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oldbuck

Overwintering Black Magic elephant ears

9 years ago

Since Thai Giant and Black Magic elephant ears are either
slow to develop corms - or seemingly don't develop them at all - I keep them growing (albeit barely) in my basement under lights over the winter. l
regularly lose a large number of them due to what I suspect is over-watering
because it is so difficult for me to strike the right balance of
moisture, temperature and light. I wish they would develop corms/tubers like my other elephant ears because they would then be so much easier to save.

So here's my question...

Why can I purchase
fairly large Black Magic corms (at least I think that's what they were) locally at places like Home Depot but can't produce them in my garden?

One would think these plants are large enough to develop corms...no?

Here's the 'easy' way I save my other elephant ears and cannas - just dry them a bit and store them in the basement in trash cans surrounded by pine needles.

Comments (4)

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Your photos help put things into perspective for me. I haven't cured corms yet on Aroids.

    Ah. First I can tell you about the Caladium cousins of EEs. I've chipped pieces off of bulbs by accident, put them in a reused salsa jar with wet fish tank gravel, closed the lid, and after a few weeks, they began growing leaves, then roots. They are all living as healthy plants now. I tried a similar thing with Caladium petioles. I accidentally broke off 2 petioles where they joined the corm. It didn't look like any of the chipped off corm was holding them together but some of it must have been. I put it (the 2 stuck together petioles) in water and it grew roots. It's a healthy plant now.

    With an outdoor EE Illustris parent plant I chopped off all the pups and used them as house plants last fall. But I know some corm chips fell in the dirt. 2 of the chips grew into healthy plants in early summer. So it seems that what happened with the Caladiums also applies to Colocasias if not Alocasias.

    But I did get a set of 2 A. Macro. 'Black Stem' petioles that I chopped off thinking they had roots...but they did not. The petioles had no corm tissue holding them together either. I tried putting them in water but they died.

    At this point I'd say that if you have a healthy corm or a healthy piece of one, then you can start a new plant with it and some luck. Look up how those agro trays with live plant tissues that wholesalers get are done. At this point that may be the only way I can get a Ma Had Thai Caladium, AKA: Hot Lips Caladium. If you plan to force pups from tissue chips that you intentionally cut - research the copyright and patents that may apply to that cultivar.

    I didn't realize Thai Giants had such small corms and root masses. I gave mine water as if the corm/roots were 5-6x the size which may have drowned the roots. After I potted it and backed off the water a few weeks ago some new roots and a pup nub began to grow. But the plant looked more ready to go dormant so I began preparing to cure the corm. 2 pics of it after removing from the pot:

    oldbuck thanked jay
  • 9 years ago

    Oldbuck,

    Anything without large tubers I just cut down, pot up and bring in and store on a concrete slab that stays around 55°. You don't need light, just let them go dormant. Hit them with a sip of water once a month or so and the won't dry out completely. When spring comes bring them outside and they'll wake right up! I make sure I dig out any of the runners too no matter how small and they make it through the winter as well.

    oldbuck thanked keys6505
  • 8 years ago

    I have Colocasia Diamond Head (Black Elephant Ear) and Calidora (which are huge). Can I do this for them also ? I grow them in large containers not in the ground. I would have to put them in my basement and it is warmer than you suggested.

  • 8 years ago

    Yes, should be fine. Just bring the whole pot in. 55 degrees is probably the high end to keep them dormant so if it's warmer they might not get the hint. Keep in mind a concrete slab temperature will be cooler than the ambient air temp in a heated basement so the pot sitting on the slab might keep it just cold enough. Could always do a garage as well.

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