Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Alocasias and Colocaisas, 1 by tobee43

tobee43 wrote:
tigerlily, we just finished pushing approx 10 of persian palms for our springfest in a zone 4. although we had a little more to start with than you. (stubs from last season already potted).
the horticulturist that i work with uses miracle death (that's what i call it!) like crazy to push them. have to say it worked. we started approx 6 weeks before show time and then where a good 8 feet within that time frame. however, they were also in a greenhouse set at 65 during that time. the heat i think is the main source of helping them grow i must mention though, that i have some in my sunroom that are approx 5 feet at this point. i had overwinter them and continued to keep them down to prevent further grown during those months.

since we do integrated tropical horticulture therapy we have to get a quick and continue results to reach max by the end of our short seasons. too much fertilizing does tend to turn the leaves and does not promote faster growth. as far as the perfect ph...well a good rich "potting" soil has yielded the best results for us. we have been successful with both the blacks and greens in water bogged areas. and while some use liq. fert i like the time released once placed outside for max growth.

with the "greens" aphids are the only critter problem. unlike in your area we have never seen fungus on them at anytime. but they again you mentioned in another thread that you get fungus on your impatients....which is not a common problem here either. the "blacks" have not been possible to overwinter and we start them in april for may planting. however, they tend not to get as large...expect the one i'm showing you a pic of that reached well over 9 feet with a leaf span of over 2 feet. that's my personal garden and the horticultorist attributed such growth to the moist rich soil i used since he couldn't explain it any other way.

hydro beauty i have always planted as a understory plant because of burning concerns. i did do some in a area that rec'd morning sun and they faired well. it is also a much smaller variety and used more for accent that a centerpiece. the blacks are really nice in direct sun as then shine "purple". many can take direct sun.

good luck and with as many as you have started you'll be selling them on ebay by the time your done!

This message was edited Mar 28, 2006 11:26 AM