I was also wondering about the blk. elephant ears and the red stems ones.
Teresa
African Masks... are they difficult to raise?
Teresa, if you are referring to Alocasia Amazonica, they are tender perrenials/tropicals. They are sold in many places as houseplants. Keep them as a container plant you can move them in and out of the house. They like medium to light shade and for inside, if you mist them they will think they are in the tropics. :^)
I have put some in my shade garden this past fall. Am waiting for them to grow up. They can get quite large you know.
MOlly
Thanks for the reply. I saw them at the Nashville Garden Show and just thought they were so unique. No, I did not know they can get large. How large,like an elephant ear?
Teresa
Yes, large like an elephant ear, but I think it takes a little time. The ones I have are growing kinda slow right now. When summer gets here we'll see if their growing speed picks up.
Someone who has been growing them longer can probably tell us how long it will take to get big.
:^)
Molly
Oh, I love Florida, we vist the Gulf Coast mostly. I love the beaches and the plants. It is trying to snow here NOW!
I have a banana tree in the house and just love the tropical stuff.
Target usually sells them in the spring and fall for $5/4" pot. They are nice sized plants. I have been growing them for two years. Last year I left them outside a bit too long and they got cold and went to mush. This year I brought them in.
HD just had some at Christmas.
I got 4 w/ one in flower that has now set seed.
The Black Magic/Runner, Violet Stem, Illustrus and Red Stem (Bloody Mary) EE's (Colocasia) can be over-wintered fairly easily as adults or starts.
Just treat them as tropical houseplants and give them all the light they can get. Don't water near as much as you would outdoors.
They will also store as dormant if you want BUT unlike Colocasia that form corms or tubers have to be kept slightly moist like a banana plant.
We're over-wintering ours in an indoor pond we set up and they are throwing runners. To use this method you will need to heat the water and provide supplemental light.
Yes Chele there is still enough room left here to get to the 'puter, but just barely.
Seems we got a shipment from Brian's Aroids Friday and.........Well I MAY need to borrow your garage when the Caladiums get here! LOL
Ric
LOL Good luck finding a spot in my garage-one area you have never seen! That is where we put all the products and leftovers for all the remodelling projects. ;) Oh, have a friends whole life stored there too. THAT needs to be shipped to Arkansas. I'm starting to eyeball the attic myself. LOL
Come on Seed,lets grab a couple lawn chairs,go down to Rics,and sit with our feet in that heated pool!!!!
LOL Can I go without the kids??? They get a four day weekend..... :)
I grow african masks under my banana trees. Mine dont get very large because they die back in the winter and come back in the spring. My black magics also die back in the winter and get to be a fair size.
If you can find a spot in there to put a chair and room to put your feet in your more than welcome to try. LOL
The 'pond' is actually a series of 8 Rubbermaid food boxes 18" x 26" x 18" deep. 1/2 are heated w/ aquarium heaters to keep the water about 60 degrees.
So far the plants, especially the papyrus and 'Illustrus', seem to love it in there.
Chele and I probably have about the same amount of garden area planted outside, except for her honkin' big pool, but our whole house is smaller than one floor of hers.
Every cubic inch seems to have something growing here.
Course then we don't have 1/2 a girls soccer team running around either! LOL
We've found cats take up less space.
The picture is before I added a hanging shelf today to get the succulents closer to the halogen track lights covering the ceiling.
Ric
Seed,toss them chairs in the Sub!
We will feel right at home.
Don't trim your toenails,we can get cuttings while we sit!
Ric Looks great. But I have to say I would take the girls over the cats. lol
Henryr10, So you think, the illustrus needs to be in water, I have one in my greenhouse/garage which is all windows on one side, in a pot of potting soil, maybe I should put mine in water, maybe it will do better. it doesn't get much light either.
kathy_ann
Put a tray under it,and make sure it has fresh water.
http://www.naturalselections.safeshopper.com (under Aroids)
Here you go Teresa..have fun!
A bazillion of 'em at least =)
shirley
This message was edited Jan 18, 2004 10:01 PM
Thanks, the one that posted they planted them under their banana trees. Do they give enough shade? That would look so cool.
Teresa in KY with four kids too
kathy_ann,
If you're growing it I'd suggest submerging it.
If it's still alive at this point and throwing a leaf of two you might want to wait before doing anything drastic.
As rootdoctor suggested just bring it slowly back to the water w/ a shallow tray full of water.
When it starts to pop then slowly submerge it until its fully aquatic.
We never weaned ours off so they are still full submerged.
They will be repotted come Spring!
Ric
Bluegrass, here is the real story on that one. I had it in my pond. I thought it had died, so while cleaning out my pond I pulled it out and threw it back behind my banana trees (yes, lots of shade) Mulch, you know. Well, winter came and then spring. Well, here comes african mask popping up out of the mulch. I think next year, I will dig her up for winter just to keep her going.
Thanks for the help, I think I will put a tray of water under the illustrus and black magic their pretty decent sized still, but the rest are young babies, and I'll probably just leave them be for now.
kathy_ann