My Colocasia/Alocasia Collection and other cold hardy tropicals Zone 8A

[Trent]

I started my obsession with the"basic" elephant ears bought at the big box retailers when I helped landscape my parents backyard around the pool back in the early 2000's. Fast forward almost 15 years and I've had them growing at every house I've owned since then and have kept around 9 species in total. 

I've kept:

Colocasia Gigantea - personal best leaf of 5ft in 2018 growing season, plants dug up to move back to TX from GA May 2019 and still in pots until I get them in ground this weekend. Hoping to see 6ft+ in 2020 purchased the Thai Giant strain from Brians Botanicals and Wellspring Gardens off eBay

Colocasia Illustris - I've got 4 of these at the moment but have propagated literal dozens of them, easily the fastest multiplying Colocasia I've grown. They multiple 10x over a single season it seems.

Colocasia 'Fierce Gigante' - picked two of these up in 2018 from Brians Botanicals but didn't get them in the ground due to living in a rental, these got planted 2 weeks ago and are starting to push new leaves already. Looking forward to some large purple stemmed leaves soon

Colocasia Esculenta 'White Lava' - had one in 2018 but it was plagued by some sort of mites when I had to overwinter my pots in the basement in GA and didn't pull through, would like to try it again soon

Colocasia Esculenta 'Mojito' - grew these at my folks house in early 2000's and currently don't own any

Colocasia 'sp' - Home Depot special, grew these at my folks house in early 2000's and currently don't own any

Alocasia Lutea - finally found a cheap place and bought 2 for $25 each instead of the $50-$100 pricing I'd been seeing coming from Thailand off eBay. I've propagated about 15 of them off the parent plants thus far and given a few to friends, they seem to multiply very easily. Will be their first season overwintering outdoors this winter 2019

*Alocasia Macrorrhiza 'New Guinea Gold' - on the list for next season as it's too late for me to start now

Alocasia Macrorrhiza 'Black Stem' - just picked one up a few weeks back and got it in the ground 2 weeks ago. Pushing new leaves now and will post more pics when it's recovered from some initial sunburn/packaging damage

Alocasia Polly - had a few of these since 2017 that I thought died after overwintering them in the basement and neglecting them only to have them re-emerge in July 2018. Got them all in the ground 2 weeks ago and they appear to be doing great, am going to try and overwinter them outdoors heavily mulched and see what happens.

*Alocasia 'Borneo Giant' - on the list for next season as it's too late for me to start now

Outside of elephant ears I have/will be growing Musa Ensete Glaucum 'Snow Banana' again and last year grew a two year old plant to 13ft in Zone 7B. Several other banana species are on my list but likely include Musa Basjoo and Musa 'Thai Black' both of which should do great in Zone 8A without protection.

Circa 2005 pics where it all started

Edited August 14, 2019 by Trent

[Trent]

Mid season 2018 of the Colocasia Gigantea "Thai Giant" measuring out around 4ft leaves, the Musa Ensete Glaucum 'Snow Banana' in the background around 11ft and I'm 6'2" for height comparison

Around October 2018 near the end of the season estimated leaf size around 5ft

Some progress shots from earlier on in the 2018 growing season

 

Edited August 14, 2019 by Trent

[Trent]

3 Colocasia Gigantea I dug May 2019 to move back to Texas, several of the Alocasia Lutea, and several of the Colocasia Illustris

Alocasia Macrorrhiza 'Black Stem'

Colocasia Esculenta 'White Lava'

Colocasia 'Fierce Gigante'

Edited August 14, 2019 by Trent

[Fusca]

Hey Trent,

Very nice plants!  I just started growing the 'basic' large-leaf type recently since previously always heard that they are water hogs but they seem to handle the heat/drought pretty well to my surprise.  How much Texas sun do yours get and how often do you water them?  Welcome to PalmTalk!

Jon

[Trent]

31 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Hey Trent,

Very nice plants!  I just started growing the 'basic' large-leaf type recently since previously always heard that they are water hogs but they seem to handle the heat/drought pretty well to my surprise.  How much Texas sun do yours get and how often do you water them?  Welcome to PalmTalk!

