Colocasia gigantea hardiness?

From: RAYMOMATTLA at cs.com on 2004.11.25 at 18:55:15(12415) This seems to be a VERY hardy plant for me, and I would expect it to be the most hardy of the Colocasia? I usually leave mine in the ground during the winter but always dig up a few bulbs just in case. Last year I accidentally left a bulb uncovered and exposed in one of the beds and didnt notice it until spring. Suprisingly, along with all of the others that normally come back like gangbusters...it survived. Our lowest temp recorded at my house last winter was 20F. While it was a relatively dry and mild winter, it still suprised me that the bulb took ice, snow and numerous deep freezes and still managed to stay alive. I am in the Upstate area of South Carolina, borderline 7b-8a, but would expect this plant to be hardy in much colder regions, possibly 6a? Thanks, happy holidays, Michael Mattlage +More _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "David S." <maui4me at charter.net> on 2004.11.26 at 17:40:58(12426) I have from what all indications are C. gigantea growing outdoors here in NE Tennessee, right on the Virginia state line. I've had it for over ten years and generally just mulch it heavily with leaves. It seems to do just fine and has made it through a couple of winters without mulch, although it's very slow to come up and not as large the following year. Mine have in years past taken on an almost fountain growth habit, with the fairly large leaves forming a cupped shape and extending out horizontally. They are interesting when it rains and they fill up and then dump the water, sort of like one of those bamboo fountains. They have flowered in the years they've gotten big, with multiple spathes forming in a fan shape. David Sizemore +More Kingsport, TN (Zone 6a) ----- Original Message ----- To: aroid-l@gizmoworks.com Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2004 1:55 PM Subject: [Aroid-l] Colocasia gigantea hardiness? This seems to be a VERY hardy plant for me, and I would expect it to be the most hardy of the Colocasia? I usually leave mine in the ground during the winter but always dig up a few bulbs just in case. Last year I accidentally left a bulb uncovered and exposed in one of the beds and didnt notice it until spring. Suprisingly, along with all of the others that normally come back like gangbusters...it survived. Our lowest temp recorded at my house last winter was 20F. While it was a relatively dry and mild winter, it still suprised me that the bulb took ice, snow and numerous deep freezes and still managed to stay alive. I am in the Upstate area of South Carolina, borderline 7b-8a, but would expect this plant to be hardy in much colder regions, possibly 6a? Thanks, happy holidays, Michael Mattlage _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: RAYMOMATTLA at cs.com on 2004.11.26 at 23:35:48(12428) David, it is funny I thought about those little bamboo water features too when the gigantea fill and drop water. The most unusual thing about them are the little appendages that can be found on the undersides of the leaves. They can be quite invasive too. Michael _______________________________________________ +More Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: Tony Avent <tony at plantdelights.com> on 2004.11.27 at 17:40:20(12430) Aroiders: The Colocasia gigantea that we sell came from Hayes Jackson of Alabama, who got it from a next door neighbor, who moved to the US from Thailand. I suspect that most of this in the US originated from this clone. It has survived 5 degrees F here, with no mulch, but it never reaches much more than 4' in height. This form is stoloniferous, but the stolons don't run far from the parent as in C. esculenta var. aquatalis. For spring, we will have a new form, collected in 2003 by Petra Schmidt in Thailand. These plants are much larger...make that massively larger than the form we grew before. Seedlings planted in the ground in May reached 6-7' tall x 10+' wide in 5 months. In the wild, the clump was around 9' tall with leaves much larger than a normal person. This will be our first winter with this new form in the ground, but we've got our fingers crossed. I'm curious if there are more forms of Colocasia gigantea being grown out there in aroid land. Tony Avent +More Plant Delights Nursery @ Juniper Level Botanic Garden 9241 Sauls Road Raleigh, NC 27603 USA Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F USDA Hardiness Zone 7b email tony@plantdelights.com website http://www.plantdel.com phone 919 772-4794 fax 919 772-4752 "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "David S." <maui4me at charter.net> on 2004.11.27 at 