Gardening with Ciscoe ( www.ciscoe.com ) Gardening - Q & A

Colocasia, speeding up growth(note: first email in set)

Q: I am looking for growing tips for the Elephants ear mammoth. I live in Richland WA., hot dry summers. I have planted these bulbs for the past two years and they seem to like the shady, moist spot that I have planted them in. The trouble is that it takes about two months before the bulbs start to show signs of life, another month to grow the first leaf, another month to grow two more etc. They just get looking full and beautiful when summer is over... the cool fall nights kill the foliage very quickly. Is there a trick to jump starting this plant?

A: Here in Western Wa, it takes forever to get those things going from a dormant bulb. Hence, I don't let them go dormant. I pot them up and over winter them in an insolated, but unheated garage. I put them in a brightly lit spot near a window, and water them to keep them actively growing. In spring, I begin fertilizing with 'Fox Farm - Grow Big' fertilizer, and I put them outside on nice days in a brightly lit, but not cooking hot spot, making sure to bring them back in on cold nights. It takes a lot of space to pull this off, but it's so much better to have honking big Colocasia in your garden by early summer, it's worth it.