Dan,
That is a really nice one. The edges look really dark and defined, is that play of light or really how it looks? Obviously no wintering advice here, sorry.
Lynn

Hi Lynn, Actually, the contrast is better in person....this is not a great pic, but it makes the point of why I like it so much!! The inside of the leaf is very deep green with wonderful 'marbling' for lack of a better term....hopefully someone else will have thoughts on overwintering better than last year as we should have a frost before the end of the week....very late this year :o) Dan

I have a great idea, Dan - give it to me! LOL!

Did you try just taking the tuber out of the pot, washing it off, letting it dry completely and wintering it over in dry peat, sphagnum, or hanging in a stocking?

I would think that being in dry soil would dessicate the bulb more than just storing the bulb dry. No?

Or, is this a tuber that needs "some" moisture during storage? Could you possible store it in perlite in a pot, and water occasionally?

Susan

HI Susan,

I actually find that doing that with Colocasia causes them to completely dessicate in my basement.....it works just fine for the larger Alocasia by the way, just not the Colocasia....in my house!!! I'm going to dig it up nice and wet and not wash it off or anything and then just let it go dormant on its own...maybe just a touch of water once a month of so....but then you have to worry about rot......this happened to a fantastic yellow variegated Alocasia I had last year.....I loved that one, but alas, it is no more.....I'll be keeping my fingers crossed in a big way on this one as I'd be really annoyed with myself if I lose it :o) Dan

That's why I was wondering about using the perlite straight, or even a half and half perlite/peat mix. You would have excellent drainage, and probably wouldn't have to worry about overwatering it. I used to do this with plants that were prone to rot and it worked beautifully.

Susan

I left my coffee cups in the ground and they came back.
I also left some in pots in the greenhouse and in the ground in the greenhouse. Once the greenhouse got down to 38* when one of my heaters went out. And it never got above about 47* at night. During the day if the sun was out it may have gotten warmer.
Does mine look like yours?
{{gwi:383602}}

Hi, Well, I can guarantee one thing for sure....it will not survive in the ground here!!! If I had a GH I would be in heaven.....I had mine in a pot last year in a few inches of water.....they grow in ponds in Thailand in case you didn't know. I assumed they were all dead this spring so I tossed it in the ground and was shocked to see a tiny 1 inch leaf earlier this year....I nursed it along and now it looks wonderful....the purple petiole and leaf veins with the great green in the leaf is fantastic....along with the obvious "cup".......Does anyone in zone 5 or 6 have one of these and not keep it in a GH.....I'd love any extra thoughts that I can get :o) Dan

try a tropical aquarium with strong lights , and keep it growing all year round , you could get a Cyrtosperma to keep it company .

I'm still convinced we are still discovering the hardiness of some of these tubers! I love this little beauty - what a gorgeous plant.

Susan

Hey there, the soil in the pot acted like a sponge and pulled all the moisture out of the bulb. Loose material such as wood shavings, vermiculite, perlite and shredded newspaper will wick away very small amounts of moisture but nothing like soil does. Sandy

Hi Aroideana, That would be a big aquarium I'm afraid....the plant is maybe 4-5 feet tall at present...it is getting dug tomorrow along with a bunch of ginger, Canna and other EE.....

Sandy, I just assumed that leaving them in their soil would be normal since in many places they go dormant due to lack of rain....maybe not this species, but many others.....I'll split this guy up and try 2-3 different things since I've got some offsets I can experiment with.

Thanks for all the thoughts everyone :o) Dan