Introducing Colocasia Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

User avatar
Dave Brown
Site Admin
Posts: 19742
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
Contact:

Re: Introducing Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by Dave Brown »

So the band of members able to get this rises icon_thumright Perhaps we need a "Jack and the Collie leaf" competion next year :lol:
Best regards
Dave
icon_thumright
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
cbeagleowner

Re: Introducing Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by cbeagleowner »

HI dave - I've been thinking about getting a JG. How big do we think it's going to get over here? I'm guessing the old google hit of the guy standing next to the huge leaf in America isn't going to be the case?
User avatar
Dave Brown
Site Admin
Posts: 19742
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
Contact:

Re: Introducing Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by Dave Brown »

cbeagleowner wrote:HI dave - I've been thinking about getting a JG. How big do we think it's going to get over here? I'm guessing the old google hit of the guy standing next to the huge leaf in America isn't going to be the case?
Steve in DC got his to 104cm at the last count but I am not sure how well this will do in tha UK summer. Many of the largest Colocasia (Borneo Giant and Robusta) do not grow well in cool (typical English Summer) weather.

My JG got to about 65cm last summer then I let them dry off to just rhizomes over winter. Sat on a prop base with temp 30 to 35C for the last month now and the first leaf is a big'un :wink: Over 35cm and still expanding. This means it has the potential to grow huge but we'll have to see if it grows smaller leaves in cooler temps, as Borneo Giant did for me.
20100329 Colocasia Jacks Giant 02.jpg
Best regards
Dave
icon_thumright
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
cbeagleowner

Re: Introducing Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by cbeagleowner »

Hi Dave - thanks for the photo and the info. Would you say that Jack is the biggest Colly leaf we'll get here in the UK?
User avatar
Dave Brown
Site Admin
Posts: 19742
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
Contact:

Re: Introducing Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by Dave Brown »

I really don't know cbo. Time will tell

Here is a better pic of the JGs. The larger leaf is now 46cm and the smaller 41cm. This is not bad for a first leaf and much bigger than this time last year. We will have to see how it copes with coming off the heat :wink:
Attachments
20100410 Colocasia Jacks Giant.jpg
Best regards
Dave
icon_thumright
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
cbeagleowner

Re: Introducing Colocasia Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by cbeagleowner »

HI Dave - they're looking really good, and at the end of the day you can't argue with 2ft plus leaves in teh UK. How wind resistant are they? It's just a matter of finding one!
Nigel Fear

Re: Introducing Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by Nigel Fear »

Dave Brown wrote:I really don't know cbo. Time will tell

Here is a better pic of the JGs. The larger leaf is now 46cm and the smaller 41cm. This is not bad for a first leaf and much bigger than this time last year. We will have to see how it copes with coming off the heat :wink:

Dave. There appears to be an ancient Roman Amphorae on the ground behind your Collies, have you been excavating again? :lol:
User avatar
Dave Brown
Site Admin
Posts: 19742
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
Contact:

Re: Introducing Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by Dave Brown »

Nigel Fear wrote:
Dave. There appears to be an ancient Roman Amphorae on the ground behind your Collies, have you been excavating again? :lol:
Yes, that is quite a good one, the others were broken :lol:
Best regards
Dave
icon_thumright
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
User avatar
Yorkshire Kris
Posts: 10163
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:59 am
Location: Rural South Wakefield, Yorkshire Lat 53.64 Long-1.54

Re: Introducing Colocasia Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Hi Dave,

I have overwintered a Jacks Giant in my greenhouse and it looks about the same size as yours. Two big leaves about 40cm each. I took it off the heated propogater base a week or so ago and it hasn't moved at all even though the green house has minimum temp of 10-12 degrees and max of 25 .

Hope it picks up. This plant is new to me and has not been outside yet. Will it withstand windy conditions? I have kept other collies in sheltered locations so have no info in windy, exposed situations

Cheers

Kris
User avatar
Dave Brown
Site Admin
Posts: 19742
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
Contact:

Re: Introducing Colocasia Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by Dave Brown »

It didn't seem to be affected by the wind, and did grow last summer, but not big. Having started it off with a heat boost and got a big first leaf, we'll have to see how it goes. Temps in my conservatory are similar night but around 30C by day..... my ideal temp :wink:
Best regards
Dave
icon_thumright
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
nige pook

Re: Introducing Colocasia Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by nige pook »

Ooooh,those look beaut,would love a JG. To be honest I'm just learning with collies as this is my first year with them,together with the nanas and gingers. This bug certainly has bitten hard and fast!! This is my little collection so far,the eddoes are about to be potted up too.
Nige.
IMG_0002.JPG
jimhardy

Re: Introducing Colocasia Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by jimhardy »

Will be interesting to see how big they get Dave,they are nice and green.
I brought my(plain vanilla)EE's up from storage in the basement in March,they sure put out some
lush leaves inside in front of a south window.
Can't wait to see how the leaves on yours compare to regular EE's.
I planted a Thai giant also,on Brian's Botanical's sight on E-bay he says this plant grew from 4" to
8' in one 5 month season,we shall see.
Mine has put out it's first leaf already,pretty good start(here) for mid April!


Good luck!

JIM
User avatar
Dave Brown
Site Admin
Posts: 19742
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
Contact:

Re: Introducing Colocasia Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by Dave Brown »

Thanks for the feedback Jim, so how do you start your EE off from the basement :?: We have tried varying methods, but many seem to rot rather than shoot.

You're so fortunate to have Brian's and places like Plant delights in easy shipment distance. Also we can't fly anything in at the moment, with this Icelandic Volcano, so I imagine we are going to have trouble getting smaller plants this spring.

I have the JG and Colocasia mammoth started at the moment. The JG is bigger right now, but we will see how they compare. I know the Mammoth does well here so it will be a good test of which one is best for the UK climate..... or a US spring, followed by a US Autumn :lol:

SteveW, I separated the pup off the JG, but the pup had most of the root :roll: This is fine potted up, but the parent with the big rhizome, immediately wilted and I had to remove the leaf :roll: It will come back but was not what I expected. icon_scratch
Best regards
Dave
icon_thumright
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
User avatar
Dave Brown
Site Admin
Posts: 19742
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
Contact:

Re: Introducing Colocasia Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by Dave Brown »

Another update.

Jacks Giant is loving this warm summer, and is by far the largest of my Colocasia at this point. The latest leaf is 66cm and has not fully opened out yet. The largest Mammoth is only 35cms by comparison. As this tends to increase in size well into autumn, I could be on for a large leaf this year :wink:
Attachments
20100725 Colocasia Jacks Giant 01.jpg
Best regards
Dave
icon_thumright
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
User avatar
Yorkshire Kris
Posts: 10163
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:59 am
Location: Rural South Wakefield, Yorkshire Lat 53.64 Long-1.54

Re: Introducing Colocasia Jacks Giant ( Jack's Giant )

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

The largest leaf on my Jack's Giant is 50cm. The plant has spent most of its energy in producing pups about five or six have formed since it was planted out in May. Suffured a little with Red Spider Mite and now getting a bit crowded with papyrus and banana plants. Hopefully will produce some much bigger leaves soon. Had mainly cloudy/rainy weather since early July.
Attachments
Jack pups
Jack pups
50cm leaf
50cm leaf
Post Reply