my newest plant

i just bought a colocasia (elephant ear?) called kona coffee from home depot
it takes full sun and is a deep chocolate brown--i hadn't seen a brown before--and i thought elephant ears like shade but i guess this one likes sun--

I don't think it mean full TEXAS sun. Maybe full sun elsewhere but not here. You may try the tropical plants forum.
Here is a link I just found. I need to get off this computer.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1107836/

This message was edited Jun 17, 2010 4:25 PM

Ah! I bought the exact same plant at Home Depot a few days ago and was also wondering about full sun. Mine is in part sun in an area that retains moisture and some of the larger leaves have already bleached out. I will give it a little time and see how the new leaves do but might have to move it to more shade.
C

The instruction tags go nation wide in the BB stores. I don't think anything truly likes full TX sun. Maybe thats me.

well a few things can and do but I don't think an elephant ear would be one. Here's a funny thing, I used to have friends that cooked taro root and I loved it. After buying the plant I realized elephant ears are taro!
C

thanks for the imput on full sun-- would not want it bleached since the color attracted me-- will move to part sun - am keeping it potted so no problems moving it --i might try later to take a little off shoot and plant it in the ground with my other elephant ears

oh-by the way-when i printed about my new plant a part of me thought dave's people would think--"so-you bought a new plant?! we all buy new plants-do we really need to hear about your new plant?" I should have known better! you can always count on dave's folks to share enthusiasm or interest in your plants!

i did hear that taro root is eaten -

It's tastey. I bought it for the future pond I keep threatening to build. But the pond might get too much sun even if the EE is submerged in water. I am new at growing these and got 2 at the last round up in Arlington. One tall and one shorter both in a lot of shade and they are doing well. The brown one is so pretty but I think it gets too much intense sun where I put it. Still new leaves tend to grow to adapt to new amounts of sun so its my little experiment for now.
C

just moved mine a little over--a little more protected now--
i just love elephant ears!

Your title was what made me click on your thread. I could hardly wait to see what new plant. I wasn't disappointed.

Okay. I have had that plant know for over a year in the ground and it IS in full sun. It is in direct sunlight from around 8:30 to 9:00 AM all the way until the sun goes down. It is doing fantastic where it is at. Unlike most other EE, it requires hardly any water and the leaves dont get burnt and droop like others. One thing I can promise, it does AWESOME in full sunlight. Good luck with your plant, they are pretty cool. ;)

Good to know but how come mine are bleaching out? Do you think new leaves will be adapted to more sun than it was getting at the store?
C

well i am glad it is in a pot so i can experiment with it!
i paid a little more than i usually do -being the thrifty person that i am-and of course want to be able to get babies to share and plant later
i just went out to check on how much sun it is getting now-none- and a beautiful cardinal was on the pot!
i have been watering it a lot these last few days and last night i tipped the pot over and that might be the reason some of the leaves look sad today!

newtonsthird, I grow my elephant ears in my little pond. They are shaded part of the morning, but get the full hot Texas sun the rest of the day--reflected off stone and concrete, no less. They do fine there. In fact, their color is much better there than it was when I had them in more shade. Last year Black Magic was black as night and just gorgeous.

I lost both of mine to the cold last winter (I've never had to bury them before; the water usually stays warm enough as long as the pump is on). I haven't replaced Black Magic yet, but my Illustris replacement is looking almost as good as its predecessor.

Prior to last winter did they just stay in the pots in the ponds? I am not sure I want to take any pond plants out to bury them. I was hoping the EE would be ok with normal winter temps here.
C

My Coffee Cup died back to the ground this past HORRIBLE winter, but sure enough, it came back bigger and better than before! So I would have no worries about them during a normal winter.

Now I want to see what black magic looks like. Well Linda I wish us both luck because its a really pretty plant.
C

I am going to have some Coffee Cup EE for trade here pretty soon is anyone is interested. Send me a Dmail. :)

brandon i hope i do as well as you because i would love to share mine next year as well--i will need to get some out of that pot so they can spread--and at some point i want the black ee too--i only have the solid dark green and now my brown--i think i would enjoy the black and the varigated as well--i am not sure what it is that attracts me to them so much--i bet they grow huge in florida!

there are a few different kinds of EE...Alocasia is another EE that isnt Taro
I have some my EE in pots also and last winter lost a lot of them. the ones that did make it are a quater of the size they were.. this fall Im going to dig them up and bring them in and next year get them all in the ground... I just ran out of steam this spring and couldnt get everythng done...lol... Kenboy told me you get larger and better plants that way cause the mother usually dies off and you get thet new growth from babies the following year but if you dig them up the bulb will get bigger and bigger each year producing a better plant
he grows a lot of them..



This message was edited Jun 19, 2010 1:05 AM

if you dig them up---and do what with the bulb? let it go dormant? leave it in the pot or take it out? one year i took all my caladium bulbs out of the ground and stored them in the garage and they were just no good the next year--but i have wondered how some people get such huge elephant ears in one season so i am interested in this idea of getting a big bulb--tell me more please

all I know is what he told me and so I got as many as I could in the ground this spring before I ran out of steam...many of what did make it were half mush from being left in pots and getting partially frozen but they came back from the areas that didnt get damaged.... as fall approaches Ill start to withhold water,let them die down and then dig them up and out of what I do have in pots before it gets too cold for them.. Im going to let them dry then box them in some peat moss and bring them in the house not the garage.. Im still a newbie at EEs but want to get some of the giants ones when I have the beds ready for them...

so pack them in peat moss--ok--it sounds like only the potted ones is that right?

nope..he told me to do them all even the ones in the ground dig them up and store them ..he says yes its extra work but youll get better plants the following year

Always so many new things to learn about each plant group. Hats off to you for your efforts but I really don't have room to store anything else. I am thinking I really want pond plants and will try growing some in the pond, if it ever gets done!!! The ones I have now, except the brown one, were free from the last plant swap. They seem happy in shade and in the only part of my yard that actually stays moist, so there they will stay. How big do the "giants" get? That sounds interesting and something I will look up.
C

i will not dig up all since i had such bad luck with the caladium bulbs--maybe a few tho--thanks for sharing--i like the idea of trying to get a really big bulb--kind of a challenge!

Linda, somehow I don't think the EE's are as difficult in this area as caladiums. Not sure why, but I've only ever had caladiums come back once. For some reason they just don't overwinter well in our area--even if they come back, they are usually small and scraggly. All the local gurus say to treat them as annuals.

Newton, it's a funny thing about those two EEs growing in my pond. I had the Black Magic in the ground for a couple of years and it just never did do well. So when I got my first Illustris, I dug it up and put them both in the pond at the same time. The only thing is, I didn't actually PLANT them. I have a little cascade pool that is only about 5 inches deep and sometimes I use that as a "pot." I just kinda stuck them in there till I could get them potted up. Well, before I could get to them, LOL, they both just took off. There was a couple of inches of soil/silt on the bottom, and they grew into it, but mostly they were just loose in the water. They stayed like that for two growing seasons. Both got about 3 feet tall last summer.

I think I lost them during the colder winter because they were exposed. Probably, they both would've done fine if they'd been potted. They definitely should be okay tucked into the ground.

check this site out and have a towel handy.so you can catch the drool from checking out all the cool EEs...lol. I see several Id love to have!!!
http://www.plantdelights.com/Tony/tropicals.html

many of the artilce have lots of wonderful info.. Ive read several and have learned stuff from each of them..

This message was edited Jun 19, 2010 1:35 PM