Jon

Thanks! The Colocasia 'sp' from HD/Lowe's are certainly very tolerant of the Texas heat and while they do okay without as much water as you might expect, they will do even better if you're watering them regularly. I typically water all of mine by hand about every other day when it's been in the high 90's or above and was watering about twice a week most of the spring/fall outside of that temp range. They get additional water when I run the sprinkler twice a week as well. The Gigantea start to droop without water after 2 days in this heat but some of the smaller leaved varieties can go several days without issue like the Illustris and even the Lutea.

Most of mine are in filtered afternoon sun for a few hours and otherwise shaded from overhanging tree's at this house. Some of them get more direct afternoon sun like the Fierce Gigante and the Illustris and seem to be doing fine in those conditions.

Edited August 14, 2019 by Trent

[Missi]

I can send you a Borneo Giant corm if you'd like. I have offsets all over the place. I even have offsets on the side of my lot like 75' away from where they're planted. I don't know if that was the handiwork of Hurricane Irma, a bear, or what! lol

[Merlyn]

I've done pretty well with some Alocasia/Colocasia types, the best ones in terms of cold tolerance seem to be some random ones I got from HD or Lowes with thick dark leaves and large diameter black stems.  I'm not sure if this is the same as your Alocasia Macrorrhiza 'Black Stem' above.  These handled a couple of 33F nights last winter with no significant damage, where some of the others just melted to the ground.  The "Teacup" and "Black Ruffle" ones did pretty well too.  My "Borneo Giants" from HD/Lowe's just withered at the first hint of temps below 35, which is really unusual considering they are claimed hardy to Zone 7.  My monsters in the backyard are about 8 feet tall and look a lot like your "Thai Giants" above.  They just appeared in my yard one day and grow like weeds...which is fine with me! 

Here's a photo of my black stems from a few weeks ago, about 5 feet overall height, and a photo of the backyard giants. 

[Trent]

On 8/16/2019 at 4:02 PM, Missi said:

I can send you a Borneo Giant corm if you'd like. I have offsets all over the place. I even have offsets on the side of my lot like 75' away from where they're planted. I don't know if that was the handiwork of Hurricane Irma, a bear, or what! lol

That would be great! I'll pm you

[Trent]

15 hours ago, Merlyn2220 said:

I've done pretty well with some Alocasia/Colocasia types, the best ones in terms of cold tolerance seem to be some random ones I got from HD or Lowes with thick dark leaves and large diameter black stems.  I'm not sure if this is the same as your Alocasia Macrorrhiza 'Black Stem' above.  These handled a couple of 33F nights last winter with no significant damage, where some of the others just melted to the ground.  The "Teacup" and "Black Ruffle" ones did pretty well too.  My "Borneo Giants" from HD/Lowe's just withered at the first hint of temps below 35, which is really unusual considering they are claimed hardy to Zone 7.  My monsters in the backyard are about 8 feet tall and look a lot like your "Thai Giants" above.  They just appeared in my yard one day and grow like weeds...which is fine with me! 

Here's a photo of my black stems from a few weeks ago, about 5 feet overall height, and a photo of the backyard giants. 

 

 

Great looking plants! I've been following your other thread about the total yard renovation and it is extremely impressive to say the least! I am not envious of your stump digging projects though and will be doing the same this winter but thankfully I'm only digging out 2-3ft base stumps haha. How many years have the monsters been there? Biggest leaf? I know several others growing the Thai Giant strain and so far have yet to see anyone with leaves over 6.5ft but have seen jungle pictures of leaves pushing closer to 8ft and overall plant heights around 12ft which would be amazing. I will have to report back on the Black Stems, this will be my first time with them so not sure how much of the stem color will fade with size. The newest leaf that pushed is 30% larger than any on there and stem color is still solid black so hopefully that trend continues.

Pretty much all of mine get crushed to the ground around the mid 30's with frost, they handled some low 40's nights with zero visible change but we were seeing low winter temps outside of Canton, GA in the teens occasionally and got over a foot of snow the first year I lived there. Thankfully all my plants were in the basement that winter. Surprisingly my Snow Banana survived with zero protection or mulching in ground through both winters there, it's rated Zone 8A and we saw low temps that first winter around 7 degrees. I let the plant wither and didn't cut it down so it had dead leaves for insulation but nothing outside of that. The location of the current house is very favorable and it appears we have a micro climate compared to surrounding areas. I'm seeing Cycads that you never see at this size in DFW doing great and trunking in the neighborhood.

