Originally, I’d intended to lump all the “Elephant Ears,” that is Alocasia, Colocasia and Xanthasoma together in one blog.
However, I found that the differences in over wintering these plants were significant enough to warrant splitting the blog into two parts.
The two parts, are based on notes that I made while growing these fantastic plants.
In this the first part, I concentrate on Alocasia Macrorrhiza.
Like Colocasia and Xanthasoma, A.Macrorrhiza is easy to grow through the warmer months of the summer.
Where it really scores though, is during the winter months, where with a modicum of care it can be successfully grown as a houseplant, all be it a very large one eventually.
(It looks particularly good in a conservatory, where with a palm or two and perhaps an exotic climber it will give a definite "Look of the Tropics.")
Native to tropical areas of S.E.Asia, A.Macrorrhiza has now spread to other parts of the sub tropical/tropical world.
In ideal conditions, it grows to massive proportions, up to a height of 12ft.plus and with a spread of up to 6/8ft.
Unfortunately, here in the U.K. we can only dream about growing plants this size, never the less it's still one of, if not the largest perennials we're ever likely to grow.
Truly an imposing plant in every sense of the word.
For tips on growing A.Macrorrhiza either in a pot or in the ground, follow this link to Part 2 of my blog : colocasia,xanthosoma, elephants ears.(Part 2)
Here, are a couple of other tips.
Tip 1 If you prefer to grow your "Elephants Ears" in pots, then I'd recommend that you stick to plain, unglazed crock ( clay ) pots.
Although these plants are moisture lovers, they do not like waterlogging.
Plastic pots, even with fast drainage, tend to hold lots of excess moisture.
This leads to the soil going "sour" and can lead to root and corm rots.
( Unglazed clay pots "breath" plastic and glazed clay pots, do not. )
Tip 2 If you want to grow your Alocasia in the garden but still overwinter it indoors, the easiest way to do it is to plant the pot.
Pick the place where you want your plant to go, then dig a hole to the same depth as the pot.
Make sure the drainage at the bottom of the hole is o.k.
Plant the pot, with the plant in it of course and put a mulch around the pot to hide the pot edge and keep the area moist.
Continue watering and feeding.
At the end of the Summer, lift the lot out of the ground.
Wash and clean the outside of the pot, trim off any roots that have grown through the drainage hole and bring the lot indoors ready to overwinter.
The first time I tried to overwinter A.Macrorrhiza, it ended when the whole plant collapsed in a heap.
Looking at the remains, it was clear that a different approach was needed, so, in the Spring I bought another small plant tried again.
The first of my changes, involved repotting the plant.
I discarded the plastic pot that it had come in and washed much of the old soil from around the roots.
I then repotted it using my own compost mixture into a clay pot.
After an initial sulk, it began to grow slowly through the Summer.
I watered it modestly and used a weak solution of Phostrogen to help things along.
At the end of the Summer, I brought it indoors and put it in an unheated South facing room and this is where it spent its first and subsequent Winters.
The second of the changes I made was in the watering regime.
First, I stopped watering the pot from the top and switched to watering from below.
Next, was the amount of water.
At my first attempt, I'd kept the compost fairly moist, at times, not far of wet and this is where I made my big mistake.
Although my A.Macrorrhiza was growing very, very, slowly, it simply did not need the amount of water that I'd given it.
As a result of this, the roots rotted, followed very rapidly by the rest of it.
A change to a much drier watering regime, including letting the pot dry out for a short period put things right and I had no more problems with overwintering my plant.
( Apart from Red Spider Mite.)
Sadly, my A.Macrorrhiza met its end during Feb 2000 after three nights of minus 6c of frost.
At its end, it was in a 14in. clay pot, the plant alone stood 5ft high and had a spread of 4ft.
Unfortunately, it weighed a ton and I couldn't even lift the thing let alone move it indoors.
I gave it a covering of fleece and hoped for the best.
It actually stood a couple of minus 2s' quite well but sadly, the lower temperatures finally did for it. Posted by: Mike.
Note : There's no doubt in my mind, that to overwinter A.Macrorrhiza successfully, you need to cut the watering drastically.
I stood the pot in a saucer and filled the saucer once a month and that was it.
In its third year, in early December, I had two flower spathes, both of which opened and lasted several days.
I took the picture used in this blog, in the tropical house of Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
I would have liked to have used a picture of the plant that I grew, but I had no plans to do a blog and in fact, I didn't know one end of a computer from the other.
The picture I'm afraid, went in one of my periodic clearouts.
So, until I get another one, or I can get some seed, I'm afraid that this photo will have to do. Posted by: Mike.