Wild, Wonderful Aroids Part Two - Elephant Ears, Alocasia, Colocasia and Xanthosoma - Page 3
© Marge Talt
If those in the know are of divided opinion, gardeners cannot be expected to sort out the name issue. To grow these lovely plants, you just need to know whether the one you crave is a wetland or dryland type. The wetland taros can be grown in dryland conditions (i.e. not in a pond or bog, but with moist soil), but dryland types will rot if grown in a pond or bog. This distinction is not easy to sort out from nursery lists, since the type of plant is seldom listed. The best advice is to do some research. If many resources say you can grow the plant in water, then it is sure to be a wetland type. If they don't, then you'd best consider it a dryland type.
The wetland types are native to swampy areas in tropical southeastern Asia and will grow in as much as a foot (30cm) of water. The dryland or upland taro, is widely cultivated in China, Japan and the West Indies, both for ornamental foliage and food.
If you live in Florida or the Gulf Coast, near a body of water, you need to be very careful about planting the wetland types in the garden since they have escaped cultivation and are becoming a pest in waterways.
The leaf stems (petioles) can reach between three and seven feet (.91 - 2.13m) in length and the leaves can grow two or three feet long (.6 - .91m).
This view of my group shows C. esculenta 'Black Magic', newly acquired this year. This is also the first year that I have grown any of these in the ground; previously my no-name plant occupied an enormous pot. In the ground it has reached well over five feet in height (1.52m) this season.
I had read a post from someone noting that her plants were very happy in a mud hole. Since a mud hole was something I could make, I thought I'd try it. It has worked beautifully and it's simple to do in clay soil. I dug a large hole deep enough so that the top of the soil in the hole is about four inches (10 cm) lower than the surrounding grade. I amended it fairly well, but I realize now that these are very heavy feeders and I might have gotten larger plants if I'd made the backfill half manure. Every day during summer, I just ran the hose until the hole filled with water. About half way through the season, I dumped half a bag of composed cow manure in the hole and spread it around.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
