Did you overwater it? The leading cause for most plant deaths...

well, yes perhaps, but I read that it grows in wet places! I never let it dry out and water frequently. Not ok with giant colocasia?

Overwatering is the number one cause.

They can also go downhill a little indoors during the winter.

Is incandescent plant lights a possibility for you. These cab be better than Flourescent.

Yup, you prolly overwatered it. You should have rested it over the winter rather than transplanting it and trying to force it to grow.
Read through this attached thread, near the bottom is some over-wintering advice from plant delights.
I hope Brian didn't replace your plants for free.
As a friend of mine said once, "very rare! Don't kill!"

oH, and it would be really nice if you and everyone else would put more than HELP in the subject line.

Here is a link that might be useful: over wintering

sorry,
Brian sent me very young plants, I thought that they needed to get established. Want them very big this summer in zone 6 so I want to jump start them early.

No I had to pay for a new plant.

Are you all saying that indoor young plants need less water than outdoor plants which can live in near swamps?

Buy it in the spring....it will get huge anyway....not rare by any means......if it is available on-line from more than a couple places (it is) then it is not rare in my opinion. I had a couple and treated them as annuals...not worth saving. I do this with all of my EE.....too much hassle to dig and put in peat with all the other things to worry about growing.....I have become very lazy with these sorts of plants I am afraid to say! Most of these guys seem to require little if any water in the winter to stay alive....they are impossible to kill in the summer, but in the winter you can rot them pretty easy. I did overwinter a couple of EE last winter....one Alocasia, one Colocasia.....big uns......I watered maybe once every 2 weeks and they were under 400W MH bulbs....they nicely limped through winter and grew nicely last summer....didn't dig them back up so I will need replacements this summer I suppose :o) Dan

Thanks for all your help, I just don't understand way they cannot be grown over the winter if you simulate tropical conditions where they grow all year round?

I would get exceptional plants during summer if they were nice sized plants in spring.

Yeah, we all could get exceptional plants that way.

You just can't simulate their proper growing conditions in your house. That's why you see so much info on OVERWINTERING BULBS, and no info on GROWING PLANTS LIKE CRAZY in the winter. You can probably make it warm enough but they need light, light, light. And I'm talking light from the sun, not bulbs.
On DG there was a photo of a plant: This plant was grown from a 6 inch plant in one season. It was around 9 feet tall with leaves 5 x 4 or so.
So, it's not that the plant was small that it didn't survive.

I don't mean to be harsh but we see emails like this every winter. The growing advice is there, and should be taken.

thanks honeybunny for clearing this up. I wonder why Brian's Botanicals sells these plants in the winter if they are suposed to be dormant. BTW he has no trouble growing them over winter, and told me I should be able also.

By your account, Bonnie, I could not grow the Borneo Giant Alocasia either, right? Well I decided to put it in a humidity chamber, after it died back to the ground, just like the Colocasia Gigantia, and it is now thriving. By taking your advise of less water, with the common sense of high humidity, I am now having succces getting this giant off to a great start!

Lighting these days can easilly simulater bright sun BTW.

OK, WHATEVER!
I didn't use the word dormant at any time. Ox, it seems like you are trying to grow the plant as if it were summer. It just aint gonna happen, my friend. Do your Brugs and Dahlias grow vigorously through the winter?
You overwater, overfertilize, get a dead plant, and then blame the seller. That's just not cool.

LOL...... You certainly are abit on the edge, arent you honeybunny?

Please dont resort to personal attacks, i.e. "That's just not cool" you are showing your true colors.

Blame the seller? where did I state that? I guess you are either a mindreader or have contact with the seller, or you are the seller! Initially I did blame the seller, until I got some input here on this forum. Enough people have made it clear I have to water less. so perhaps I did kill the plant. We learn from our errors, in fact, my intensions are to make the seller aware that i was wrong. Brian did relace my plant... BUT I PAID FOR IT. if there are other monies i owe him, he will be reimbersed for his time!

Also you failed to read my message thoroughly enough to see that Brian felt the plant should grow, he did not tell me to rest or make it dormant.
You said: "You should have rested it over the winter rather than transplanting it and trying to force it to grow." lol, this isn't dormancy?

By the way I was not talking about forcing the plant, just getting it to grow! in fact, it is coming up on spring and many nurseries begin ther growing phase, so they have sellable plants, this spring.

Well said, oxmyx
I did the same with a Thai giant, although mine did well through the last few months of winter,last year. I put it outside in May (in a pot), and it died in June ... in the sun and not overwatered.

Well, it's not me that's on my third plant, LOL!
Jump start away!
TALLY HO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lol

I have been trying to get some of these plants but am drawing blanks,I am hoping someone has some small babies from last year ,these seem to survive the mail better than large plants