Bought a black magic plant this year and I'm now feeling the pressure!!! Thanks for your tips, crossing my fingers as I've only got 3 little leaves at the moment 🤞🤞🤞
Sorry Emma, missed this comment some how! The black magic ones can be a bit tricky in my experience but hopefully a warm July / August really help it on. Good luck!
@@emmagunston446 You never know, it’ll probably be amazing! It’s more the overwintering and getting them started that’s the tricky bit - I think the key is to keep them growing as houseplants.
Thats and edible plant in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean the leaves and the root tuber. I make dishes with the eddoes/ dasheen or callaloo bush. Good in soups with chicken or boiled make like marshed potatoes seasoned . Make good pies too. Try it !I love them in my garden as well they good growing under my large avocado tree laden with fruit.Hi doggy hugs and kisses . Bye George take care. Lovely video as usual always interesting.
Wow, that’s interesting! It doesn’t grow fast enough here to get a good harvest but I bet in a greenhouse growing in water it could get big enough to experiment with 😃
Great video George. I dry stored my esculenta last year and restarted exactly the same way as the ensete which worked well. This year I had a lack of space so stuck them potted outside under plastic cover even in the frost. I may well have killed them but now that I've got more room inside I've tried getting them going in the warmth. We'll see how they do. My colocasia mojito was kept alive round my mother in laws. Took it one week ago back to mine and stuck it inside the house in a sunnier location and has already knocked out another leaf. I definitely will be getting some pink china this year. 1.83k subscribers. Well done mate. Keep it going and in a few years you can chuck in the day job. Great work. Success will continue to come to you 👍
Thank you my friend! You've got two chances! Esculenta aren't as hardy as Pink China but they're tougher than a lot of the fancier varieties so hopefully with the pot being raised and the second half of winter being quite dry there's a shred of hope. Great to hear about the mojito, you did the right thing keeping it as a house plant and it'll hopefully be ready for you to borrow back again soon! Cheers, I don't know about chucking in the day job (it's certainly keeping me busy doing this, the garden, some home bits and working 45+ hours a week!) but I'm grateful for everyone like yourself who appreciates my passion and graft. I hope you're enjoying the build up to summer planting time!
I recorded it earlier in the week so I’d be able to get on in the garden yesterday but it was bitterly cold 😂 I need a nice warm greenhouse studio haha!
I've had a fair few failures with these but finally managed to keep the Pink China and ensculata....bit tricky but well worth it and your tips are spot on. Have also got a Portodora that's doing really well although lost a few leaves over winter and had spider mite as treated it as a houseplant. Despite that its still got 4 massive leaves so looking forward to getting it outside whenever we get some warmer temps. Fantastic plants though like you say.
Thanks! I think it’s the point you get to with growing these unless you’re willing to look after the colourful sorts as houseplants or use them as disposable bedding (a waste!). I’ve got a couple of Alocasias too, they tend to be easier to overwinter as a houseplant like you say. They do all look great together in summer 😃
Thanks George another good vid I have not long started mine but they can be hard for me to get them started am still waiting for mine so think I will try your way see how I get on .thanks
Another great video 🙏 this is the plant I’d really love in my garden I have a couple in sealed bags next to the Everhot so I’m hoping for success I was almost tempted to stick one in the bottom oven to see if this would jumpstart it into life but thought 40’ would be too warm and I’d just end up cooking it😆
@@GeorgesJungleGarden no radiators downstairs and upstairs never on, downstairs temp is set 18’ (underfloor heating)so probably not quite warm enough hence things migrate to Everhot (a bit like an Aga) 😂
@@Bee-io3id Oh right... it’s up to you! In theory it’s at the top end of what most seeds might need to germinate and I personally wouldn’t go much above 30 degrees. It might be cheaper to get a small electric propagator than leave it running too! Could putting them in a polythene bag on a sunny windowsill be another option too?
@@GeorgesJungleGarden I’ve got two in plastic bags now, one I did the breath in bag 😜( out of view of neighbours) the other I put a little bit of lightly damp seed compost in bottom of bag (this one seems to have raised buds appearing) so hopefully all will be well🙏
@@Bee-io3id I think as long as the heat is there, any kind of moisture is good, great to hear you’ve had success! And well done for avoiding blowing into the bag in front of your neighbours 😂
Thought I'd try semi dormant so i dug up and potted my colocasia cocos, ensettes, dwarf lotus on no food and minimal water for a trial run, as I lost some others drystoring a few years back. Sat them next to our vivarium with 4 UV bulbs and a heat lamp. All came through fine and the Ensettes actually shot 2 new leaves through winter.
