Is there a list or rules somewhere to get information or a way to tell which ears are bulbs and which are not ..... Therefore, which ears can be dug up and stored for the winter and which ones need to be brought in and kept as plants......
Thanks
Ear Question
There is a post somewhere here on DG, I think it was Kyle that explained the difference but I don't have time to search for it.
Here is a link with lots of info http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/shade_gardening/95670
I was looking for it too.... but couldn't find it.... found this though from one of RootDoctors postings ....
Try misting it with a spray bottle,if the water sticks and the leaf stays wet, Alocasia,if the water rolls off it like a ducks back,Colocasia.;0)
Taken from website above
Colocasia are hungry plants who will perform best in highly organic soil in sun or part shade.
Most of them seem to be hardy in the ground from zone 7b south - at least they are being grown in the ground with little protection in Raleigh, NC.
For those living in colder climes, they can be dug and overwintered in a frost free place.
Those that make tubers/corms can be stored dry or kept in a pot on the dry side in a place that is about 50ºF (10ºC).
Those that do not form tubers/corms need to be potted and can be kept growing in the house if you can give them enough light and increase the humidity from normal heated room humidity.
If you live well north of USDA zone 7b, it would be easier to simply grow these plants in pots, hauling them out for summer and in for winter, than planting them in the ground and having to dig them up. I've also read that the soil in northern climates does not warm enough for optimum growth, but that soil in a pot where summers get hot, will be warm enough.
Generally (not always) Colocasia has a partially peltate leaf blade, while Alocasia leaf blades can be any shape imaginable from entirely peltate to sagittate, to deeply pinnatifid.
Generally (not always) Colocasia has a small sterile region at the tip of the spadix, while Alocasia has a longer sterile region at the tip of the spadix.
Peltate: On a stalk attached to the lower surface of the leaf rather than to the base or margin of the leaf.
Sagittate: With a downwardly pointed lobe on each side of the base.
Pinnatifid: Pinnately lobed half the distance or more to the midrib, but not all the way to the midrib.
Spadix: A spike with small flowers crowded on a fleshy axis, characteristic of the Araceae family (the "jack" in the pulpit [spathe]).
Spathe: A large bract beneath and enclosing the inflorescence (flowering part of the plant).
Petiole: Leaf stem.
Site had lots more info -
I'd still like to know how to know if it will be a bulb plant or root plant ......
I've noticed that water rolls off of most of the Xanthosoma's as well ... in fact, all of the non-glossy leaved aroids that I have fall bead water rther aggressively... OH, and I've also noted that the water beading traits vary by the age of the leaf, time of day, as well as time of year. Still new enough to have not detected a pattern, per se ... just an observation that I made as recently as last night (I have 4 or 5 plants that need once a day watering and there are some days where I just can't make it to them until late)
TO GET TO THE POINT ...
I've been attempting to contact some aroid experts for the very same purpose of this thread. I just need to find some people who have a lot of experience and knowledge of these plants and I would be MORE than happy to compile a database. I offered to do the grunt work to expand a few online photo database (Cloudjungle, Agri-starts, and the IAS) with this sort of information, but haven't heard anything yet.
dMail me so I can have an easier to find reminder once I do start getting more info on this.