Sorry to hear about your losses Swayback.

I have hosta to spare if you're interested. I have some blues, greens and multi-color. I also have some Aralia spinosa (Devil's Walking Stick). It does spread, but is easily kept in check.

How do I get my various plants to make new pups? I doubt that it's anything like hosta

Hi RickM I have found an increase in feeding and a smaller pot works on most colocasias. But the runners need a larger pot for room to run.

Can you believe that someone has been comming into my back yard and stealing potted plants. My wife said how do you know since you have so many. I told her I know each individual plant of mine they are like kids of mine.

Thanks Charles! I'll have to try that.

And I agree with you, I know where every plant is and what it was in last. I often worry about people stealing some of my plants. I've been very lucky so far.

I'm glad I found this string! This is the first year having elephant ears. I want to overwinter them because my sister sent the bulb as a gift. Aren't they great? I think the basement might be pretty full this winter because she sent quite a few types. It just feels like fall is coming early this year so I started thinking about how I want to save them.

The above elephant ear, was started indoors in a pot. Compared to the bulbs I planted directly in the ground, these grew the best. Has anyone tried storing the bulbs and starting in pots first?

Swayback- just read backwards to your post about how you lost most of your collection. Sorry to hear that. I've had to move across country 3 times. Twice, I couldn't take any plants, so friends benefited. The third time I was determined to take some with me. So I chose 5 plants, and it was a rough trip for them because it was November. Took about a year for them to bounce back. But, I've had a LOT of fun starting a new collection, and it is evolving into this third year and has opened my eyes to different types of plants. I hope it works out that way for you, too.

Alyssa,

I'm in Maryland (7a). Those that I have in pots, I just bring in for the winter. But, they're getting big this year, which means bigger pots and less room. (Just like everyone else!). I'll most likely lift them and store them indoors for the winter and pot them up again in early spring. When the temps stabilize, I'll move them outside and either put them into bigger pots, or into the ground once it warms up to a reliable 70+ degrees.

@AlyssaBlue

I am also in zone 5b and I have done it both ways- starting the overwintered tubers/bulbs in pots in late winter to "jump start" their growing season, and directly into the ground when temps warm up.

I have found that they don't grow that much in the house during this time frame. I suspect its simply not warm enough in my home, and I don't provide supplemental ground heat either, which I am sure would help.

So in summary, those started early in pots do get a bit of a head start, but honestly it's just much easier to pop them right into the ground (or in their growing season containers outdoors) and they eventually catch up anyway sometime in June...

I will add that on some of my smaller EE I have continued to grow under lights through the winter and its essentially the same as above- they get a head start once they go outside, but those that I store as dormant bulbs quickly catch up. Where I live, the EE pretty much sulk (or if they are planted as dormant bulbs they just do nothing) until mid-Late May anyway...

I did a search, and I found a thread for White Lava, but it is long dormant, so I am posting here, and I feel it would be appropriate on this thread too.

This is my first growing season with WL, and is just now starting to color up. (Only one leaf so far has started to show a little white)
Is this typical? I am hoping in future seasons I can get color earlier.

I purchased in January 2017 from Florida Hill Nursery via their ebay account as a small start and it sat under lights in my basement until May. It was not a happy camper in my basement, and it didn't have any leaves by the time I planted it outside. It has rebounded well, although it is not quite the size of my more established EE.

Perhaps the combination of young plant plus rough start to the season is why it has been so slow to color up? Those with more expertise can chime in and I'd much appreciate it!

Found this today in the compost bin! It must be Black Coral, thought I had lost it last year.

My limited experience with White Lava is the same as yours. Leaves put on more white vein tracing as the plant matures. A few growers in the mid-atlantic region have had the same experience.

My White Lava is about 3 feet tall and starting to show some color

We have been getting rain lately, so my backyard jungle is flourishing! In the center is a Thai Giant. Its enjoying itself, obviously!

What an amazing view Arlene.

@eclayne @RickM

Any tips on how to get WL to color up sooner? I am guessing the answer is to simply try and start it sooner indoors, or overwinter the mature plant...

That is slightly discouraging to hear, as the main draw for me was that beautiful white contrast. I suppose on the glass half full front, if I'm lucky I've got 2 more months until frost ruins the party.

None that I've heard of. The fact that my box store purchased plant was starting to color up makes you wonder.

It's been about 2 weeks since my WL started to show color and sad to say it hasn't progressed much... a few other leaves starting to get a bit of white. The first leaf still hasn't even developed the ful white strip down the middle, let alone lateral coloration.

Summer here has been cooler than usual, but not to the extreme. Ie: 80 degrees average high instead of say 85.

This is my first season w WL, so I'm hopeful next year the more mature plant/bulb will get established sooner outdoors and thus color sooner. I think I'll try growing under lights in the winter to see if I can keep the color.

I've never seen this before Potora with 2 stalks on 1 trunk

@Eclayne Calidoras did great this year both bloomed I hand pollenated got 1 seed pod planted seeds and waiting.