Kurt, you've also got at least 3 baby plants - No, there's 4! - in that pot. They certainly will grow slower with 3 in the pot. But they will grow, and since they've been somewhat traumatized this summer, you could wait until fall, or next spring to separate them each into their own pots.

I agree with keeping them wet. You can't overwater a colocasia. Plus they grow so fast that if you 'graduate' the pot size, you end up re-potting a big plant like that (should be) 4 times in a season. Once you see it starting to put up normal new leaves, you must start feeding it. At first go with half strength soluble fertilizer plus Mg every week, then as growth ramps up, go full strength.

Btw, your Thai Giant needs a BIG new pot, too . . . They are hungry, thirsty, big lusty beasts.

Here's a graphic illustration for you - these are my Colo.Blue Hawaii which I divided a tub full of pups up about a month ago. As I realized I was going to run out of potting mix, I went to smaller and smaller pots. All these pups were about the same size a month ago. You can see how much more the one in the big pot grew. The one in the smallest pot was sitting in a saucer, so had some help with water but it's still about 8in. smaller than the one in the gallon pot. Give 'em a big pot and they'll grow to fit it!

Well I did look for bugs as plantlady spotted and I didn't find any mealybugs, but I did see some sneaky aphids, which i washed off and checked all the other leaves as well. When I got the plug it had four plants in it and they were in a 4" clump so I put it in my 6" pot to give them room since the roots were already at the bottom anyways. I did give them a shot of Super-thrive ( and I know everyone out there is just rolling their eyes upward and giving out big sighs) but in all honesty it actually does work. I am trying to get a larger pot for the Thai Giant, unfortunately, its difficult to find the large pots (24") with the nice straight sides instead of the sloped ones you normal see like clay pots. With the size and wind, they can fall over, so the pots with straight sides and flat bottoms are much better even for my tree fern and Brugmansias since they also grow tall. Unfortunately I don't have anything to break the wind as it come roaring through my yard since the yard behind me is open with no trees. I only have in front of the garage or in front of the house, and I'd rather no loose the plant. I had given my entire collection of alocasias and colocasias, banana's, treeferns, epiphyliums and other plants to my local boantical gardens and in retrospect, I wish I never did, most died there and I could only fine 5 of what I gave them. At the time, I was ill and didn't know what was going to happen so...I lost many plants so now I want to make sure I keep them :)
I am glad that I found you all and hopefully I can get my kids going again with your help and suggestions.

Good growing to you all
Kurt

Kurt ... I've been using Superthrive for a few years and have heard some say it's a waste of money that it doesn't do any good but it sure hasn't done any harm to my plants so I will continue to use it.

Lin and Kurt, on the subject of using SuperThrive we had a lively debate about it over on the Orchids forum a year or so ago.

The thread "Using SuperThrive?" in Orchids forum

At that time, I was mainly objecting to the outrageous claims they made on the label, none of which were really backed up by any research or by their ridiculous "guarantee". At least now they have modified their label and don't make so many crazy promises.

There was some research to show that using it as a fert supplement sprayed on orchids was actually detrimental. When the ingredients were finally analyzed on the MDSD it also contains (or did then) some growth hormones that are banned in at least 18 states. It was shown to be somewhat useful as a root stimulant for cuttings and transplants. Anyway, have a look if you're interested.

I don't buy it any more, myself. It's too expensive and I'd rather have a couple of new plants or a new orchid each year than spend good money on a bottle of hocus pocus. I still have part of a bottle, come to think of it. Hm. Maybe I'll use it on my colocasia pups and conduct a non-scientific experiment . . .

Elaine: Wow! That is some very interesting information and I will go back and read Ray Barkalow's findings later. I don't remember what I paid for the little bottle I bought at Wal-Mart a few years ago but I still have it ... I was mixing a few drops in a 5 gal bucket of water with fertilizer for awhile. My little bottles cap is so rusted I might not be able to get it open to use it again. I'm really, really bad about feedng my plants so SuperThrive and regular fertilizer don't get used often.

Well I certainly stirred up the hornets nest with Super-Thrive. I do know about what it's made from and who could possibly be contained in it. The original creator has past away so I have no idea if whoever took it over is still using the same formula. I usually don't use it as a fertilizer enhancer because it contains extra nitrogen and phosphorus, which on some plants does cause problems such as orchids. I've never used it on full grown orchids but I have used it on baby plants and it does give it a little extra boost. Just a drop of the ST in a quart of water and then put it in a spray bottle and spritz. Lately the one place that I do go to when I can get out there has been getting organic ferts in different strengths as well as worm castings and bat guano, all of which could be used on our potted friends, within reason. Not all plants can handle large quantities of fert. My Brug's and Iochroma will and the Alocasia's and Colocasia's will. Tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers can always use a little extra. Since most large watering cans are about 1.5 gals, you can use one scoop plus one from the little scoop at the other end on the veggies. Corn you don't have to, or peas or beans because they fix nitrogen and don't need the extra.

I have a picture I'd like to share with you all and anyone looking. If you don't know what rust looks like this will show you. This is on my Lavatera which is in the Malvae family (Hollyhocks). They like all in that family are very suceptible to rust. Thankfully, it hit at the end of the blooming phase so now I can cut it down to the ground and wait and see if it comes up from the ground again. I have seed, lots and lots and lots off seed to save if I want to, to start another one next year. The picture will show a leaf on the left that has yellowing and the one on the right shows the fruiting bodies that are rust colored. There is nothing you can spray or do to keep it at bay. Just make sure you clean up all debries and put it in the garbage and not the compost pile as the spores will be in there. So my little bit of information for today.

