DH and I just got back from a trip to Florida. I had gone in anticipating getting a couple of new varieties of bananas. I came home with two new elephant ears. The nursery would only identify this one as a variegated elephant ear. I know there are several of you out there who can tell me the common name and the latin name for this one. Could you please help me out??
daylily-lady.
It's a Alocasia Variegated Macrorrhizos.
It's one of my favorites.
But they are hard to over winter. They will rot with too much
water in winter.
Jerry
Thanks for the info. Jerry. I can see why it would be one of your favorites, it is fast becoming mine. It is a BEAUTIFUL plant...and thanks for the over wintering hint. Is there anything else I should know??
Does the amount of light it gets have anything to do with the variegation? I have it in shade until late afternoon, should it be total shade? I have read somewhere on some of the threads that some of the alocasia sunburn pretty easily.
daylily-lady.
My experience with these beauties have been all trial and error. After seeing a picture in a book, it took me ten years to find one. My first trip to Miami Fl. for the I A S show i found them. They where selling then for $20 for a 5gal. pots. I went wild and bought 6 of them. At the show i ended up with 16 plants, that = to 2 extra large suitcases extra to bring home on a airplane.
Anyway i keep them in pots and move them into green house in winter.They go dormant in winter but i have never had one come back from the old corm. They come back from the roots and it takes all summer for them to get big. Another thing to much will burn the white parts of the leaves.Hope this helps. You can post your pictures on Tropicals #79. Jerry
Hhmmm. Sounds like this one may be a bit of a challenge for over wintering.
Thanks again Jerry.
I have some wild (not planted by me) ears here. The man in the picture is 6 feet tall. Does thing thing have a name. Folks keep asking me what it is.
Whoa! Talk about Jack in the Beanstalk!
I would say some of the "big dogs" could tell you what it is. texasbigleaves, tropicman, tobee43. These are some who have helped me on various questions.
Also there is a loriann who has written several articles on ee's.
You just have to realize that Naples is...ummm...way closer to the Tropics than TX and MO.
Alocasia macrorhizza variegata is a plant I have grown for many many years. They like FULL SUN and DAILY WATRE. They can get to be 6 ft tall and totally magnificent in proper conditions. Their variegation is stable, BUT, they can produce plants that throw all white leaves, which should be culled and trashed.
This plant CAN be grown, in summer (read: 85F degrees plus), in a pond as an aquatic plant. It should be removed in winter, as it may rot then.
This plant is daylength dependent. It will go dormant once the light falls off in fall/winter. Do NOT discard it. Keep the pot in a warm, dry place, do not water or fertilize. In spring, place it out once temps are above 55F at night. It should resprout fast and produce many babies. While it is dormant it is busy under the soil producing many bulbils that will make new plants.
It is cold tolerant to about 35F. Then it goes down, and stays down. This is okay here where I live as the ground does not freeze. So we can plant it out. But you can't, and you need to keep it in a pot.
This plant is one of the most desirable Alocasias out there. Treat it right and you will be very happy with it. This is one of mine
Thank You gothqueen for all the information. I Love the information!! These are such beautiful plants and I have enjoyed it so much since getting home with it. I also bought a Mojito and have been enjoying the soup out of it. However, I do think the macrorhizzo is my favorite and I appreciate all the help from everyone!
Thanks again gothqueen!
Fredrump, yours in the photo could be Colocasia gigantea/Giant Thai Strain...I've been trying a few years to find one myself, love those huge leaves.
