Thanks for Diamondhead ID. I have a few Konjacs and a Bulbifer. I killed a Peonifloius by overwatering during winter. Not familiar with Symonianus. I'll have to google it. I also have quite a few raccoons in my collection.

Nice plants Swayback! Where are you? You should put your location and zone so we can see how much moving you have to do for winter

The little variegated one in the last photo is really pretty. How 'bout the polly above, though? Is that a sport, or sunburn? Be really cool if you have a variegated sport.

To get the biggest leaves, I give these C. esculenta plants tons of water, banana peels, melon rinds, any moist, heavy scraps that will melt within a day or two in the heat. The leaves so far this are year are already as big as they were at the end of the year last year. The 5-gallon bucket behind it has a slit, I fill it with water almost daily when it doesn't rain.



A bulb that gets less water, no compost or scraps.

Yea both pics are my variegated poly sports, they are even further behind the other polys...which are really slow to start anyways...
They have gotten all mixed in with the regular ones, that's magnified by the fact that the variegated ones don't like to express their variegation til the they bigger, or more mature, or hotter, I haven't quite got it all figured out yet...
I really love that bottom leaf it's massively variegated! But the top photos a lil harder to see but there's one leaf tucked in there that'a half white, half normal, no diversity at all, while the leaf in the bottom is so variegated its got purple from the back side on the front of the leaf... It's just wild!

I burned one badly, ill show a pic of it, it's amazing too, but been altered by burns

Took a pic yesterday of the babies forming, a few inches away, and one right on the trunk of the main mama.

purple, I like your clever cages for the EEs. Wish I had thought of that before one of mine got tall and lanky and now wants to fall over.

Looking good purple. Is this a Colocasia?

The last few posts about Caladiums have developed a life of their own. Not to mention a thread as well.

I thought Caladiums were elephant ears, too. But what do I know.

Btw, those Thai caladiums I posted are on sale at my Home Depot right now.

Only thing to note about the Thai Caladiums is that they rarely come back reliably the way most other Caladiums do.

Evan, yes, sorry I didn't include that in the last pic! Colocasia esculenta. Glad you like it! It finally looks like it did in my fantasy when I bought the dormant bin-bulb in OH about a dozen years ago.

Sandi, it was necessary last year or I couldn't get around the whole corner with giant leaves leaning everywhere. It took 2 people to wrestle the newest few leaves through a tomato cage, about this time last year, I just cut the lower leaves off out of convenience. (This early in the season, that may seem an option to you. It made a lot more giant leaves after that wrestling match until frost.) Left that cage in place since then, and the pup now has a tomato cage too. The rain off the roof hits right on these plants, knocking them over much more than others. I suspect the excess amount of moisture and organic matter I like giving this, experimentally, could have something to do with such moist, heavy foliage. I like to think it does (or I'm getting some mosquito bites in vain.) Ha! Do you know what's got yours so down?

I'm trying to not spend more $ on the marginally hardy Caladiums but man, they're SO pretty!! Looking in here, the wonderful pics, isn't helping to maintain a strong resolve.

Probably right about the Thai caladiums, Hetty. They are more tender than the western varieties. But mine are now in their 3rd year in my garden. The last two winters were pretty mild.

We're in near drought conditions and I am hand watering most everything. I planted a large EE in the ground thinking I could keep it watered more easily, but that's not the case. I thought I was smart putting it in front of a tall sprinkler head. That was before watering restrictions when we went to only using sprinklers one day a week. I have drilled a large ceramic water pot and am going to replant the EE in the pot. I hope it likes lots of water! I could only drill a small hole before DH came out and surprised me (he's not a fan of my "projects"). I'll put a mosquito dunk in the pot too.

I also like your idea of placing a bucket behind the plant for extra watering. Genius!

Purple, I'd mound compost to at least as high as that first horizontal wire on your cage. The EEar will thank you for it.

Thanks, Evan! I'll do more. Whatever I put there disappears so fast. The whole area had 4-6" of leaves too, disappeared within the past couple months.

It's put itself at that level, which is puzzling to me... I had installed it quite a bit deeper.

Sandi, thanks! The bucket seeps slowly, over the course of a few hours. Filled in the morning, that might help your plant a LOT in the TX heat. I made the slit with a long-handle, short-jaw thing for pruning tree limbs. It made a thin slice that I occasionally need to "ream out" from buildup of sand with an old knife. I put the bucket there last year, in memory of drought the year before, when it didn't rain for about 8 weeks. I did use it quite a bit last year, and up until the past couple weeks. (EE loves all of this rain recently, but some other plants around here are freaking out.) Also, wonder how much sun your plant is getting? In my brief experience yet with being able to leave them in the ground, the ones in more shade make much bigger leaves. Where they have naturalized nearby in full sun along a drainage ditch, the leaves are rarely even 12". Evan's suggestion of more compost may be applicable to your plant as well.

I might be hesitant to go with a situation with enough standing water that one would need to worry about mosquitoes, especially if it's tap water with its' issues of chemicals and possibly bad PH. (Speaking of mosquitoes, Holy Moly, with all of the rain here lately, I can't even be on my front porch w/o getting a few bites per minute!)

eclayne said:Purple, I'd mound compost to at least as high as that first horizontal wire on your cage. The EEar will thank you for it.

Atleast!
You could add a 2 cu foot bag of soil and it should stay put!
That trunk is the bulb growing and rising outta the soil, u could snap the plant off where they join and replant it, the leaves would melt but it would be fine, the main bulb would just pump out more plants!

Your compost may be disappearing in the mouths of raccoons...

Bubbles- if it's a colocasia there's no need for drainage at all! Might be better off plugging that hole back up, once up to size these guys can drain well over a gallon a day in hot conditions!

It's been nothing but rain and overcast here, the gulf has just been pukin this monster system on the east, it's pretty spectacular, but if we don't get a touch if sun but tmrw I fear things will be hurtin bad here, I've lost several treasured c&s to the wet! It's sad, we need some balance, half the country is parched, other half is floating away...

Good to know it'll be okay in pot. We were gone for a few days. Watered well before we left and came home to droopy plants and crispy grass! We had to hand water what we could before it got dark. Today's our watering day. We can only water with sprinklers before 10am and after 7pm. I have so many plants that the sprinklers don't get them all. Makes me a slave to the garden out back.

Be careful what you wish for! The rain would be most welcomed here! We're watching a potential hurricane brewing in the Gulf with mixed emotions. We really need the rain, but also know in order to get it, it spells destruction for those closer to the coast. Can't win!

I've got my Colocasias sitting half-submerged in a tub under the downspout off the roof. It's been pouring rain every afternoon, so it's getting drowned, and loving it.

If you have to go away again, Sandi, I'd put the pot in a deep tub (I use plastic storage tubs from Target) and fill it up with water. They love having their feet wet! Wish we could send you some rain.

Leaves are small on 'Blue Hawaii' because there are about a dozen plants in one big pot here. I'm hoping to be able to divide them in October for a charity plant sale.