Updated pic of Alocasia Lutea in ground now, they've yellowed up a lot in the last 2 weeks and about 4 new ones have popped up! 

[Merlyn]

Digging out the stumps in February wasn't too bad, but trying to do the same thing in August is not recommended!  At 95F/65% humidity = 118F head index I can only work out in the sun for about 30 minutes before taking a 30 minute A/C break!  If the stumps have been in the ground for a while they might be rotted just enough to cut and dig out easily.  The last one I took out was about a 2' trunk oak, and it took me 4 hours from start to finish, including a couple of breaks!  Get a mix of 6" and 9" Milwaukee (or 2nd choice Diablo) low TPI sawzall blades and go at it.  Skip the Bosch blades, they get dull in sand in about 2 slices.  For a 2' trunk dig a 6-8' circle 2 feet down and you can get under the flat stump part easily.  Then it's just a matter of slicing a bunch of 3" to 6" diameter roots with the short sawzall blades, and use the big blade to slice down from above to take big chunks off.  Hopefully your soil isn't hard caliche like my parent's place in Austin!

There were always some big elephant ears on the East side of my house, and one clump in the back SE corner.  But the cluster in the photo is brand new this year, it grew from one or two tiny leaves to that clump in about 6 months!  I had bought a "Queen Emma" crinum lily and planted it there, so I think they came as a free "weed" along with it.  Now the crinum has been munched by the lubber grasshoppers and is not even visible behind the clump.  I'll have to see about the leaf length, but I'm guessing around 5 feet right now.  There is a taller one in the far SE corner that's in deeper shade, and it is well over 8' tall with even larger leaves.  Those survived two 33F freezes last winter with minimal damage, but were torched at our ~25F freeze a few years ago.  But they did grow back fast in the spring, so they might be more "tuber-hardy" than some of the others.  Several of my neighbors have them in full shade at the base of oaks, and they are a lot smaller and less clustering.  Around here it seems they need some sun, but maybe not full afternoon sun.

My ones with the black stems have definitely faded to a dark grey with age, but the leaves are still nice and dark green.  I have a Lutea also, it melted at 33F and really hasn't recovered.  The center stem rotted and all that's left are a couple of tiny offsets that are 6" tall and not getting any larger.  I was disappointed, because it's a really pretty plant!

[Trent]

Colocasia 'Fierce Gigante' picking up steam! Leaf size has almost doubled and seems to be establishing well

[el-blanco]

Nice collection.  I should put together a list like yours.  Do you ever trade varieties?  I have some Alocasia Macrorrhiza Variegated, Wentii, Regal Shield, Portodora.   Xantho Violacium, and Xantho Lime Zinger among others.  

Next year I will have many other varieties as I cannot get enough of these big plants among the palms.

 

Thanks,  Jeff

[Trent]

13 hours ago, el-blanco said:

Nice collection.  I should put together a list like yours.  Do you ever trade varieties?  I have some Alocasia Macrorrhiza Variegated, Wentii, Regal Shield, Portodora.   Xantho Violacium, and Xantho Lime Zinger among others.  

Next year I will have many other varieties as I cannot get enough of these big plants among the palms.

 

Thanks,  Jeff

Thanks Jeff! I haven't really traded outside giving a few plants to friends locally but would be willing to if time allows. Right now I'm in the planning stages for the new house and don't know what all is going to be able to stay after some of my big palms get planted. I've got a few colocasia gigantea, a few alocasia lutea, and will end up having a bunch of colocasia illustris in the spring I could part with. Keeping the majority of the Lutea and will replant them in a permanent place next year but don't need anymore gigantea or illustris so those will be available

[metalfan]

Your stuff looks great!

[brendabratt1956@gmail.com]

Hi! So happy to find you. Im in Georgia east side of Lanier. I am looking for a dark leaf, smaller colocasia. that will or may live in zone 7Bto  8.. I do seem to have a tropical micro climate so to speak.  Any suggestions? Thank you in advance and will I see your reply in my email in box or do I need to revisit this site?