19:44:11(12431) David, it is funny I thought about those little bamboo water features too when the gigantea fill and drop water. The most unusual thing about them are the little appendages that can be found on the undersides of the leaves. They can be quite invasive too. Michael +More ============================= Yeah, I found out quickly that they didn't form much of a corm or tuber, but were quite stoloniferous. The first winter I had them, I made the mistake of sticking them in the basement dry like the common elephant ear and almost lost them. They were in a pot then and I hadn't dug around to explore and when I did, I was shocked to find no tuber. It was my first experience with any of them and I had figured that all Colocasias formed tubers. Since then, I've found that ones that do form them seem to be more uncommon. Mine just got zapped with 20 °F two nights ago and look rather pitiful. Fortunately, I really heaped on the leaves from the yard two weeks ago, so I think they'll be just fine come Spring. David Sizemore Kingsport, TN (Zone 6a) _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "David S." <maui4me at charter.net> on 2004.11.28 at 02:36:46(12437) > Aroiders: > > The Colocasia gigantea that we sell came from Hayes Jackson of Alabama, > who got it from a next door neighbor, who moved to the US from Thailand. I > suspect that most of this in the US originated from this clone. It has > survived 5 degrees F here, with no mulch, but it never reaches much more > than 4' in height. This form is stoloniferous, but the stolons don't run > far from the parent as in C. esculenta var. aquatalis. > > For spring, we will have a new form, collected in 2003 by Petra Schmidt in > Thailand. These plants are much larger...make that massively larger than > the form we grew before. Seedlings planted in the ground in May reached > 6-7' tall x 10+' wide in 5 months. In the wild, the clump was around 9' > tall with leaves much larger than a normal person. This will be our first > winter with this new form in the ground, but we've got our fingers crossed. +More > I'm curious if there are more forms of Colocasia gigantea being grown out > there in aroid land. > > Tony Avent > Plant Delights Nursery @ > Juniper Level Botanic Garden > 9241 Sauls Road > Raleigh, NC 27603 USA > Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F > Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F > USDA Hardiness Zone 7b > email tony@plantdelights.com > website http://www.plantdel.com > phone 919 772-4794 > fax 919 772-4752 > "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least > three times" - Avent ================================= Tony, do you know when Hayes Jackson got his clone? Mine came from a lady that moved here from Vietnam in the late 70's. Her family ate the leaves and petioles of this plant after cooking it like spinach. Your description of a height of 4 ft. sounds about right for mine. Your description of it's stolon activity also is similar to mine. They didn't run very far, but there sure was a bunch of them. I remember selling a bunch of it a few years ago in a yard sale. That new form you have sure sounds interesting. I've always wondered how it got the name "gigantea" when it's leaves weren't any larger than the common C. esculenta. I guess your new form settles that question! David Sizemore Kingsport, TN (Zone 6a) _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: RAYMOMATTLA at cs.com on 2004.11.29 at 01:06:43(12443) I got my plant from PDN a few years ago and the first year it grew HUGE. The leaves were a good 4-5 foot and spread was easily 10 foot. Perhaps it was all the goat and chicken poo? The past few summers they have not gotten quite so big. they are definately very hardy though...the first freezes of this season cut them back but since then they have all put out new leaves. Michael _______________________________________________ +More Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: Tony Avent <tony at plantdelights.com> on 2004.11.29 at 12:01:46(12445) David: Very interesting about your form of C. gigantea. It could be that this is a clone that is eaten throughout several parts of Asia. I also wondered why it was named "gigantea" until I saw this new ecotype. +More At 09:36 PM 11/27/2004 -0500, you wrote: >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Tony Avent" >To: "Discussion of aroids" >Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2004 12:40 PM >Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Colocasia gigantea hardiness? > > >> Aroiders: >> >> The Colocasia gigantea that we sell came from Hayes Jackson of Alabama, >> who got it from a next door