All about an Elephant Ear (Colocasia Esculentum)

http://xrl.us/odz8
http://xrl.us/odz8

These are consolidated pictures of my experience growing my first Elephant Ear.
Why grow it anyway? This plant is rare in Zone 5 and is an eye-catching plant in the home garden. If successful as to size, I may put it on the front lawn next year. Different anyway!

Durgan.

 

http://xrl.us/pbr4

23 July 2006. http://xrl.us/pbr4

Some leaves damaged by bugs and weather were removed. The plant is thriving.
Durgan.

 

http://www.durgan.org/30%20Jusly%202006%20Elephant%20Ear%20(Colocasia%20Esculentum)/HTML/

http://xrl.us/pt3z

30 July 2006. Elephant Ear (Colocasia Esculentum) Growing well. Neena is admiring the plant lying on the picnic table.
Durgan.

 

How does it compare with Loxodonta africana?

 

http://www.durgan.org/30%20July%202006%20Elephant%20Ear%20Comparison/HTML/index.htm

http://xrl.us/pug6

You be the judge.
Durgan.

 

:o)

 

Hi I am also in zone 5 and planted a few this year which are absolutely thriving.....Some of the older homes in the area seem to have some that have been coming back for years (they had no idea of name because they were there when they purchased home.) They seemed to much smaller though.

...will you dig yours up? I am going to mulch well and leave mine in ground since it is in a semi protected area and going to pray for the best.

Your garden is wonderful, I am going to spend a few more moments looking at all your photos and getting ideas for next year!

 

If your plants die, then pop over to an asian super market and buy more bulbs, they are usually in the produce section, called Taro, (you can try eating them, I don't recommend the taste though, a bit like soggy potatoes.) Its cheaper than buying them at a nursery rip off price. you can get a dozen for a couple of dollars.
Start them indoors in pots, not to much moisture, loads of heat to get the roots started.

 

Since this is my first time growing the Elephant Ears, your information about them surviving in Zone 5 is most interesting. I will leave outdoors this winter and see what happens.

Your plant looks great. More pictures from different angles would be appreciated, also the location with reference to protection.

Mine is now over five feet tall and is very healthy.

Durgan.

 

http://www.durgan.org/22%20August%202006%20Elephant%20Ear/HTML/

http://xrl.us/q39h

22 August 2006. Elephant ear after about 110 days growth. One pictures has measurements. The leaves are about 22 by 32 inches, and the plant is about 56 inches high. The plant make attracts much attention, since they are not to common in my area. The r3bar stake in the photos is four feet in length.
Durgan.

 

http://www.durgan.org/8%20September%202006%20Elephant%20Ears/HTML/

http://xrl.us/rnae
8 Sptember 2006 Elephant Ears are still growing and very attractive. This plants gets much attention from visitors.
Durgan.

 

I have many of these and never bothered to plant them out (Like so many other plants I have). I know of others who have, and over the course of several years become quite large and established (the Colocasia, not the gardener). I believe a light mulch is recommended during the worst our winter has to offer. How much watering and fertilizing do you have to do?

Cheers, LPN.

 

I added compost around the base, but added a little urea, (nitrogen), which appeared to improve the green colour, at least I think it did after about two weeks.
Durgan.

 

I'm a person of Chinese heritage, and of course, I happen to truly enjoy the taste of TARO, and the array of TARO recipes in the Chinese cuisine. And now, thanks to your suggestion, I can also look forward to the joy of having an Elephant Ear plant in my garden!!!

I would also like to know if the Elephant Ear is perennial, or annual. It would be great if this is a perennial, as you can see I live in the Lower Mainland of B.C.

And Carol, we've had beautiful memories of S.S.I. The last time we were there, my wife was a participant in the first annual 10 Km Fundraiser Run (in the Fernwood Area) for the island's swimming/splash pool for children. How is the project going?

 

I just ran across this thread while doing some research. The correct scientific name of this plant is Colocasia esculenta, not "esculentum". This species has at least 68 scientific synonym names and it appears someone has tried to combine portions of an older scientific name (Colocasia esculentum) with the current genus to come up with this spelling. You can verify the correct spelling on either TROPICOs which is a service of the Missouri Botanical Garden http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast.html or the International Plant Names Index (IPNI) http://www.ipni.org/index.html

Here is more detailed information:

http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Colo...arge pc.html

 

Here we go again with this anal retention about names *rolleyes*

 

I am unsure why you feel using correct scientific names on a site sponsored by a botanical garden is offensive. Many people come to this site for accurate information.

