Hi all, DH brought this home to me today and it has no tag or anything to ID it. He said there was nothing in packages that looked like it that he could see. To me it smells like saddle leather, DH says it smells like an almond. It doesn't have any roots that I can see, so I'm not even sure if it is viable??? I am a newbie, so I don't know if it is even suppose to have any at this point, so all the help I can get is greatly appreciated!
Here is another angle, and I have no clue which is top or bottom! LOL
Looks like an elephant's ear bulb to me.
Thanks, Hart! I kinda thought it might possibly be, but with things like this it is best NOT to assume! LOL
DH said it was a Body Snatching Human Replicating Pod from Mars because it is so large! LOL
This is my EE from Last year and it dose look the same
Dimmer(AKA) Kim
Thanks, Kim! They do look just alike. DH says he would still prefer it to be an alien seed pod! LOL He is whacked, just a bit! :) Now I will assume that the flat part is the bottom, correct? :)
Yes The flat side down I just started mine today in the house but here is a picturer of the one from last year it is the same as the picture I just sent different I think those are baby EE
Kim
WOW so this one is a baby then?!!!! How much larger is that bulb in your last post? Did your baby one not have any root system? This is the first bulb I have seen that had NO roots at all.
The bulb is the same size that is the Mother then on the side are the new ones comming out Last year was the first one that I ever growen so I don't know to much about them. We need an expert maybe to help here as I have only the 1 and now I have the second one that I planted today I do have some other one but I am going to wait till I see what happens to this one all I no is it takes a long time for the leave to come than when they do it goes fast, mine had leaves until Jan a bright green I did put The container in the garage. Thats it from the summer I was realy happy
Kim
I will have to get bwilliams over here to help us out! :)
Misty I am guessing you got this at a India grocery store? Do you happen to know what they called it? Possibly elephant yam or suran.
I believe what you have their is not a elephant ear at all. I believe it is Amorphophallus paeonifolius.
Brian, it actually came from Wally World. We don't have any stores like that around here. I can only wish! LOL
i remmeber walmart has huge boxes full of EE bulbs in the spring, so that is prolly what it is
Yes, they had EE's, but the ones DH picked up didn't have any bulbs near that large. But none of the other bulbs were that large either, so maybe he just lucked out for me! :)
well then, i guess the only way to know is to plant the darn thing!
It looks like a colocasia esculenta bulb, just a big one. Go ahead and plant the durn thing, they're pretty hard to kill.
unless its me that's taking care of it!... those never really have done well for me!
Oh I woulda been tickled pink if it did turn out to be the one Brian mentioned as it is in my want list as well! LOL I will plant it and hope to get it to grow and put it out to get an ID once it grows! :)
Oh diehrd, I would have thought you could keep anything going! :)
lol... no! i've thrown out my fair share of plants!... EE's seem to do well for me the first yr, then shrink, then disappear!
well misty, I can't say it won't happen but it would be a miracle if a peonifolius ended up at a bin at a box store. But I wish you luck because you'll love your taro once it gets going. :)
Dimmer, colocasias can offset by sending out new tubers, so now you have more! You'll see more growth when it gets warmer
HA HA HA maybe it is too hot for them there? You can always use that one, right?! LOL I got it, you keep em the first year then dig em up and send em to me so they don't die! HA HA HA
Maybe I will get lucky and have one that fell outa the wrong box when they unloaded! LOL
I'm pretty sure it is colocasia esculenta to bad there's a bunch of them! My official guess is 'Jack's Giant'. But it could be anouther!
how big is it? do you have a ruler?
yes... always a good excuse.... at least for the un-local gardeners thatdont know which thigs can or cant grow
i hope you do get lucky and get something good, or just a great EE
I just took the best measurement I could-not my best subject! LOL I guesstimate it is somewhere around 4 inches across.
that sounds about right for a C. esculenta, to me.
Well, I love EE's, so I won't mind if that is what it turns out to be either! :)
misty, it's the best first elephant ear you could ever hope for, hardy even for you, easy to grow, it gets big, and they're way hard to kill. You'll be able to give away "pups" next year, probably
Ok Do you cut those tubers off to make more. Or should I leave on and get a bigger plant I got mine at Home depot and the new one at Wally World (WAL_Mart) and it is called a colocasias.
Kim
That would be awesome if I could take pups from it next year! But if it gets that heavy, how do I get it outa the ground? LOL
May Princess Kathy have nice large bulbs! :)
I forgot to mention that my bulb has a soft spot. I didn't realize this till I started inspecting it, and it doesn't show anything on the outside of the bulb. I have read on some threads where people do 'bulb surgery' and wanted to know if I should attempt this, or just plant it and hope for the best? I would hate to pot it up and then it just decide it wants to rot on me then lose it. Thanks for all your help!!!
Tammy
It is bad...like mushy or you can see it getting damp? if your feeling it like fruit and one spot's a little soft I wouldn't worry, but if it was bad I'd cut the rotten part out, pour peroxide on it and let it dry commpletely before planting it.
I had to go by that awful place you got yours (I boycott when I can..lol), and they had rubber band things with the tags, I bet yours came off.
are you starting inside or out?
No, it isn't bad. Kinda like a soft spot where a piece of fruit has been dropped and bruised, if that makes sense? It doesn't seem rotten or anything, just soft. I don't like going there either, but sometimes you just gotta! LOL What did the rubberband say on it, do you recall?
I will pot it up and put it in the green house. :)
it was generic, elephant ear, colocasia
I think the soft spot will be fine, you should see the nasti--slimi--musgy stuff on the tops of some of mine outside, they come back fine.
with diving the tubers, you shouldn't have to cut, when they're ready they divide pretty easily. If you want separate plants, divide them, if you want a fuller plant you can leave them on....you'll definitely have plenty to divide the following year, then.
Oh well, it will still be purty, generic or not! LOL After all, Wally World is good at that! How far should I put it in the soil?
Never divided an EE cause this is my first time having them, but Canna's are quite easy, and produce a TON of off sets. :)
misty I didn't mean to sound like that..lol, sorry, I meant the label was generic
Oh I know you didn't, I was just making a silly! LOL
Misty this is what you have. I thought you got your tuber form a grocery store. It looks very similar to a Amorphophallus sold as food with the flat bottom but once you said it was from a Wally world I knew what it was. It is a Colocasia esculenta the most common form grown in gardens. It can get to a huge size and I am not sure were it originated probably as a food souce plant turned ornamental. It rarely flowers for most and can grow huge producing large tubers. Here is a good pic of how large they can get. I have heard of them growing over 10 feet but this is rarely seen. I have only see it in two photos.
