I just ordered some from Brent and Becky's half off sale. I am excited but also seen some you have I now will have to have. From what I read they love lots of water including being submersed in pots of rich soil. Do you find this to be true? I had a Mickey Mouse I got at a RU and let someone convince me to give it to their friend and they would make sure I got one. Well needless to say....all the little ones they had died. :o( I know this friend would never do this on purpose but wow it is not one easy to come by. mmmm maybe someday.

I lost quite a few last winter. This was a thread from last September. I just treat them as annuals in case they rot over winter.

Thanks for sharing your EE pix Sandi, I luv em all.

And thank you for looking, Susan!

I love them all too. How do you overwinter them, if you do? I grow most of mine in water gardens, and most years they come back. Lost a couple that year we had the 14" snow.

Last year I had some new little ones that I hadn't gotten planted out yet, and didn't know what to do with them. I finally just brought them inside. I managed to let them dry out and thought I had lost them before spring. But eventually they all showed up and now they're big. Not sure what to do with them this year.

I do overwinter them, but I have most of the "collectables" in pots. I stop watering them when it gets cold and we leave them in a hoop house along along our fence line. We use a heater when it's really freezing. The ones that are in the ground come back each year. I have one in the pond, but the raccoons are just terrible and pull everything out. I haven't been successful drying bulbs, except for caladiums. I also keep finding little ones I thought I'd lost. I honestly don't know how they survived without water. That's one of the magical things about gardening, don't you think? There's always some little surprises to keep it rewarding!

Wish I had a hoop house, but don't have much room for one. I don't really know how to safely dry them out either (at least not on purpose, LOL). I think that this year I will try to move the water pots into the garage, instead of digging or sinking the bulbs. I was just hoping someone knew of a better way than having to move those big heavy pots... groan. Mine have actually done pretty well just staying in the water outside, as long as I leave the pump on so it doesn't ice over. But it got so cold last year, I'm afraid to try it again.

My hoop house is along the fence line. I wrote an article about constructing one by myself when my husband was out of town. My daughter helped me put the plastic over the pipe after I got it up.

http://garden.org/articles/vie...

Sandi, if I get any more babies from mine, I'll happily send one along to you. I've got a nice large healthy mickey on my front porch. Thankfully the deer are leaving it alone. Looks like my ajuga is gone though.

aye yi yi. Can't spell...

Oh, I've seen your article and your great hoop house! I have a very small lot, though, and no good place to put one. Also thought about doing one attached to the house itself, but we use our patio for grilling all winter, and there's no other good spot. Sigh... bigger lot... one of these days.

Pattie, we put up one on the patio also. The grill is just outside it. I'll look for a pic to show you. It's the one I truly love. i go out there in the dead of winter and fiddle around and fret with my tropicals. It stays warmer than any of the outer hoops because it's attached to the house. It's great for winter boredom too!

Aw, I'd love to do that. There isn't room on my main patio. We have a deck on the roof, with a spiral staircase, which blocks about half the patio from any useful function. I do have another patio on the side, which is surrounded on three sides and would make a perfect little greenhouse area. I keep trying to think of a way to cover the top and one open side, but haven't come up with anything yet. Maybe if I start now I can put something together by November. All I can think about right now is trying to keep everything alive!

Here's a few photos of the part of the patio we cover. We have a deck upstairs too, or I'd have it all the way across the back of the house. We only have a few cold days, but they are freezing. Where the grill is, there's a door I can go in and out of. On the far side behind that screen is a raintank I can us to water. I go in and out from the gameroom usually.

I brought this thread over from the Texas forum where it was buried. I wanted to enter some of the photos in the database. I was surprised by how many plants I had lost from those photos. I expected all of them to return in early spring from the pots they were in. I think I lost most of the Alocasias during the winter. Colocasias are much hardier for me. They don't seem to need as much TLC either.

I'm hoping we can get another co-op going next February, for shipping in April or May. I hope lakesidecallas is reading this.

Sandi,
Thanks for showing your Ears. I've been known to grow a few myself

Thanks for looking, LariAnn! Are Alocasias more picky about their growing conditions than Colocasias?

I've killed several myself Sandi. Amazonica/Polly I put in the unheated entry too soon this Spring I think. Down to 60 at night. Stingray died because I brought in too late last fall (too cold at night). A. infernalis and cuprea(?) I did in as well. I think the potting soil was too soggy. My guess is out of the bag MG (without the moisture crystals) is too heavy or holds too much water. That Purple Cloak of yours looks sweet.

Bubbles said:"No ID"

This looks like a Xanthosoma to me.

I was lookin thru all the pics and was just thinkin...
Bubbles...ya been holdin out on us!
Then I saw the date...

Sad you've lost so many of those gems, several of those are pretty rare...

I'm thinking that a nice something that could benefit several people around here would be an indepth guide on storing EE over the winter, there's lots if ways that work, several that don't!
Please, PLEASE do not dig your elephant ears and store them in buckets if water, that's the worst one going around that I hear, it can work but it doesn't work well! Sorry, rambling.

Generally speaking, a large robust growing type alocasia can simply be stored in a shelf dry, that way you can keep a real good eye on it, if it's shriveling fast, mist it good, get it in dry peat, cover it and mist the top of the peat occasionally, and pop the tuber out atleast once a month to examine it.
Left in pot has the best realists for me, but who has the room for all that, only a choice few get that treatment around here!

Some Alocasias are a lot more finicky then Colocasias. This is especially true of the ones I call the "jewels". The big terrestrials like A. odora and A. macrorrhizos are not as difficult.

Thanks for the ID Evan. I'll have to see if I can find it again! I've had many Pollys and killed them all with over watering. I think most of what died was because of too much water. I just thought they all loved water (from those years in Hawaii).

Swayback, we have such a short winter that I usually leave the plants in their pots outside and cover them with a hoop. Unfortunately, some other things need water. I open one end and spray everything periodically. I don't have room in the garage to store bulbs of any kind. I have lots of plumerias that take up half of the garage for those few months. Bottom line...I just have too many plants (although I wouldn't ever admit it to my husband). I seem to like nearly everything.

Appreciate the info, LariAnn. I'm always drawn to the unusual. We have a fairly new nursery here. The owners were from around Miami. They bring gorgeous plants up periodically from FL and I have to buy them. Then I kill those same plants with kindness. 'Still cheaper than collecting shoes!!!