neighbor, who moved to the US from Thailand. >I >> suspect that most of this in the US originated from this clone. It has >> survived 5 degrees F here, with no mulch, but it never reaches much more >> than 4' in height. This form is stoloniferous, but the stolons don't run >> far from the parent as in C. esculenta var. aquatalis. >> >> For spring, we will have a new form, collected in 2003 by Petra Schmidt in >> Thailand. These plants are much larger...make that massively larger than >> the form we grew before. Seedlings planted in the ground in May reached >> 6-7' tall x 10+' wide in 5 months. In the wild, the clump was around 9' >> tall with leaves much larger than a normal person. This will be our first >> winter with this new form in the ground, but we've got our fingers >crossed. >> I'm curious if there are more forms of Colocasia gigantea being grown out >> there in aroid land. >> >> Tony Avent >> Plant Delights Nursery @ >> Juniper Level Botanic Garden >> 9241 Sauls Road >> Raleigh, NC 27603 USA >> Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F >> Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F >> USDA Hardiness Zone 7b >> email tony@plantdelights.com >> website http://www.plantdel.com >> phone 919 772-4794 >> fax 919 772-4752 >> "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least >> three times" - Avent > >================================= >Tony, do you know when Hayes Jackson got his clone? Mine came from a lady >that moved here from Vietnam in the late 70's. Her family ate the leaves >and petioles of this plant after cooking it like spinach. Your description >of a height of 4 ft. sounds about right for mine. Your description of it's >stolon activity also is similar to mine. They didn't run very far, but >there sure was a bunch of them. I remember selling a bunch of it a few >years ago in a yard sale. That new form you have sure sounds interesting. >I've always wondered how it got the name "gigantea" when it's leaves weren't >any larger than the common C. esculenta. I guess your new form settles that >question! > >David Sizemore >Kingsport, TN (Zone 6a) > >_______________________________________________ >Aroid-l mailing list >Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com >http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > Tony Avent Plant Delights Nursery @ Juniper Level Botanic Garden 9241 Sauls Road Raleigh, NC 27603 USA Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F USDA Hardiness Zone 7b email tony@plantdelights.com website http://www.plantdel.com phone 919 772-4794 fax 919 772-4752 "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "Bamboo Chik" <bamboochik at earthlink.net> on 2004.11.29 at 14:41:12(12446) Michael, do you have any idea why they are not getting as large? I know my Colocasia, no matter which species, is very attractive to voles so I always dig them up even though it is not necessary in my climate. Could it be that they are nibbling on the rhizomes and causing this? ...b.f.n...deb/S.AL ----- Original Message ----- To: aroid-l@gizmoworks.com +More Sent: 11/28/2004 9:25:03 PM Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Colocasia gigantea hardiness? I got my plant from PDN a few years ago and the first year it grew HUGE. The leaves were a good 4-5 foot and spread was easily 10 foot. Perhaps it was all the goat and chicken poo? The past few summers they have not gotten quite so big. they are definitely very hardy though...the first freezes of this season cut them back but since then they have all put out new leaves.Michael _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: RAYMOMATTLA at cs.com on 2004.11.30 at 01:54:49(12451) Deb, The ones that I do dig for storage dont have any signs of damage from pests although I have seen some of my Alocasia get chomped on by what I thought was grubs. Originally I had one plant of Colocasia gigantea, which was planted by itself in a large bed and left to grow huge in its first year. The following years it has produced dozens and dozens of pups and I have left them to grow up next to the Momma plant, only thinning occasionally when it gets too crowded. Maybe all the plants are competing for water/nutrients and thus not getting as big. I have transplanted several bulbs to different parts of the yard, but they dont seem to quite that big anymore either. Strangely, that same summer I got 7-8 foot Xanthosoma violeceum and an Ensete almost 15 foot tall (cant get them over 10 foot now). The soil gets a fresh layer of manure every spring, so Im really not sure. Michael +More _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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