That’s good going Melvin and I’m a big fan of the semi-dormancy for a lot of plants assuming you have the right setup. It sounds like you’ve done great, just keeping them ticking over nicely 👍
I put a colocasia black leaf in the ground last spring and made the decision to leave it in the ground this year (as I didn’t want to mess around taking it out the ground) and I’ve got a feeling it will be dead based on this video 🥲 I did cut it back and cover it in thick Wooly insulation but I’m not optimistic.
I don’t want to fill you with false optimism - it’s unlikely it’ll return after last winter unless it’s in a really good spot. It’s worth waiting though as if it has made it I’d say it will be late May before it makes an appearance 👍
Now I'm a pretty decent gardener but I'm in misery with my colocasia bulbs. I have wanted a black magic for a long time, almost a decade, so this year I decided to try my luck with buying a bulb online. I searched online only and only at shipping did I see that they were being shipped from the Netherlands. 3 bulbs were £30. They took 1 week to rot. #lancashirelife
Ahh that's a shame. I tried some from dry bulbs and with no joy too, I suspect they need a decent amount of heat to reliably get started. Personally, I generally recommend people who want to try more unusual colocasia to get a young plant or plug these days, they're easier to keep growing (overwintering is still a gamble though). Turn it Tropical and Grow Paradise should both have them in or be getting stock in soon I would have thought!
Haha nice one and don't worry - I'm sure it'll do great. They just take a bit more effort to overwinter in my experience but certainly look cool in summer! Enjoy!
Hi, excellent advice again as usual, and on the theme of colocasias, could you do a quick tutorial about dividing them sometime please? I've got one that I grew in my pond last year, (just at the edge in shallow water), it grew well and really bushy. I overwintered it indoors and now I need to divide it before I take it back outside. It's got 17 offsets growing from it now, hence bushy, and any advice would be helpful.
Thanks! To be honest they look good in clumps and overwinter better in larger groups so I only ever divide them at the back end of the year if there’s a good bit to go at. I’ll hopefully do a vid to cover it at some point but in all honesty it’s pretty much a case of snapping them apart!
@@GeorgesJungleGarden okay thanks I'll maybe leave them as they are. I thought that maybe growing a clump may stunt leaf size, basically. I assumed that having lots of offsets would weaken the main plant and force it to stunt leaf size.
@@tedscott1478 I wouldn’t worry about that, no, I guess it’s a stronger plant and will look better in the shorter growing season we have. If you want to split it you can but I wouldn’t feel you have to!
@@victorianicol-smith9436 Nice one on the Ricinus and the chicken pellets are great for the plants, even if they smell at first 😂 Max is my standard unit of measurement for these plants haha!
Hi Eddie, it’s worth taking it out the pot, if it’s full of roots then certainly, go up to a 10lt or similar. If not, then keep up the watering and enjoy the growth it’s putting on in it’s current pot!
Hopefully this will be the last of the frosts. Had to put some fleece over my basjoo thats Just about to unfurl a leave. Looks like the fleece has bent the new growth which is disapointing. Still plenty of leaves to come
Fingers crossed, it was colder than -3 here last night! I wouldn’t worry about any Basjoo leaves until maybe early June, anything before then tends to get blown or frosted off! It’s a good job they grow quickly from then!
Bizarre ! Exactly one year, to the day, later, and wifeperson and I suddenly thought 'Where are the Colocasias?' Totally forgot about them, and went out to search the garden. We keep them in large pots. It transpired that, last autumn, I had moved the pots close to the house wall, intending to subsequently dry store them, but then forgot all about them ! We just knocked them out of the pots, and all had survived, even through that dreadful cold. Phew !
Fantastic to hear they've made it Brian haha! A lot of these exotics can survive a lot more cold than you'd expect if they're kept somewhere sheltered and on the drier side. I hope they grow well for you this year!
