This is my pride & joy. I started the bulb on 4-6-11.. Last years bulb didnt make it over the winter so I will try my hardest to save this one and all her babe's

That is nice looking.
I have 4 Portadora Alocasia. I got 2 of them two years ago and overwintered them. Then last summer I got 2 more. I was very please to see all 4 of them come thru the winter and put up new growth this year.
This pic is from last year.

Now they are still pretty small and I wonder how big they will get before I must dig them up this fall.
The top of the biggest one is about 30 inches.

They are really nice Holly. One of these years I will buy a Portadora. I love the shape of the leaves.

Why is it Christine that us northern gardeners just love the tropical plants. Guess because everyone else doesn't have them in their gardens.

HollyAnnS said:Why is it Christine that us northern gardeners just love the tropical plants. Guess because everyone else doesn't have them in their gardens.

I have the Portadora too and love it, but don't have any photos of it.

Hi all,

It's very nice to see people growing and enjoying my Alocasia x portora. It's like seeing your children grow up and go out into the world to make something of themselves, even if they left without letting me know!!

Below are links to pictures of some that didn't leave home!
[url]http://aroidiaresearch.org/portora.htm[/url]
[url]http://aroidiaresearch.org/portora2.htm[/url]

LariAnn
Aroidia Research

They are wonderful. LariAnn you produce the most wonderful children. So nice seeing what these plants can become growing in their proper zone.

How about these guys? I put a chair there to give the picture some size relevance.

Whoa, Those are huge. And very beautiful. I always think I will make leaf castings but never seem to have the time to get them done. You could make a pond out of the leaf casting of one of those.

hello
i have jacks giant , illustris and Diomand head.
my fav is Diamond Head. very shiny dark dark leaves.
i was wondering what fertilizer you all use ?
and do you spray with any bug repellants ?
i tried diatamacous earth but it just blows off . if i do a liquid form then it just slides off the leaves LOL
those are all wonderful pics you all have.
i got this illustris last summer
still dividing it like crazy. got over 20 pups from it ! wow.

Oh that is gorgeous, I had some different variates of Alocasia.last summer but I just couldn't keep them going over the winter and ended up loosing them. I had an illustris that never did do real well for me and an African Mask that I was able to keep going for the last 3 years but lost both last winter. I did replace the African Mask this summer so we will see how that does this year.

The only EE's I have in the ground, someone gave me Mommoth this year and they are first popping up. Kinda nice being the recipient of a friend who collects elephant ears and likes to share☺

gardenersdetective said:Kinda nice being the recipient of a friend who collects elephant ears and likes to share☺

Yes, I would think so.
What a beautiful back drop they make.

Sue & Fred your make mine look like a Mini EE They are gorgeous and I'm green with envy. Next year I will definitely put mine in the ground and try other varieties. Thanks for sharing your awesome pictures

this is my first year doing the Illustris . i got it last summer.
friend told me to divide it , dry it
and i put it in my basement ,
took it out early spring in my GH and welp ... it worked ! LOL hope i can do the same this year with same results LOL
my camera broke so i can't do any other pics hopefully i can get it fixed soon

Thank you Taynors,
With the caladium bulbs and the Portadora I dried those and stored them dry inside. I put the caladium bulbs in brown paper bags. I always have way too many tropicals to try and overwinter. They get crowded and watering gets spotty and develop problems. Usually after Christmas when I need to move them into a smaller room to make space for Holiday entertaining. We are putting up a GH right now but I am not entirely sure how I will use it this winter. If I will heat it all winter and store my Tropicals in there or just use it in the early spring to get a head start on plants and seeds.

This is my favorite Alocasia

Jan...

So Pretty what is it?

Christine, what is the variety name in the first pic? Looks like one of mine..........without going out and looking at the tag, I think it is Thailand Giant. Mine, I mean.