Again thanks for all the help and I'm keeping a eye on my little children.

Good growing to you all.
Kurt

Oh no, Kurt. Certainly nothing as serious as a hornet's nest . . I just got a little 'bee in my bonnet' back when I started that thread, and when I followed up on it, it turned out the hype on the label was all balderdash and there was no solid research showing positive results from SuperThrive and some harmful ones.

Lin, I do remember paying $8.95 for the 4oz. bottle of SuperThrive at least 5 years ago. As I said, a couple of new plants or a nice little orchid . . they look like a better value to me.

Now, the Silicon stuff we discussed at the end of that old thread, I do think is making a difference.

Okay I have to ask this, dyzzypyxxy, Silicon?

Did you read to the end of the thread about SuperThrive, Kurt? Click here and scroll down the page about halfway. The thread "Using SuperThrive?" in Orchids forum

We ended the discussion talking about a product called Pro Tekt "The Silicon Solution" and I did a little bit of research on silicon supplements. Enough to convince me to try it.

Well I got to the thread. Rather interesting discussion on the subject and it does bring up valid points, but I might as well use it up and get rid of it. I was wondering if there was any discussion on compost tea? I can't make any due to the small nature of my yard, but for all plants I think it would be very helpful.

Yes, in my experience, it is very helpful. I had this small mention about it in an article I did awhile ago. I think there may be additional information on Dave's thread about vermicomposting but I'm not sure. I buy dried worm castings at our Farmers' Market and make it from those.

http://garden.org/ideas/view/S...

There may be a discussion about it elsewhere but I can't locate one.

With you there, on the small amount of compost, Kurt. I have no lawn so really can't produce any volume of compost, so I do make 'tea' out of what I get. I'd have to water a section of the same type of plant with the tea, and with 'other' stuff to see if there's a difference. Hm, I do have one bed with Heliconias in it that I could try that on.

It's very hard to document any results though, since it varies from batch to batch for everyone. It depends what you've composted, how much you put in your brew, the time of year, temperature as the breakdown occurs, quality and pH of your water etc. All that will determine what's in your tea.

I remember there being a big push for using compost tea, using various ingredients, such as compost, manure, guano, castings and microorganisms mixing it all together and letting it steep while stirring allowing the bacteria and other organisms multiple. I've seen articles online about a gardener up in Alaska, how grows very large vegetables because he uses his compost tea. At the time there were ads for a small home compost tea maker and I even bought some at a local garden center here, but it isn't available any more. I couldn't tell if it helped or not. Being down in Florida and growing heliconias, I'm not even sure you could see a difference, since they do grow quickly and multiply even faster. I think you'd have to do a comparison with two small plants. One using only compost tea and one using only the normal fertilizer. It's something to think about or even beans since they grow very quickly.

So that's my thoughts on that so far.

Good growing dyzzypyxxy

Kurt

So many different variables in our gardens.

Ah ha, good thought on the beans, Kurt. I will be planting beans in September.

Will try out the experiment then and see what happens. I also have alfalfa pellets I am trying out for the first time, which are supposed to do a lot of the same wondrous beneficial things to the soil. Was thinking I would boost my compost tea with them, but maybe I'll try a 3-way experiment on the first planting of beans.

Meantime, how's your little Colocasia coming along?

Hi dyzzypyxxy, Well I know Alfalfa has been used as a green manure for many years. Like certain clovers for their beneficial retention of nitrogen in the soil. The plants are turned under generally in the spring and allowed to rot giving the soil a burst in nitrogen and of course the decomposition of the plants themselves. Even plants like peas will fix nitrogen in the soil. I'm not sure about the use of the alfalfa to make compost tea, when it hasn't been composted, since the benefits are in what's left after the decomposition by beneficial microorganisms. I think the three way experiment sounds like a very good idea. I actually reminds me of the experiment with beans we did in school by placing them in the bottom of a series of boxes on on top of the other cutting holes to allow light in a different plant in each, just to see how well the bean plant would stretch up through each box towards the light. So I think you should try the experiment and take pictures as well to document the progress.

As far as my little Alocasia, it's limping along. The four plants have put out another leaf and each on is small and distorted, so I'm keeping a close eye on them. If worse comes to worse, I'll un-pot them all and put each into it's own pot and see if that makes a difference. Thanks for asking.

Good Growing Dyzz

Hi Kurt, I run into this every year. Sometimes tc starts of Colocasia just have a problem. My trials with spider mites and fungus gnats don't help. Cool nights definitely don't help!!

My guess is you have a tuber/roots problem and fertilizer and water won't help. Heat may! What I would do is separate these plants into small (3 or 4 inch) pots, checking the roots as you do so. One may be infected while the others aren't, or are less so. I use a well draining mix for rehab projects even with baby Colocasia.

Cool nights won't help so if you have a spot that stays warmer at night but won't fry them during the day, great. I've had some mixed success putting a one gallon milk bottle "cloche" on them at night.

Good luck!

Evan, do you think that the soil could be tainted - especially if one of the plants is infected? I wonder if dividing, fresh soil and a sterilized pot may help. But then again, perhaps I am just chasing butterflies?

I'd think that is the right approach Oldgardener. I don't know of a way to safely disinfect a small start of bacterial rot (if that's the cause). If you can just provide heat and humidity and deal with the cool nights the plants natural robustness should do the rest. Shipping it to CA or FL for rehab would be ideal of course.