colocasia esculenta and black magic.

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Yorkshire Kris
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Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Scott Radford wrote:Thank you for that

yes I do have pics of them, but I have to modify them. I took them last year using my nokia N97 camera, 5MP hence they are all between say 750 and 1.3 megabytes, well over the 600K limit - hence the need to modify - I will post the pics on here as soon as I have done so
The way I make pics right size is to get to the stage where I am adding the photo to a post press "browse" then search for correct photo. Then click open with (image editor) then save as. On save as choose low quality and move the slider down to the left so that the file is less than 600k) This works with photoshop elements.
Scott Radford

Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Scott Radford »

thanks very much for the tip

I hve FSY viewer and it will do the same thing icon_thumleft
Scott Radford

Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Scott Radford »

Here are finally the pics of the pond with the Colocasias growing as of 21st August 2010
Attachments
Colocasia esculenta
Colocasia esculenta
Colocasia Pink Stem
Colocasia Pink Stem
Black magic and the aptly named Mammoth
Black magic and the aptly named Mammoth
Mojito
Mojito
Clockwise left to right Black Magic, Mammoth, Hawaiian Eye, Burgandy Stem and Fontanessii
Clockwise left to right Black Magic, Mammoth, Hawaiian Eye, Burgandy Stem and Fontanessii
leewatson1980

Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by leewatson1980 »

Very nice Scott, how big did your black magic leaves get?

Lee
Scott Radford

Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Scott Radford »

Thanks for that Lee

I didn't measure them, but as you see in the picture of it and mammoth next to them is a solar light, that's say 4 inches in diameter

They're all in there for a rerun. They are in there a good month or more earlier than last year. Mammoths were still trying to emerge in my smaller heated propagator in late June. This year I got them in the pond in late April, so fingers crossed for hotter weather this summer (just 17 MAX last August) and I'll measure them.
Rick1965

Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Rick1965 »

Great photo's Scott, thanls for posting them. I especially like the 'Mojito'.
leewatson1980

Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by leewatson1980 »

Scott, how do you over winter your collies?, what conditions do you give them?
sorry about the questions but you do seem to know you stuff.

lee
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Yorkshire Kris
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Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Scott a very nice tropical pond. icon_thumleft
Scott Radford

Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Scott Radford »

Thanks for the positive comments guys

We're all on these forums to spread our knowledge/find answers so any questions I can answer I gladly will.

Sadly the pond may not look quite this good this time around as the cannas are less in number. They all died as the greenhouse heater failed when we had our record low temperatures :x

I have found all of them again bar Canna Stuttgart, which I hope to be able to get again from the NEC garden show next month. Come what may the pictures will show if it's better or worse than last year.

As for over wintering Colocasias then that's a somewhat complex matter i.e. different conditions depending on the species, so I'll answer that one tomorrow as it's getting late now.
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Dave Brown
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Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Dave Brown »

Well Scott, you are growing certain varieties very differently to me. :lol:

The HTUK Mammoth (Wilkos mslabeled Colocasia as Alocasia) and no guarentee it is the same as the Mulu or Jungle Plants Mammoth, is huge, has dark and light zoning on leaves, pinkish leaf bases, and pink roots. This is hardy for me in a sheltered spot against the North facing bungalow wall, and is just returning for the 5th year. We had about -10C last December with 33cm of laying snow. It doesn't do well in a propagator, or on a heat mat, just making the leaf stems longer with smaller leaves :roll: It seems to be happier in slightly cooler conditions. It returns from April to June, and reaches 80/90cm leaves by October.
270809 New Bed 1200.jpg
Jack's Giant which I got from a member in the US in 2008 is similar to HTUK Mammoth, bug seems to need a bit more heat. It has white leaf bases and roots. Left in damp compost it rots overwinter but kept dry in a pot has come back from -4C in an unheated covered area last winter.

I agree Black Magic loves being in water but it did virtually nothing in a pond for me. It really comes to life with water temp 23 to 30C so was used in a Conservatory water feature.
110807 Black Magic.jpg
Black Beauty, is an Illustris type and is so, so, much easier to look after. It just gets on with it. icon_thumright
270808 Colocasia Black Beauty.jpg
Been writing this on and off all evening as still watering the desert at 23:00 :roll: Wrong time of year for drought. Trying to plant out and do all the tidying, as well as a full time job of watering impacts on sleep :lol:

Scott, just briefly saw your post as I submitted this. Canna Stuttgart is hardy here and is always the first to show. It was up in Feb this year. icon_thumright It is in the same place as C Mammoth so is dry against the North wall :wink:
Best regards
Dave
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Dave Brown
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Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Dave Brown »

Scott, Colocasia Fontanesii does well in a pond here, but I have 2 Ghost Carp that love it :shock: They eat any part of it touching the water, including the stolons. It is in a pond basket in a tray of water at the moment, and one stem has just come into flower. Desperately need dividing but not had time so far :wink:

Another one for me that grows well (faster) on a heat mat, but with longer leaf stalks, and smaller leaves. Seems the heat to light ratio was not right.
Best regards
Dave
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Scott Radford

Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Scott Radford »

Hi Dave

Many thanks for your definitive descriptions of how your Colocasias grow. Personally I am sure we all have the same Mammoth - certainly mine and Jungle gardens are the same. I did purchase one 28 quid Colocasia and it was this one after Mulu supposedly had one for me then didn't send it with my order, then stopped doing it altogether.

