Just got my first Tacca

[jsehorn]

I've been wanting a Tacca chantrieri for some time now, and I finally got one! I know people have said that the white one is more difficult than the black one, but I like chantrieri better than integrifolia, so that's the one I got. I've read the cultural requirements, and I think I'll be able to provide what it needs, but if anybody has experience with this plant and has some tips, I'm happy to listen! If it doesn't go well, I got it from eBay and I didn't pay much for it, so it would be no major loss if it doesn't make it, but at least I tried

[lmartiny]

Is it a bat plant?

[jsehorn]

Yes, it is.

[JudyC]

Oh can't wait to see this in bloom! I don't know much about that type - but some of the photos I've seen posted online - these plants are beautiful!!

[orchids4me]

I don't know anything about tese but I do know that I like both the black and the white one was considering getting them also sometime.
I'm interested in what others have to say.
Congrats on your new baby !!

[SarinahL]

High, high, high humidity! No direct misting. Don't know much about these, but those two rules you shouldn't forget. It will never adapt to you..

[pikkumyy]

oh come on, now that is just unfair, for some reason a couple of months ago i started to REALLY want one, and i haven't been able to. (i wasn't trying to hard though because there was no room in my shadehouse, so i bought another shade house )

[jsehorn]

Thanks guys for the tips! It's pretty tiny right now, and I don't know how quickly they grow, but I expect it will probably be a couple years before it blooms.

Right now I've got it under a bunch of tall bifoliate Catts, so it's mostly shaded from any direct light, but I'll keep an eye on it and make sure it isn't getting too much. Being surrounded by other plants, the humidity is fairly high in that area.

I've wanted one for a long time, and mostly all I could find were seeds, and apparently the seeds can take months to germinate, and I don't have that much time haha. I saw a big one for sale a while back, in a 6 inch pot, but it was like 75 dollars, and although I'm certainly not averse to paying that much for a plant generally, I'm not gonna pay that much for something that I've never grown before. That would be a sad day the day a 75 dollar plant dies! I'm excited that I finally found one, so here's hoping that it does well.

Michael, like I said I found mine on eBay, but I doubt you could find anybody who would ship live plants there (I'm not sure what the laws are like regarding importing plants into Australia) but the seeds seem to be readily available, although from what I've read the germination rate isn't particularly high and they take FOREVER.

[Carkin]

Oh WOW! I just looked at some pictures of the blooms and they are gorgeous! I can see why you have wanted one for a while. I hope that it does well for you, it certainly is one worth trying to make happy!

[ingse]

My Tacca has grown to a very large plant. I bought it as a mature plant and it has had flowers four times this year.
I have tryed to grow them from seeds a few times, without any success.

[jsehorn]

Oh, that is awesome! I hope mine looks like that someday!

[otis 226]

Very nice plant. Enjoy growing it.
Cheers,
Tony

[psyc1210]

Nice! I almost bought a black one a couple months ago. I talked myself out of it because I was unsure where I'd keep it, and the grower told me it could be tricky with "wanting" to go dormant....Maybe one day!

[SarinahL]

Originally Posted by ingse

My Tacca has grown to a very large plant. I bought it as a mature plant and it has had flowers four times this year.
I have tryed to grow them from seeds a few times, without any success.

How do you keep it so healthy in your climate?

[jerrymeola]

I just bought a hundred of them in bloom so I jumped in head first.

They actually are quite easy to grow although the whites have a reputation of being more difficult.

Grow in shade and keep moist. If you fail to give it enough water the leaves will droop like dead and then come back when watered.

Growers in Florida mist heavy and all watering is overhead.

[jsehorn]

Thanks for the tips! How hot does it get during the summertime in SW Florida? I've got a shaded front porch on the east side of my house where I keep a lot of my lower light plants in the spring, summer, and fall, but sometimes here in OKC we have temperatures as high as 115 degrees. I can bring it back in the house when it gets that hot, unless they can withstand that much heat.

[jerrymeola]

I never consider heat a problem if you water enough. We get to 105 in the summer and a plastic covered shadehouse like mine can get to 105 on winter afternoons as the sun heats the plastic.

[jsehorn]

Okay, sounds good. Of course it is a slow rise in temperature, it isn't like it goes from 70 to 110 in a day, so it should be able to adjust. I'll keep a close eye on it to make sure, but I still have a few months before I have to worry about that. For right now my goal is just to get it through the winter.

[jpyerry]

Originally Posted by jsehorn

I've been wanting a Tacca chantrieri for some time now, and I finally got one! I know people have said that the white one is more difficult than the black one, but I like chantrieri better than integrifolia, so that's the one I got. I've read the cultural requirements, and I think I'll be able to provide what it needs, but if anybody has experience with this plant and has some tips, I'm happy to listen! If it doesn't go well, I got it from eBay and I didn't pay much for it, so it would be no major loss if it doesn't make it, but at least I tried

Jsehorn,

The Tacca chantrieri is the black bat plant, Tacca integrifolia is the white one. I have one of each, so far my chantrieri has been adapting to my grow conditions nicely, the integrifolia, not so much (it has just been putting out pathetic looking leaves that stay malformed). I keep my T. chantrieri a couple of inches away from my T5HO lights, it is in a tent that maintains at least 60% humidity, and a temperature of about 70-80F. It has been quite happy and keeps on putting out nice looking leaves. I really wish my T. integrifolia would adapt to its new conditions, but like you I did not spend much money on it, so if it doesn't it is not a huge loss. I use Dyna-Gro Grow formula with Dyna-Gro Pro-Tekkt and occasionally some Seaweed fertilizer. Best of luck to you with this genus of finicky plants.