I overwintered mine last winter my other one has come back but the one in shade hasn't seem to come back yet I'm wondering if I should dig it up an move it to a sunnier position everything has come back all the cannas and pink China apart from this one may not be getting enough sun. 🤔
You could potentially move it, yes, but it's very early days for it to be showing yet and it's been a cool spring so I wouldn't worry yet. Not a bad idea to carefully dig it up and move it now if that's what you're planning on doing anyway though.
@@GeorgesJungleGarden I moved it to a sunnier position I couldn't wait no more it was in shade I seen there was growth on it so I know it's going to come back thanks George. My gardens coming along now 😊
Ooooh no! Just spotted 3 esculenta up in pots watered well and put in propagator in greenhouse.would you suggest unpotting them and putting in bags? Got my laosy giant and few other species growing well in there but they are already sprouted?
If you’ve got Laosy Giant growing well it sounds like it’s warm enough and you should be fine, I was trying to be general with the advice as there’s going to be people with small plastic greenhouses and a few subzero nights this week!
Yeah mines a small plastic one haha iv only ever had 1 sprout out of about 6 bulbs the rest iv bought as plug plants. Tho the ones I bought from jaques amand nursery come ready sprouted which is brill since they are under a fiver.
Thank you for great advice George. I put my esculenta straight into a pot a couple of weeks ago and moving it between house and unheated conservatory. Nothing happening. Should I dig up and use bag method? I have a heated propagator
Hi, a large bulb can definitely fill a 30cm pot by the end of the season but you could certainly pack more into a larger pot or to get a fuller display quicker. Treat them like a large bulb but keep in mind how big the leaves get.
Hi and well done. Personally I'd keep growing them on for a couple of weeks and then grow them on in a polytunnel or greenhouse from late April before planting them out in mid-late May.
Thanks, I appreciate it! I'm sure Mark and I have inspired each other over recent years too, I'm happy to share any ideas and tips I pick up on here and it's great to know they're helpful thanks.
Bought a black magic plant this year and I'm now feeling the pressure!!! Thanks for your tips, crossing my fingers as I've only got 3 little leaves at the moment 🤞🤞🤞
Sorry Emma, missed this comment some how! The black magic ones can be a bit tricky in my experience but hopefully a warm July / August really help it on. Good luck!
@@GeorgesJungleGarden Trust me to choose a tricky one when I've no idea what I'm doing 😂😂😂
@@emmagunston446 You never know, it’ll probably be amazing! It’s more the overwintering and getting them started that’s the tricky bit - I think the key is to keep them growing as houseplants.
Thats and edible plant in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean the leaves and the root tuber. I make dishes with the eddoes/ dasheen or callaloo bush. Good in soups with chicken or boiled make like marshed potatoes seasoned . Make good pies too. Try it !I love them in my garden as well they good growing under my large avocado tree laden with fruit.Hi doggy hugs and kisses . Bye George take care. Lovely video as usual always interesting.
Wow, that’s interesting! It doesn’t grow fast enough here to get a good harvest but I bet in a greenhouse growing in water it could get big enough to experiment with 😃
Great video George.
I dry stored my esculenta last year and restarted exactly the same way as the ensete which worked well.
This year I had a lack of space so stuck them potted outside under plastic cover even in the frost.
I may well have killed them but now that I've got more room inside I've tried getting them going in the warmth. We'll see how they do.
My colocasia mojito was kept alive round my mother in laws. Took it one week ago back to mine and stuck it inside the house in a sunnier location and has already knocked out another leaf.
I definitely will be getting some pink china this year.
1.83k subscribers. Well done mate.
Keep it going and in a few years you can chuck in the day job. Great work. Success will continue to come to you 👍
Thank you my friend! You've got two chances! Esculenta aren't as hardy as Pink China but they're tougher than a lot of the fancier varieties so hopefully with the pot being raised and the second half of winter being quite dry there's a shred of hope. Great to hear about the mojito, you did the right thing keeping it as a house plant and it'll hopefully be ready for you to borrow back again soon! Cheers, I don't know about chucking in the day job (it's certainly keeping me busy doing this, the garden, some home bits and working 45+ hours a week!) but I'm grateful for everyone like yourself who appreciates my passion and graft. I hope you're enjoying the build up to summer planting time!
Hi George I bought one of these from B&Q this last week. I have it indoors with me for now. Will be planting it out when the weather improves.
Nice one, that’s wise Anna! They won’t think much to this weather!
Thank you for suffering in the cold for us!
