoria has done .. I know it grows very well in Brisbane . As it goes dormant for winter I am certain with a bit of TLC you should be able to keep it going .
Michael Pascall

Thanks so much for the help, I think I'll give them a go (going to build a greenhouse hopefully in time for winter anyway, should I need it). If they have a winter dormancy I don't think I'll have too much trouble in the colder months.
Another question - keep dry during dormancy, or just a little moist?

Cheers,

Jess

The dormancy thing is interestng....likely a product of having that lovely tropical NT weather!!! Everyone tha I know here that hasd a Dracontium...not many people I know, but a few....keep it growing year round and only let it go dormant when it finally decides to on its own!!! Wilbert Hetterscheid is the first one that told me to keep them barely moist during dormancy...like a titanum or hewitii....gigias...you get the idea. But I keep mine as warm as posible even during dormancy....I'd really take the advice of someone from your neck of the woods over mine as our climates are so radically different in all likelihood....we have snow on the ground right now.....it is hard to go from one part of the world to another with good advice, but this is what I do with a modest amount of success :o) Dan

I remember reading something about Dracontium dormancy- take a look on the Mobot site or try to find anything Guanghua Zhu wrote. I may be way off base about this, but I remember an odd thing about Dracs is that when they go dormant they actually sink down further into the soil. Somewhere there is a graphic of this. Ah, it's terrible getting old...

Hi HB, Yes this is true as I recall the same thing....much like an Amorph from my understanding. I remember someone else posting in the thread I started with my influorescence pic that they had a Drac. gigas in leaf for several consecutive years before it finally went dormant for about a month and then popped up again.....I do not think that these have any really well structured dormancy in the South American tropics but I'm not positive....heck, they are too pretty to let go dormant for us northern people :o) Dan

Here is a pic of mine currently putting out a second leaf.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/raymikematt/Dracontiumsp.jpg

Very lovely.....the leaf and petiole is the real reason to grow this genus!! I just wish they were easier to come by so that everyone could have a stab at them :o) Dan