elephants ears!!

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bobbyd44

elephants ears!!

Post by bobbyd44 »

i recently got a freind to pick me up some coco yam/ taros from a shop as read these yams grow to elephant ears!! icon_scratch
any idea how best to get them growing? :D
Petefree

Re: elephants ears!!

Post by Petefree »

Welcome to HTUK bobby!
Yes - they're Colocasia (esculenta I think). They need quite a bit of warmth to get them into growth in the spring and for their compost to be just moist initially. Once they start to grow strongly they take a lot more moisture.
I usually start them in a heated propagator in the greenhouse or on a heat mat.
I suspect if you don't have those bits of kit to hand, tying them up in a plastic bag of barely damp compost and sticking it in the airing cupboard might work to get them started. You'd need to check it regularly though, and pot it up and put it somewhere lighter once it starts to shoot.
You could wait until the weather warms up and then pot up the tuber - but without an early start in some warmth they will be slow into growth and won't make such impressive plants in the summer.
Pete
bobbyd44

Re: elephants ears!!

Post by bobbyd44 »

cheers can see i am going to get plenty of help here just what i need...
i have picked up a heated propigater in the sales so will bang them in there got to be worth a go for the cost of the yams £1.
Don

Re: elephants ears!!

Post by Don »

I'll go along with Pete's suggestions and there is a bit more info here.
Unfortunately the trivial naming of these things can be a nightmare. The Afro Carib shops have different names and similar names for the same tubers sold in Asian shops.
Edoes, Taro, Dasheen, Coco Yam, old Coco Yam/New Coco Yam (not to be confused with ordinary Yam) etc etc.
If you post a few pictures of the tubers someone will tell you what you have got for definite.
Frank
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Re: elephants ears!!

Post by Frank »

Or eat them :lol: You're making me hungry Don .......
Don

Re: elephants ears!!

Post by Don »

Frank wrote:Or eat them :lol: You're making me hungry Don .......
Frank-If you saw how vegetables are reared and treated and the atrocious conditions under which they are stored you would stick to meat. If you had to harvest your own then most people would be carnivores. :lol:
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Re: elephants ears!!

Post by Dave Brown »

Hi bobby and welcome to the forum icon_salut

On top of all the names given there is also another type of Yam from South America this is an Egg yam or sometimes a coco yam it is actually a Xanthasoma. I bought on on ebay last year and was very impressed with it. The same plant at Kew is labelled coco yam, but they don't always get their naming correct :roll:

Pic . This is my Eggyam (Coco yam) in the pot, the smaller leaved plants to the right were Colocasia esculenta (eddoes from ASDA and TESCO) these were left outside in the ground overwinter so were much smaller than the year before. Personally I think it is a bit of a myth about needing to start them off early, as they grow very fast in wamer weather, so in August a plant started off in Feb will not be much bigger if any, than a plant started in May :wink:

Search for Colocasia mammoth on the forum for some of the larger Colocasia
:wink:
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simon
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Re: elephants ears!!

Post by simon »

I agree with Dave. If it is coco yam then it should be a Xanthasoma. I don't think coco yam and egg yam are the same thing though. It was suggested before that egg yam might be Xanthasoma atrovirens, which is a large plant. I think coco yam is either X. violaceum or X. saggitifolium which are smaller species.
Guy

Re: elephants ears!!

Post by Guy »

I would advise against starting them off now. What are you going to do with a three foot tall plant with 2foot leaves on it on your windowsill in April?
I didn't start mine til April last year and that was about right.
Essexman

Re: elephants ears!!

Post by Essexman »

On any rational analysis, elephant ears are Bergenia.
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simon
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Re: elephants ears!!

Post by simon »

Essexman wrote:On any rational analysis, elephant ears are Bergenia.
maybe on another forum :wink:
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