[PricklyPearSATC]

Man!  I'm in San Antonio and my Alocasia would wimp out over the winter, eventually getting smaller and smaller.   That was one reason I started growing palms! 
Wish I could grow EE's and split leaf philodendrons.  I think are summers are too drying or something.  I can't even get fatsia japonica to survive down here!  (Too dry)

Edited April 1, 2021 by PricklyPearSATC

[Keys6505]

On 8/14/2019 at 2:26 PM, Trent said:

Colocasia Esculenta 'White Lava'

I know I'm late to this thread but what did these end up being?  They don't look like  White Lava, they look more like an Amazonica hybrid something along the lines of Bambino maybe?

When I lived in 7a I used to collect Alocasia/Colocasia because I could store them dormant over the winter indoors.  At my max I had 42 varieties I believe, but I'm sure I've lost track of some and lost a bunch of others since.  I don't know how many I still have but there's a bunch.  I can't wait until instagramming plants isn't cool anymore, the new and interesting varieties are so crazy price inflated right now it's rediculous.

Edited April 2, 2021 by Keys6505

[Keys6505]

Aaaaand just realized OP hasn't logged on in 2 years

Edited April 2, 2021 by Keys6505

[Keys6505]

17 hours ago, PricklyPearSATC said:

Man!  I'm in San Antonio and my Alocasia would wimp out over the winter, eventually getting smaller and smaller.   That was one reason I started growing palms! 
Wish I could grow EE's and split leaf philodendrons.  I think are summers are too drying or something.  I can't even get fatsia japonica to survive down here!  (Too dry)

More shade, more water.  Their root balls stay small so you can just amend the hole with tons of moisture retentive media and water, water, water all summer.  And then dump an entire bag of 10-10-10 on top (not really, but kinda).

[Forgot9]

Hi all! I see that because there are many people who know about Alocasias. That's why I think they will know how to give me a solution. I have an Alocasia in the living room and with the arrival of winter its leaves have been turning more and more yellow.

It is the first winter that I have this Alocasia at home. I really don't have much experience with plants in general. I've been reading a bit but I can't finish solving the problem with the information I find on some websites. The most complete article I found on the subject is this one about Alocasia leaves turning yellow, but I still couldn't find a solution to my problem.

I hope you can help me. Greetings! :)

[Dartolution]

@Forgot9 Its going dormant, which is more-or-less completely normal for this time of year. 

It may lose all of its leaves and be just a stump but will return several weeks later upon springs arrival. 

Usually, when they start to go dormant, I find just allowing them to do so is much easier than trying to keep the plant in a lush active growth state during a time of the year that isn't conducive to it. 

Don't overwater, remove dead leaves as needed, and allow it to rest. 

 

[Swolte]

Thanks for sharing your collection, @Trent!

I didn't think I could grow elephant ears given my minimalist-maintenance gardening style (no irrigation, minimal to no fertilization). I have tried a couple of smaller elephant ears a few years ago but they didn't make it (I am happy to help them get established but they should be on their own). I do have one strange survivor. It's called Alocasia Architexture and possibly a mix of A. odora and A. cucullata. It's in part sun (but receives full afternoon sun) and does get sprinkled by a nearby septic system (which doesn't really put out a lot of water though I bet it does help 'fertilize'). I do mulch a lot. I never water it nor protect it from cold (including 3F texas freeze). Didn't think it was going to be a long-term plant but hell... its toughness amazes me! How is this possible? 

Your post and my experience with this particular elephant has rekindled my interest in this genus again. If I can grow this, what else would I be able to grow that would be large yet different-looking?!

I added a pic from over a year ago (apologies for the grumpy-looking model...). Its a much bigger clump last fall (now its back to the ground after an 18F freeze).

Edited January 19, 2022 by Swolte

[Joyce G]

Good afternoon.  I just mailed a bunch of baby Alocasia (variegated form) down to my daughter who is at Fort Rucker, Alabama. (She’s learning to fly helicopters, 1LT in the Army) 
She plans on planting them along her NE foundation in the ground. She says the grass won’t grow there and the ground stays evenly moist from the AC drip line, but is never swampy. 
Do you all think they’ll be winter hardy for her? Thanks. 

[MichaelT]

You sound like me with the growing elephant ear obsession. Started with plain ol C Escuelenta and went from there. Do you have a shop online?