I have one Buddah's Hand on flying dragon rootstock and 2 own root that were branches that fell rooted themselves when the big one got knocked over so I cut them and put them in pots lol.

I can't leave them out or they freeze. I havent tried planting them out in the yard but all the leaves froze on one of the own roots that I left out in its pot at 29 F. The stem seems ok but I'm not taking any chances so they are all in the gh now.

I heard that flying dragon is very hardy and I did root a few suckers off the rootstock in my flowerbed and left them out over one winter. They survived 17 degrees and several days of teens F. That was the winter of 2009 when it got really cold in NE FL. The hardiest citrus are normally trifoliate orange, some mandarins, kumquats, and satsumas (are those considered mandarins lol).

~Sjn

I'm not talking about dragon fruit. I'm talking about the miniature elephant ear.

Oops sorry I thought you were talking about the Buddah's Hand citrus tree LOL! I actually do have a few pots of the Buddah's Hand aka Chinese taro plant as well. I've never left them outside in the winter. I originally had 3 pots and one was too close to the wall of the gh last winter and that one died so I don't know if they would be any better in the ground. I am in the North Jax area for reference.

Thanks. That's a bit north of me, but still, I'm not sure it would survive, although the hardiness says 7b. It' just seems so delicate, but then, the woman who gave it to me had it growing ouside, but that was in 10a.

Dirty, I do... kind-of. It is in a pot, but I do keep it outside year-round. Buddha's Hand (Alocasia cucullata) is a water-lover and similar to my Colocasia esculenta 'Mojito' , I grow it in a pot that has no drain holes. It has done fantastic! It lost it's leaves and went dormant for the winter but even though it sat in standing water several times during the winter after heavy rains, there was no rot at all - nice and firm. It began sprouting new green leaves several weeks ago.

EDIT: It might have been a different story if we had a hard freeze this past winter. For the first time ever in the 16 years I have lived in my home, we had no hard freeze.

Carol in Jacksonville

Update: I lost my Alocasia cucullata this past winter (winter 2018). I checked with my neighbor a few weeks ago who had originally given it to me to see how hers fared. She said, oh Carol, let me check the back yard - if I do, you can have it - and then she brought around this giant pot-full. It was absolutely chock full of weeds (crabgrass, ugh!) and other weedy mess. I cleaned it up and here is how it looks.

I need to give her pot back so I will be repotting it today. I still don't know, after all this time, what kind of growing conditions it really likes. After all, she's not a gardener and her plant lived... here I am, with a dead plant! DG, do you still have yours? SJN, do you have yours? Any tips, anyone?

I'm tempted to put this in the ground but I don't want to regret. Worried it could be invasive. DG, did you ever plant yours? Or does it remain in the pot?

Carol

I do still have my two pots full. They are in 3 gal containers and need repotting badly..they are on the "repotting list" after all the citrus and my Longan and jackfruit..so hopefully I will get to them sometime this year haha. They don't seem to mind being crowded and can take some drought if in shade. I will get a pic of them this weekend and you can see what a mean plant mom I am to them :p

Carol, did your Michelia alba make it? I thought you said you put yours in the ground?

I'm going to try putting one in the ground this year to see how it does. I'm repotting my 1-gallon up into a 3-gallon pot, in hopes of getting larger leaves, but I have one growing in a 6-inch pot that is going into the ground. Will let you know how it does and if it survives the winter.

Have not repotted the plant yet - chore did not get done. Perhaps this afternoon. Thanks for the advice. My last plant lived in dappled shade until mid-afternoon, and then full sun. Seemed to do fine. I haven't seen my neighbor to ask her where this pot was located. Hers was far more proliferous than my plant, but do I think she has had this plant forever. I think I remember it in the same pot when I was given the pup and that was quite awhile ago.

SJN, you are right. I did plant my Michelia Alba into the ground.

It sailed through winter 2017. We had no hard freeze.

I planted it into the ground last April 2017 and it was a beautiful little tree all of last year - and bloomed so nicely! But yes, it froze all the way back to the roots in winter 2018. It's coming back very strongly. It is full of new growth, all from the base of the tree. I removed all of the dead parts - all of the tree from the base of the trunk and up. I imagine it will be a shrub from now on. I don't expect that I will ever take a tree-form again. I will get picture and post today.

DG, I look forward to an eventual update on your Buddha's Hand planted in the ground. I'm still thinking about doing the same and still mulling it over. I wonder if it will spread - and if aggressively? Invasive plants always start slowly at first - they fool you - and then when you are not looking, they take over and are everywhere!

Carol

Hey that's awesome that Michelia alba comes back from the roots! So it will be kinda like Cestrum nocturnum here, freezing back and returning in the spring.

I may try rooting some Michelia and leave them out in different parts of the yard and see what happens lol. Its by far my favorite plant for scent. Even my son loves it and he hates all my "stinky flowers" lol.

I've found a lot of these zone 10 plants will return from the roots here. The Sausage tree (Kigella) and the double Rangoon Creeper both reliably return from the roots once established.

Here's my pots of buddah's hand. There are several plants in there and they don't seem to resent being crowded. Good thing because I basically water them and neglect them otherwise. I think they need to be moved into more sun though. The tree they are under grew a bunch this spring.