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Today’s episode is the first of a two part series on Aroid 101. Aroids are all over Instagram, with their great variety of sexy, prehistoric looking leaves, and many Aroids make great houseplants because of their low light tolerance and their large and beautiful foliage. I’m excited to welcome Enid, the founder of NSE Tropicals, the online mecca for Aroids and unusual plants, to enlighten us about the wild and wide world of Aroids. You will be shocked at how many common plants fall under this family!

NSE Tropicals is an online plant shop that has some of the most rare and unusual plants on the Internet. Enid founded NSE Tropical 18 years ago as a hobby and it has turned into one of the go to resources for rare and exotic plants. She is an avid collector of aroids and other hard to find plants and even served as the President of the International Aroid Society. She gives us so much wonderful information over this two part episode. Today’s Part 1 focuses on the general information about the Aroid family, it’s history, what plants fall under the Aroid distinction and general care information and troubleshooting. Part 2 (airing next week) will take a deeper look at the most popular aroid houseplant genera and specific information on our most popular and and drool worthy Aroids. I mispronounce pretty much every plant we discuss, but their proper spelling and photos are in the blog associated with this episode.

In this episode we learn:

• How Enid became the collector and purveyor of rare plants
• How she grows her plants onsite
• The top 5 most requested plants at NSE Tropicals
• How to pronounce Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma (spoiler alert, Maria’s been pronouncing it incorrectly).
• How Enid became the experienced grower she is now
• The definition of an aroid
• What an inflorescence is
• Some plant latin guidance
• General thoughts and care tips for aroids
• How to prepare aroids for dormancy and which aroids go dormant
• The difference in root system across various Aroids
• General troubleshooting answers
• Why poles or climbing structures are important for Aroids that climb in nature

Mentioned in the episode:

• International Aroid Society aroid.org

Thank you Modern Sprout for sponsoring today's episode! For more information on Modern Sprout's amazing line of indoor grow lights (that Maria personally uses) and hydroponic grow kits, visit www.modernsprout.com and use code “BLOOM” at checkout for 15% off.

Follow Enid and NSE tropicals:

Instagram and Facebook: @NSETropicals  

 https://www.nsetropicals.com/index.html

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Instagram and Facebook: @BloomandGrowRadio

Website: www.bloomandgrowradio.com

Garden Club: www.bloomandgrowradio.com/garden-club