Colocasia esculenta

Much larger than mine! I'm going to try to keep mine overwinter... Do you store the roots or keep the plant?

Thanks Lori

You can do either, personally I'm into keeping the plants going ie keeping at around 9C then they don't shrink back into a ball which may grow or may rot the next season when you try to get it going.

Colocasias don't mind the cold, but hate being damp. If I keep mine cold then I cut all the growth bar the last leaf off and keep them in bone dry peat free compost. The leaf wilts back so only one growing stem remains in a dormant state - and that's how you leave them - bringing out once the sun is climbing into the sky to warm the soil. Or better still bottom heat encourages the best initial growth.

Good info, Alocoloman! Thanks. As our winters are extremely cold...I think I'll settle for bringing it indoors and letting it dry out for a few months. Think that will work ok?

Thanks for that Lori :-) Tell me about it I know all about Canada's winters (had a friend in my student days who had family there) and only to well I know but only for the gulf stream our our winters not precisely like yours as our latitude is 55 53 N to your 55 15 N.

If you bring it indoors then why not simply let it keep growing if not at full potential or if quite big then yes keep it somewhere cooler for a rest period

Thanks A'man... I think I'll give it a little bigger pot and give it as much sun as possible...try to keep it growing because it is still relatively small.

That's precisely what I intend to do with Jack's giant (which is anything but at the moment!) plus a few of my Alocasias which really haven't made much effort to grow in my relatively shady , coolish garden on this coolish weather pattern we've had as our so-called summer, by the way please call me Scott as that's my name

Hi Scott! I lived for about 10 years at the same latitude as Britain (On the Arctic watershed at James Bay) It was severely cold in the winters as it is situated in the depths of our large continental mass with no warm currents to moderate the weather. Of all the places on this earth whose people should be concerned about climate change..Great Britain has to be at the top of the list! I know my DNA is from over'ome...cause I can't stand the deep cold of our winters... Ah for the balmy green of Ireland (where spring arrives in February! or the shorter white winters of the north country and Scotland...) I could definitely get used to it.