Challenges of overwintering Colocasia as houseplants
6 years ago
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- 6 years ago
- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
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Moving houseplants outdoors and planting?
Comments (14)Josh, you're not the only member here who has planted house plants in the ground. :) Karate. Planting in the ground has its pros and cons, unfortunately, more cons than pros. Pros...plants will grow like weeds. Con. Depending on the plant, it might grow too big. For example. One spring I planted two, 1' Musas/Banana Trees in the ground. By autumn, they stood over 15' tall, 7-9' wide. Because of their sizes, I had to leave them out to die. I also planted a 7" Brugmansia. By autumn, it stood 3-4' tall. I dug up the Brug..many roots broke, but not enough to kill it. The following spring, I planted the Brug in ground again. It grew another 2-3', and bloomed profusely. From then on, it was kept in a large container. I also planted a few palms and a hardy Citrus. The palms didn't put on much growth, but foliage was full, compact and very green. Some of your plants would do okay in ground, but don't forget the cons.. Cons: Broken roots, bugs, disease. If you decide to plant in the garden, when you dig up, hose entire plant, including roots. Some of your plants that could be planted in the garden: Jerusalem Cherry Ardisia Elephant Ear Canna Opuntias Most of your other plants would do fine outdoors, in pots. Be very careful with the Pothos and Philo. Leaves could burn. Keep us posted..Toni...See Moreoverwintering alocasia
Comments (5)I offer this advice only with the disclaimer: your mileage may vary, because we don't have to overwinter ours here. But I have had friends tell me that this is how they do it in colder places. (These plants go dormant naturally in the winter, along with all the colocasias and xanthosomas, and re-emerge in spring here. The ground never freezes, so we get them back every Spring.) I do grow the variegated form of Alocasia macrorhizza year round in a greenhouse. Its very large, because it never goes dormant, therefore it reproduces itself like a demon and has to be thinned every spring. I plant the thinnings outside. In my experience, macrorhizza does not form what I would call a "tuber". Its more like a "bulb". ALocasias like Odora, Portodora, Calidora, Culculatta etc are more "tuber-forming" per-se, but to me, these are actually more "trunk forming". I have plants with trunks 2-3 ft tall. The only ones that I think really form tubersthat kinda crawl over and under the ground are the Alocasias like Polly, loweii, sanderiana, etc and they have to get pretty large to have that. Its really easy to overwinter macrorhizza if you take a tip from nature. Leave them outside until your nighttime temps force them into natural dormancy (the 40-50's range...maybe high 30's but not freezing). Once they go dormant, place the pot in a spot where it definitely won't freeze, and don't water it. In spring, move it back out once it warms up into the 50's and start watering it maybe once a week til the new growth starts up. Its also possible to keep it indoors as a houseplant, if you have enough light. Just don't overwater it during the winter, and watch for pests....See MoreAny success with Majesty Palm as a 'houseplant'?
Comments (29)I don't know why places like HD, Lowe's, WalMart etc sell these plants outside true tropical areas. They are not houseplants and not hardy where there is frost. A few people told me they buy them for their porches or decks in summer and toss them as soon as cold weather comes. Here in North Central FL I'm keeping mine overwinter in the heated greenhouse. So far no problems but there's 2 more months of winter. I may just plant it in the yard this spring and if it dies next winter, so be it. It will not fit in the greenhouse next winter at the rate it grows. And that fast rate I believe is why the stores carry this palm - it's more profitable than the hardier palms - but who knows....See MoreOverwintering Colocasia Illustris/Black Magic
Comments (18)I've tried several tactics to overwinter 'Black Magics' this winter. So far I haven't lost one yet. Just a few months to go! 1) Some I potted up and kept in basement under lights. Temp about 70 degrees. Lights on for about 14 hours. They only keep about one or two leaves at a time. And those droop when they need water. So I water when dry. They are prone to spider mites at this temperature. 2) Potted and kept in my cool garage. These look about the same as the ones in the basement. I water when dry. I can let these go a bit dryer due to cooler temps. Temps run from minimum of 45 up to maybe 60 during warm spells. (I have heater in there to keep above freezing). 3) Water-bucket method. In Fall dig plants, hose off ALL the dirt, trim some roots, dead leaves, and leave one only or two leaves. Place plants in buckets of water maybe 3-4 inches deep. Occasionally dump water, trim off dead tissue and refill. My two buckets of Black Magics seem to be doing fine this way too. These I keep in my cool garage. The cooler temps keeps the water from turning stagnant. This method does require some maintenance of dead tissue removal and water replacement, otherwise water will stagnate, but I don't think it's any more work than worrying about keeping pots watered. I'll probably have to pot these up next month. So.... take your pick. I believe Black Magics are worth wintering over. They're my favorite....See More- 6 years ago
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