I recorded it earlier in the week so I’d be able to get on in the garden yesterday but it was bitterly cold 😂 I need a nice warm greenhouse studio haha!
Thanks George for a lot of information. I just started the fun and info about plastic bag is very useful. All the best form Warsaw/Poland
Nice one, great to know it’s helpful! The key is a lot of heat, then they grow quickly rather than rotting. All the best with your 2021 garden plans 😃
I've had a fair few failures with these but finally managed to keep the Pink China and ensculata....bit tricky but well worth it and your tips are spot on. Have also got a Portodora that's doing really well although lost a few leaves over winter and had spider mite as treated it as a houseplant. Despite that its still got 4 massive leaves so looking forward to getting it outside whenever we get some warmer temps. Fantastic plants though like you say.
Thanks! I think it’s the point you get to with growing these unless you’re willing to look after the colourful sorts as houseplants or use them as disposable bedding (a waste!). I’ve got a couple of Alocasias too, they tend to be easier to overwinter as a houseplant like you say. They do all look great together in summer 😃
Thanks George another good vid I have not long started mine but they can be hard for me to get them started am still waiting for mine so think I will try your way see how I get on .thanks
Thanks. The more heat the better in my experience!
4 out of 5 of mine have sprouted with the breath in the bag method and placed on top of my boiler 👍🏻🌞🌴
Excellent! I think heat is the key, combined with the tiniest bit of moisture and they really get going. Great result so far!
Another great video 🙏 this is the plant I’d really love in my garden I have a couple in sealed bags next to the Everhot so I’m hoping for success I was almost tempted to stick one in the bottom oven to see if this would jumpstart it into life but thought 40’ would be too warm and I’d just end up cooking it😆
Thank you! There’s a fine line between growing and cooking, yes 😂 Somewhere warm like near a radiator should be fine 👍
@@GeorgesJungleGarden no radiators downstairs and upstairs never on, downstairs temp is set 18’ (underfloor heating)so probably not quite warm enough hence things migrate to Everhot (a bit like an Aga) 😂
@@Bee-io3id Oh right... it’s up to you! In theory it’s at the top end of what most seeds might need to germinate and I personally wouldn’t go much above 30 degrees. It might be cheaper to get a small electric propagator than leave it running too! Could putting them in a polythene bag on a sunny windowsill be another option too?
@@GeorgesJungleGarden I’ve got two in plastic bags now, one I did the breath in bag 😜( out of view of neighbours) the other I put a little bit of lightly damp seed compost in bottom of bag (this one seems to have raised buds appearing) so hopefully all will be well🙏
@@Bee-io3id I think as long as the heat is there, any kind of moisture is good, great to hear you’ve had success! And well done for avoiding blowing into the bag in front of your neighbours 😂
Thought I'd try semi dormant so i dug up and potted my colocasia cocos, ensettes, dwarf lotus on no food and minimal water for a trial run, as I lost some others drystoring a few years back. Sat them next to our vivarium with 4 UV bulbs and a heat lamp. All came through fine and the Ensettes actually shot 2 new leaves through winter.
That’s good going Melvin and I’m a big fan of the semi-dormancy for a lot of plants assuming you have the right setup. It sounds like you’ve done great, just keeping them ticking over nicely 👍
I put a colocasia black leaf in the ground last spring and made the decision to leave it in the ground this year (as I didn’t want to mess around taking it out the ground) and I’ve got a feeling it will be dead based on this video 🥲
I did cut it back and cover it in thick Wooly insulation but I’m not optimistic.
I don’t want to fill you with false optimism - it’s unlikely it’ll return after last winter unless it’s in a really good spot. It’s worth waiting though as if it has made it I’d say it will be late May before it makes an appearance 👍
Now I'm a pretty decent gardener but I'm in misery with my colocasia bulbs. I have wanted a black magic for a long time, almost a decade, so this year I decided to try my luck with buying a bulb online. I searched online only and only at shipping did I see that they were being shipped from the Netherlands. 3 bulbs were £30. They took 1 week to rot. #lancashirelife
Ahh that's a shame. I tried some from dry bulbs and with no joy too, I suspect they need a decent amount of heat to reliably get started. Personally, I generally recommend people who want to try more unusual colocasia to get a young plant or plug these days, they're easier to keep growing (overwintering is still a gamble though). Turn it Tropical and Grow Paradise should both have them in or be getting stock in soon I would have thought!
