You can't duplicate the habitat. This is a plant of cool mountainous rain forests. In the wild it gets frequent water but enjoys excellent drainage. It never has to deal with temperatures below 50° or above 90°. It lives under a hundred-foot canopy of trees, providing it with all-day broken shade.
Real experts experience repeated failures and/or limited successes. I've read that planting Nephrolepis ferns in root proximity helps. Fungi and/or microbes are at work here, and robustas seem unable to cope.
There are so many less touchy Alocasias from which to choose, and it seems robusta hybrids are coming rapidly down the pipeline. If you want to try to grow one, there's nothing holding you back. There are several on eBay. But I'm going to wait for a hardier, more dependable hybrid. I can't take the frustration of constant failure.

Thanks for the reply.

I have about a dozen alocasias and several colocasias,
xanthosomas, and anthuriums and all do quite well.

The colocasia gigantea gets leaves 3 foot by 5 foot and is an eye catcher but I was looking for something even larger.

I have a tree fern that has done well for four years now.

I think the heat here may be too much for it, sometimes into the 100's.

I used a mister and a large fan on my gunnera manicata to keep it cooled down on those hot days, and it helped a lot.

Kt

Hi
I saw what i believe was Gunnera in the mid altitude range in Costa Rica .Best locals could identify it was" Poor
mans umbrella" They were growing along side the road in seep areas with night lows in the 50's highs of 75 and almost constant rain and mist.
Was awestruck with how beautiful they were but didn't take long to figure why I can't grow them in Florida. lol
Amazing the microclimates setup bu altitude shifts in the tropics.
Monkey toes pretty well summed up the problems with AR.
They obviousl never have wind storms lol gary

I plan on putting in another greenhouse, which will be climate controlled. I will try one in there also, but it still may need more than good temps and the right lighting.

As I mentioned with the gunnera manicata, there is one in Houston, and I grew one here for some years. The high temps is what I was told they can't survive. Highs into the 100's and very very high humidity kills many plants, but I beat the odds with the manicata, hopefully I can get a little size to the robusta before it croaks...

I will keep you all posted as to how it does.

Kt

Robustas are temperamental to be sure; a summary of what I've learned in growing and researching this plant is posted on the Aroidia Research website. The comment about the hybrids coming is correct; I did the hybridizations this April and the seeds have germinated. It will be some weeks before I can tell a little more about what I've gotten, but I am quite excited about it.

If Kt or others get (or already have) an A. robusta, I recommend strongly that a Nephrolepis fern (Boston, fishtail, etc.) be planted in with the A. robusta. I'm finding that even the leachate water from a healthy Nephrolepis fern can have beneficial effects on a young A. robusta plant. I have one small Robusta that was mite-ridden and had only one leaf; after getting Nephrolepis leachate water several times, it is throwing a new, healthy leaf and seems to have come back from the brink. Past experience has shown me that little Robustas usually perish rather than rally when in the condition mine was in!

LariAnn
Aroidia Research

Here is a link that might be useful: Alocasia robusta at Aroidia

I ordered one, and received four. There were three little small ones next to the larger one. I transplanted them and they all look fine.

Never had major problems with any other alocasias or colocasias before...we'll see what happens.

I'll try the ferns on at least one. I think the high heat is the main problem which brings on other problems.

Thanks

Kt

kt
Your tempting me to try one lol. My big fear is what if I actually get it to grow .Only have a 75 x100 foot lot and the wife insists that the house stays lol.
In a weak moment I bought a tiny Angiopteris fern. From what i gather they can get 30 foot spreads . Hopefully it's a slow grower lol gary

Gary, Maybe that's the secret...when you don't really want something to grow or do well, it usually does.

Natural Selections Exotics grows them, and are possibly in your general area. They have a special going on now,...reduced price for A. robusta and an A. Macrorhiza 'Borneo Giant.'

Natural Selections Exotics

Let me know if you try one, maybe we can compare notes. They told me that heat/humidity is not a problem, so I will see what happens here.

Kt

Hi
haven't tried but I suspect finding one would be no problem. Already have a dozen types of aroids,several palm
seedlings that mature over 30 feet the fern I mentioned plus 3 tree ferns.lol. I probably should be thinking more about how to take care of what i already have lol
can you guarantee that we won't have anymore frost or hurricanes ?? Can you imagine one in 130 mph winds lol. Even mild winds would be a problem for that monster.
i was thinking more on "portable" types lol gary