Look after My Colocasia Family and Make Them Survive

The common name for Colocasia is "Elephant Ears", which is certainly an excellent description of this species! Colocasia's glossy dark green leaves, over a foot and a half in diameter, are the kind of plant that will stop you in your tracks.

The Colocasia Family

There are hundreds of species of Colocasia, most with a large tuber (fleshy root) growing below the surface. Some varieties have tubers that can be cooked and eaten - they are called taro.

Colocasia are related to calla lilies, but they are different plants and prefer different growing conditions. Taro likes to be grown in full sun in fertile soil and needs lots of water. In fact, unlike most plants with wet roots, they can even grow in swamps or on the edge of ponds.

Many Colocasia have green foliage, but breeders have been working their magic to create more and more plants with darker foliage. Supplier MAYUN has pink and dark purple Colocasia for sale and welcomes inquiries.

Taro is a gentle tropical plant and will not tolerate any frost. When growing in areas where the temperature is below freezing, the tubers must be removed and brought indoors for the winter.

How to overwinter

In the fall, once the weather has turned, but before frost sets in, cut the leaves off the plant, leaving about 12 inches of stem. Dig the whole thing out of the dirt.

Use your fingers to dig out as much soil as possible from the roots, then trim the stems further to 3 or 4 inches above where the roots come out of the stems. The remaining stems and the roots they are attached to are the "tubers" where next year's growth will come from.

If you have a large clump of stems and roots, you can gently separate one or more sections. In the spring, smaller pieces are easier to put in the pot.

You can cut off a bit of the fibrous roots-they will decompose over the winter, so there's no need, but leaving them in won't hurt anything.

Place the tubers in a cardboard box filled with shavings, then place the box in a cool place, but not below freezing. If you have a cold cellar or a heated garage, that's ideal. I store mine in the coolest part of the basement, in a cupboard near an outdoor wall.

Check it every few months to make sure it hasn't started to sprout. If your storage area is too hot, it will start to sprout. If this happens in early winter, good luck, because other than composting the germinated tuber, your only real option is to plant it in a pot and try to keep it alive until spring, by which time it could be very, very large.

Do you want any other plants? Dress up your garden? Then contact us, you can buy seeds or seedlings and we have the complete solution for you.