This page is directly from the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Their TROPICOS site is considered one of the top scientific databases for accurate botanical names. If the use of a correct name offends you, I apologize. But I hardly find the use of the correct name any more "annal" than someone spelling your own name correctly. Something tells me you would react badly if someone spelled it wrong.

The general accepted rule here is to be respectful and offer good information. I'm sorry if that offends you.

 

Bullseye, you need to chill dude.

 

\

Indeed I enjoyed your post. I notice you have some admirable credentials.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I'm just a collector. I make no claim to being an authority, I just have been fortunate to personally know some of the world's best aroid botanists. With the help of those folks, and a lot of other people who have a great deal of knowledge about tropical species, I do my best to work my way through all the misinformation that is posted on so many websites. The reason I found your post is I found three "scientific" sites that were also using the spelling "esculentum". I could not figure out where that one came from since it was on none of the official plant name sites. I finally ran across a synonym name for this plant, which was Caladium esculentum. Although no longer considered valid, someone obviously took part of the old name and combined it with the accepted species name. But if you do an internet search you'll find that spelling all over the net.

I'm just one of those "plant nuts" who enjoy reading scientific journals and then have the advantage of knowing folks who can answer my non-stop list of questions. I receive email from some of the world's best plant minds almost daily due to my incessant list of questions.

Thanks, and keep up your posts.

 

Lots of good information here. I think I am going to try growing one this summer.

Durgan... Thanks for sharing all the lovely photo's. You have a lovely garden and the
Colocasia esculenta is a show stopper alright.

Steve ... Thankyou so very much for giving us the right name to this one. I have been looking at one with black leaves.Note to self: Ask Steve for the proper name:) or look at his site I am certain it must be ther. Actually there are all sorts of Colocasia out there and if not for your fine identification I wouldn't know what to ask for next time I am at the nursery. Keep up the great work. Love your web-site it is a treasure trove of information.

Bullseye... That is a catchy name. Are you growing any Colocasia esculenta plants. Wouldn't it be great to sit back with a cup of coffee "relaxing" watching one grow:)

Bea

 

mommum.....Yes I am, I have it under growlights at the moment.

greenthumb7.....Dude? Hmmmmmm

photopro.....Each to their own. Fair play for knowing all the names, and I have no problem with that, it's just the way you are going about telling everyone and poking fun, that came across at authoritative.

Anyhoo.....let's garden :-)

 

Well, the next time I find someone selling a "Chevie" and advertising it as "Porschie" I won't tell them they have the name wrong.

The information on UBC is always rated high on a Google search. So anyone looking for information on an "Elephant Ear" plant is likely to find this thread. I found this thread by doing a Google search. If the spelling was not corrected the incorrect name would be further persisted. You can find at least 50 websites on the net using the spelling "Colocasia esculentum" already. Where they found it, I have no idea. Do I think Durgan created it? No. I assume he found it on the internet. If the correct name is not posted then people will continue to use it and they will totally miss any and all correct information based on science. Science may not be important to a lot of plant growers, but to many of us it is the way we find accurate information. If you don't have access to scientific plant information you can't find out if the plant likes sun, shade, being dry, lots of water, or much of anything else that is accurate. The internet is filled with bad plant information already.

People ask for the correct scientific name of a plant on this forum every day. It would appear they have some sort of reason for asking and that reason is likely they are looking for good information. If it is an aroid (and this one is an aroid) I just try to provide a correct answer based on science. I have a very large collection of aroids (close to 300 species) and quite a few friends who are aroid botanists. The information I try to provide is researched, not just my opinion.

If that troubles you, I apologize. Again.

 

Lucas....let's shake hands and have a nice warm pint of guinnes, my treat :-)

Question for those that have been planting this for a while, how often should I water a newly planted Colocasia in a pot under growlights indoors? I am trying to avoid rotting it out

Cheers

 

Bullseye, sorry about the dudette thing, I wasn't trying to be a smart ***, I thought you said Dude...hhhmmmm cuz I had your gender wrong thats why I said that, then your last post to photo made me realize I screwed up. Sorry.