I am looking for info on how this colocasia does in full sun. It seems as if I read somewhere in here that someone had it in full sun and it didn't do that well. If you have had it in full sun down here in the south-can you please tell me how it did? Does it go more lime green in some shade or not? Thanks so much
Colocasia 'elena'
This is a mutation off of Chicago Harlequin it grows to around 3 to 4 feet tall and did great in full sun. The leaves are bright yellow with a pink dot in the center of each leaf.
Thanks Brian, I am sending these out to landscapers and I needed to know if these will do well in full sun in the beds-I am sure some are not irrigated.
I grew mine out in full sun with just hand watering when extremely dry. They did well but did not get as large as most forms. They could possibly get larger in a well watered area but all of mine stayed around 3 feet tall. They look great next to Black Colocasias or dark cannas.
ok-that ties into my next question...C. Illustris. I know it does well in shade, but what do you think about it in full sun? Thats a good idea about mixing the lime green and the dark ones-I don't have any more black ones extra, but I do have some illustris extra and it would look good with the elena.
I grow just about every Colocasia in full sun. You may be able to get larger leaves in part shade but I find that humidity in the air plays a large roll for Colocasia leaves. Full sun in KY is not the same as full sun in Arizona the lack of humidity can dry the leaves up and burn them to a crisp. Here in Ky we can get over 100 but the humidity usually stays very high so the leaves tend to not burn. In shady areas their is less chance of this burning and the leaves expand to larger size for light.
You should be fine with just about every form in full sun. Though they may be slightly larger in partial shade I also find that the colors are deeper in full sun rather than shady areas dark's are darker and lighter ones are brighter.
Thanks! This has been a lot of help to me. I just turned the landscapers onto A. Sarian last year and they love it. I wasn't sure how it would do in full sun all day-but they say it does great. They are all using a lot of them this year. Its my favorite,I think.
Alocasia Sarian is a great plant it has a very exotic look to it and can get huge. It does how ever seem to be very tender for me and I usually lose it at the end of the season or after it gets so large they often just rot out from underneath. I have seen some huge ones in landscapes in Florida here is a nice pic of one I believe at Fairchild Tropical gardens.
It isn't hardy here, what I do sometimes is plant it in the ground for the summer and pull it out and pot it up for the winter and keep it in the grhouse, and replant it in the summer. I had one that was getting close to over half that size from doing it. They do well with the digging up-alot of the aloc/colo do, I think. It makes a great focal point when it gets really large. The landscapers throw them away in the fall.