Colocasia care

From: Iain Fyfe IainF at counterpoint.co.uk> on 1999.08.16 at 01:53:25(3581) In the spring I bought a colocasia esculenta "Fontanesii", my first ever aroid. The plant seems rather uncommon in the UK, but with the hot summer up till August, it's grown very well in a pot outside and has put out many 'runners'. These are shoots coming from the base, and radiating out just above surface level. What should I do with these runners? They don't seem particularly keen to bury themselves - should I cover them up? I'm assuming that they're linked to vegetative reproduction, and I'd certainly like to have a few more plants. Any advice gratefully received, thankyou. Iain Fyfe +More mailto:iainf@counterpoint.co.uk

From: "Mr R.a McClure" Rob.McClure at sci.monash.edu.au> on 1999.08.23 at 01:49:07(3594) > In the spring I bought a colocasia esculenta "Fontanesii", my first ever > aroid. The plant seems rather uncommon in the UK, but with the hot summer > up till August, it's grown very well in a pot outside and has put out many > 'runners'. These are shoots coming from the base, and radiating out just > above surface level. What should I do with these runners? They don't seem > particularly keen to bury themselves - should I cover them up? I'm assuming > that they're linked to vegetative reproduction, and I'd certainly like to > have a few more plants. > > Any advice gratefully received, thankyou. Iain, The long runners will soon swell at the ends into new 'bulbs'. Cover or bury these a little and they will form their own roots and shoot. You can then cut them from the parent plant to repot or move or just let them form a very handsome large clump as they do here in zone 9 Melbourne. Keep them moist and fertilized when in active growth, they love it . cheers, Rob. +More Rob.McClure Biological Sciences Monash University, Clayton 3168 Victoria AUSTRALIA. Phone:(03)9905.5625 Fax:(03)9905.5613 e-mail: Rob.McClure@sci.monash.edu.au

Note: this is a very old post, so no reply function is available.