Hardytropicals UK

Colocasia Burgundy Stem is a real monster of a plant with huge 3ft by 2ft Green, with a purple bloom, elongated, heart shaped leaves, atop 6ft shiny burgundy stems. This plant is definately one for the impatient, as it competes with Bananas for growth rate, growing a huge leave a week in warm weather. It develops it burgundy sheen on the leaves best in full sun, but will happily grow in dappled or even complete shade.

In its second or third year it has a huge tuber about a foot long and 5 inches in diameter. The whole plant is massive, but with leaves that size you would think wind would be a problem, but they simply fold up allowing the wind to pass. The only problem I have had with the wind is if the leaves thrash against another plant or tree.

It sends up the occasional sucker but also send out many runners that may creep 3 or 6 feet before sending up another shoot. in its native habitat it must colonise vast areas,

They can be kept in a pot in a dish of water, but for optimum growth will need at least a 15 inch tub. Alternatively plant out in well manured ground with humus and water gel granules dug in. Plant with the rhizome just above the soil surface to avoid rot in cold wet weahtrer.Like Bananas, they are gross feeders and like a constant supply of nutrients. It is possible to over feed which causes the leaves to collapse and dry out, so I feed with dilute strength higher nitrogen (N)PK soluble fertilizer every watering, every day in warm weather.

They respond well to heat competing with Bananas, but continue to grow more slowly in much cooler conditions, even growing in an unheated covered courtyard, during winter,down to zero C.

Lashings of water in summer, and can even be grown in a pond, Planted in the stream feeding a pond they help to clean the water. In some warmer climates they are used in the filtration system of ponds as they suck out every trace of nitrate.

I have found that Burgundy Stem is one of the easiest Colocasia to over winter and tolerates very cool temperatures without going dormant even at occasional zero deg C.. Keep drier in winter in pots and don't apply water from the top.

Plants left in the ground will die back to the rhizome which should be protected with a well drained mulch, If the mulch remains too wet it may cause the rhizome to rot, but with this plant in many cases if the rhizome rots all is not lost. Larger plants produce adventurous runners during the summer which ripen to become woody and very tough. So even if your rhizome rots there is a fair chance the runners will survive. These will sprout when the soil becomes warm enough.

As they are very slow to restart into growth in our cool springs, so it is advisable to dig out and pot up.if you want big plants, Alternatively, clean all the flesh from the rhizome and store dry in a ventilated frost free place, Be careful to remove all trace of the fleshly leaves, and dry thoroughly, or rot could set in.

Over the winter and spring this Burgundy Stem has been in an unheated covered courtyard, which has doors fitted during the coldest part of the winter. During this time the temperature fell to zero Celsius on several occasions without the Burgundy stem going into dormancy, It has spent as much time outside as possible, having to shelter more from the wind than frost this year (2007).

During the winter and spring the Colocasia bed has had all the old bedding pot compost, and the gravel mulch they contained added. This has been dug in and with this treatment over the last 4 years the bed now has a nice springy feel to it. Further to this the planting holes were dug down to 2 1/2 feet, the heavy clay at the bottom removed and bark based soil conditioner, mixed with gravel added to the base. The Conditioner and gravel had been left in the conservatory to warm up and was about 28C. This gives an initial boost of bottom heat, then allow the Colocasia to slowly cool down to ambient soil temperature.

The Burgundy stem was then planted and backfilled with the with excavated compost, with added 3-1-2 ratio slow release fertiliser. Be very careful when planting not to plant too deeply. Burgundy stem likes to have the top of the rhizome above the surrounding soil. Mounding the soil or mulch up against the stem is likely to cause rot in cool wet weather

.Then water in well with a balanced soluble fertiliser, with WARM WATER, about 30C. Finally, and I have not done this yet... next weekend, after the whole bed is planted, I top the bed with an inch of pea gravel. This is a great thermal mulch allowing the soil beneath to warm up and retain heat, but is also well drained for those cool wet spells we get from time to time. This also prevents rotting as autumn turns to winter, before the plants are lifted again.

It is reputed to be root hardy in Zone 7b in the USA which is down to -12 deg C !

Visit the Colocasia propagation page

Wow ! a real monster of a plant