The jungle one came before I got my unlabelled Colocasia bulbs, the ones that grew pretty quickly identifiably as Mammoth. If you look at the picture you can see Mammoth behind Pink Stem. clearly visible, particularly in the colour definition of a comprehensive digital image, are the definitive two tone green/chartreuse yellow leaves. I will look at the roots to be sure. But as I sit here now all the plants from the two sources of Mammoth I had are together now and looking at them they all look the same.

They definitely emerge quicker on a heat mat, they get moved quickly to my parents south facing porch when the first leaf has shown, where they ramp up for a week or so then it's out into the pond. I don't have enough room to do it all in one go hence they've gone through it in shifts, yet they're all the same come the end of it, multistemmed superb plants from the one bulb.

As for fontanessii, it sends the runners like it does right out across the pond. We've got some pretty impressive Koi in there plus two orfe that are over two feet long and they aren't at all interested in any of the plants that are in the pond at all. They have an ideal existence alongside one another.

Others I'm happy to plant in baskets and submerge are Pink Stem, Burgandy Stem and yes Black magic. I have more than one to replace it should the weather not be warm enough for it to do OK, but that hasn't happened even last summer with our cracking maximum temperature of 17 on any August day.

The rest sit on baskets of gravel just in the water, but they're all in the pond. The best thing is whatever the weather does I don't need to worry about watering them all. I simply need to top the pond up every now and then when the water level drops, and nutrient rich water reaches them all on tap.

Pink Stem produces both suckers and runners, which again are untouched. Black Magic produces many suckers, I've had eight on one plant before now. Burgandy stem does OK in that department too it's just fontanessii that is a tad less prolific. Mammoth outdoes the lot though with such huge bulb mass to begin with.
Attachments
Pink stem with Mammoth looming up behind
Pink stem with Mammoth looming up behind
Scott Radford

Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Scott Radford »

As I said last night I would give my knowledge of how things go here with Colocasias in winter.

From my overall experience, depending on the variety, Colocasias continue growing down to varying temperatures. Generally I have found that Black Magic is the first to enter dormancy, doing so when the temperature has dropped below 7 Celsius consistently i.e. day and night.

However given a dry position and in some cases a little winter protection, as Dave's Mammoth clearly demonstrates, it is possible to overwinter several Colocasias, e.g. normal C. esculenta, Pink Stem, Burgundy Stem, C. fontanesii and C. Mammoth, in the ground in the UK. Sadly here in the southwest, we're not renowned for very dry winters, so it's very hard to find a dryish spot either in my own or my parents garden, so we don't really do it.

These plants will come back to life without too much trouble when the soil is warmed again by the sun in the spring. Even when they have entered dormancy in the ground or once removed for dry storage, regrowth is straightforward for all Colocasias and can be brought on for all just by use of bottom heat.

Colocasias should otherwise be allowed to dry before cooler weather sets in, my own are removed from the pond in September/October depending on the weather. Then only water sparingly from below. Once they are drying out, all the leaves, bar the last one, are removed as they collapse. If the temperature continues to fall and they enter dormancy, they will collapse right back to a single dormant stem. This is when they can be removed if desired to store dry for the winter. Let the last stem wilt and then remove all the fleshy matter from the tuber. It can then be stored dry in a ventilated frost-fee environment over the winter.

In March the sun gets higher in the sky and plants left dormant will start to show visible signs of life and only then should be watered more frequently. Once active growth begins, then they can be potted back into containers ready for placing in the pond in April/May depending on the overnight temperatures. They will not be inhibited by the odd cold night, just as long as no long run of cold nights is forecast, they will continue to grow.

The growth phase can be advanced by using bottom heat, producing bigger, more established plants. All Colocasias respond to bottom heat, so this same treatment is applied to overwintered tubers to encourage roots and shoots.
Last edited by Scott Radford on Mon May 16, 2011 5:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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The Codfather
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Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by The Codfather »

so do you store yours dry.....ie remove them from all pots\compost etc....?
AKA - Martin

Wish list - Big Palms or Dicksonia antarctica's but open to anything really.....Cash Waiting !
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Yorkshire Kris
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Re: colocasia esculenta and black magic.

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Interesting experiences Scott and nice to see others are growing a lot of these fascinating plants. I keep away from storing dry over winter as this has left to rot setting in, in the past (I lost all my dozen or so wilko mammoths). I do like the clumping nature of some of these plants. Do you grow Nancy's revenge? I've got a nice clump growing but no sign of the revenge yet!
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