Hardy Tropicals UK

Hi all

Just received delivery of 3 colocasia bulbs and was wandering when (time of year) and how most people plant out their colocasias. Do I need to start them off indoors and provide extra heat?

Any good tips or pointers would be great.

Thanks in advance

Lee

http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/page.php?id=51

I find a bag can cause mould though, so I put in a slightly damp kitchen roll in a tupperware box then add the Colocasia/eddoes, close the lid and leave somewhere warm: my hot water tank.

Thanks for the reply.

When do you normally start "warming" them up? I.e what month? Also how long would you leave them and wgst stage would you plant them out?

Thanks.

Lee

If you have space for them inside for a few months then start them now as you have fresh rhyzomes. I leave them in a warm place until the greenshoots pop up to say 1-2 cm. At that stage the roots and leaves will be seen. I then pot up and place in a south facing window. Pot out from May.

Thanks. At what depth do you normally plant them?

L33ETH1 wrote:Thanks. At what depth do you normally plant them?

The brown tuber bit? I have experimented with leaving them sticking out to buying them a few inches and it makes no difference. I think they look better with the tuber hidden.

I agree. I'll plant it at a reasonable depth. I think it'll give it a bit more stability in the ground/pot anyway.

Thanks for the advice

I put the bulbs in a container as suggested and within days they were covered in mould. Decide to shallow pot them in compost on a warm windowsill to see how they get on that way.

I'll post results as I see any progress

Lee

Can I plant a tuber in the ground outside now or would it rot?

They're susceptible to frost so that's why it's recommended that they're started off indoors until all chance of frost has passed.