Justin

[1joyceh]

Thanks for the correction Justin, you'll have to post some pics of your guys

[pikkumyy]

Originally Posted by jerrymeola

I just bought a hundred of them in bloom so I jumped in head first.

WOW, so why so many? and how big is your shade house? it must be huge, or do you run a business?

[jsehorn]

I'm sorry, you're right Justin. I got the names mixed up. I went back and looked at the eBay listing, and mine is Tacca integrifolia, the white one. Don't know at what point I started calling it the wrong name, but oh well. Thanks for the correction!

[lmartiny]

I picked one up at Home depot a few years back and killed it. I havn't seen them around since.

[jsehorn]

Yeah, I'm hearing very mixed reviews regarding this plant. Some people have no problems at all, while others find them to be very problematic. I also understand that the black bat plant is more forgiving than the white one. I have the white one.

So far, it is doing well. Yeah, I've only had it a week, but it hasn't died yet, so that's worth something, right?

[jpyerry]

Well, if you do get it to start growing well for you, I look forward to hearing about your conditions, because, I have had nothing but trouble with my T. integrifolia. The T. chantrieri though is growing like a weed, it is rapidly outgrowing the spot I put it in, so I think I will need to find it a new home pretty soon. Then again, I really need to get another grow tent soon because I am out of space in general.

Justin

[jsehorn]

I've only had it a little over a week, and it came with a fresh looking leaf that looks like it recently matured, so I haven't seen the next leaf start poking out yet, but the plant still looks good. Currently I have it by a west window, but it's almost completely shaded by a bunch of tall bifoliate Catts, and so far it seems happy there. Temperatures in that grow area are in the low 70s in the day, and low 60s at night. I'll keep you posted as things progress.

[meanie]

I too tried growing Tacca chantieri many times and got nowhere - apparently the seeds remain viable for only a short time (?).

So when I found one in a garden centre back in April reduced to £15 (the flower was over) I had to have it!
It was big...............


After about six weeks a flower head started to emerge, closely followed by a second. This is what I ended up with!

Tacca chantrieri - Bat Flower by longk48, on Flickr

I kept mine in the consevatory in the shaded area. The whole conservatory is full of water bowls in the summer and the plant was misted too.
I just used Phostrogen for feed.

[1joyceh]

WOW!!! what a beauty meanie!!
thanks for sharing

[jsehorn]

Thanks, meanie, that's a nice one! I guess I've had mine for about six weeks now, and I keep the humidity high with bright indirect light. I noticed pretty quickly that it wilts if it gets anywhere near dry, so I keep it pretty moist. No signs of new growth, but it still looks happy, so I figure it's just adjusting. I'm sure it'll step it up when it's ready. Hope mine looks like yours someday!

[meanie]

I'm taking a bit of a chance with it and keeping it dormant over the winter - I move house in a few weeks and I'll hopefully "bring it back" then. That is the biggest problem with it when growing in the UK - it's so damn big!

[jpyerry]

Very nice and congratulations on the blooms. I hope mine gets to be like yours someday, and I really hope my T. integrifolia someday adapts to the conditions I have given it, it is still not dead yet, but still not growing well.

[meanie]

Originally Posted by jpyerry

Very nice and congratulations on the blooms. I hope mine gets to be like yours someday, and I really hope my T. integrifolia someday adapts to the conditions I have given it, it is still not dead yet, but still not growing well.

Let's see if it returns from the dormancy!
In case you're wondering, it took up enough space for half a dozen other tender plants that I needed the space for this winter, so a choice had to be made.

[jsehorn]

Just a little update, Justin, I now know exactly what you mean about the gimpy little leaves that are malformed. That is exactly what mine is doing. I have it indoors at the moment. I have a room entirely dedicated to orchids and other plants I am fond of, and the humidity in there is quite high, and I keep the soil damp, and it gets plenty of bright, but indirect light. The color of the leaves is fine, so I think the lighting is right, and the humidity is high, and the temperatures in that room are warm, so I'm not sure exactly what is going wrong. It's a little frustrating, but I'm going to keep at it, and maybe move it outdoors onto my covered porch when the weather warms up and see if that makes any difference, but yeah Justin, I'm having the exact same issue.

[lmartiny]

Wow Meanie! Wow! Cool.

[meanie]

Originally Posted by jsehorn

Just a little update, Justin, I now know exactly what you mean about the gimpy little leaves that are malformed. That is exactly what mine is doing. I have it indoors at the moment. I have a room entirely dedicated to orchids and other plants I am fond of, and the humidity in there is quite high, and I keep the soil damp, and it gets plenty of bright, but indirect light. The color of the leaves is fine, so I think the lighting is right, and the humidity is high, and the temperatures in that room are warm, so I'm not sure exactly what is going wrong. It's a little frustrating, but I'm going to keep at it, and maybe move it outdoors onto my covered porch when the weather warms up and see if that makes any difference, but yeah Justin, I'm having the exact same issue.

This is not easy if you suffer winter conditions, but my leaf growth was improved when I switched to watering it from above using a watering can and a rose. I gave it 2 or 3 litres twice daily, feeding at quarter strength every two weeks in the same way. Use lukewarm water.

Thank you Imartiny!