I’ve just ordered a ‘Pharohs Mask’ a few days ago. (Couldn’t resist). I wish I’d have seen this video before 🤷♂️
Haha nice one and don't worry - I'm sure it'll do great. They just take a bit more effort to overwinter in my experience but certainly look cool in summer! Enjoy!
Hi, excellent advice again as usual, and on the theme of colocasias, could you do a quick tutorial about dividing them sometime please?
I've got one that I grew in my pond last year, (just at the edge in shallow water), it grew well and really bushy. I overwintered it indoors and now I need to divide it before I take it back outside. It's got 17 offsets growing from it now, hence bushy, and any advice would be helpful.
Thanks! To be honest they look good in clumps and overwinter better in larger groups so I only ever divide them at the back end of the year if there’s a good bit to go at. I’ll hopefully do a vid to cover it at some point but in all honesty it’s pretty much a case of snapping them apart!
@@GeorgesJungleGarden okay thanks I'll maybe leave them as they are. I thought that maybe growing a clump may stunt leaf size, basically. I assumed that having lots of offsets would weaken the main plant and force it to stunt leaf size.
@@tedscott1478 I wouldn’t worry about that, no, I guess it’s a stronger plant and will look better in the shorter growing season we have. If you want to split it you can but I wouldn’t feel you have to!
This is one of those plants I can only admire from afar. Neve any luck what method I try 😅
I know that feeling with some plants! Is it the overwintering element you struggle with?
Love how you can use Max for perspective in pictures 🤣
Also, ordered and planted my ricinus and got some chicken crap pellets (gim!). Fingers crossed for the little seeds 🤞
@@victorianicol-smith9436 Nice one on the Ricinus and the chicken pellets are great for the plants, even if they smell at first 😂 Max is my standard unit of measurement for these plants haha!
Hi George, my Colocasia is growing fast in a 4 litre container. Would moving it into a larger container help in grow larger?
Hi Eddie, it’s worth taking it out the pot, if it’s full of roots then certainly, go up to a 10lt or similar. If not, then keep up the watering and enjoy the growth it’s putting on in it’s current pot!
Great video I so want to try Pink china but i cant find any any were :-/ any ideas where i can get some?
Thanks! Turn It Tropical will have some soon but keep an eye out on EBay over the next few weeks 👍
Botanico123 have alot used them a few times now just ordered Hawaiian blue but there are some on ebay too.
@@OssyDL I’ve used them before too, cheers for the tip!
Hopefully this will be the last of the frosts. Had to put some fleece over my basjoo thats
Just about to unfurl a leave. Looks like the fleece has bent the new growth which is disapointing. Still plenty of leaves to come
Fingers crossed, it was colder than -3 here last night! I wouldn’t worry about any Basjoo leaves until maybe early June, anything before then tends to get blown or frosted off! It’s a good job they grow quickly from then!
Bizarre ! Exactly one year, to the day, later, and wifeperson and I suddenly thought 'Where are the Colocasias?' Totally forgot about them, and went out to search the garden. We keep them in large pots. It transpired that, last autumn, I had moved the pots close to the house wall, intending to subsequently dry store them, but then forgot all about them ! We just knocked them out of the pots, and all had survived, even through that dreadful cold. Phew !
Fantastic to hear they've made it Brian haha! A lot of these exotics can survive a lot more cold than you'd expect if they're kept somewhere sheltered and on the drier side. I hope they grow well for you this year!
I overwintered mine last winter my other one has come back but the one in shade hasn't seem to come back yet I'm wondering if I should dig it up an move it to a sunnier position everything has come back all the cannas and pink China apart from this one may not be getting enough sun. 🤔
You could potentially move it, yes, but it's very early days for it to be showing yet and it's been a cool spring so I wouldn't worry yet. Not a bad idea to carefully dig it up and move it now if that's what you're planning on doing anyway though.
@@GeorgesJungleGarden I moved it to a sunnier position I couldn't wait no more it was in shade I seen there was growth on it so I know it's going to come back thanks George. My gardens coming along now 😊
@@JB-lr1tf Nice one, great to hear it's growing away and ready to take advantage of this lovely sun!
Ooooh no! Just spotted 3 esculenta up in pots watered well and put in propagator in greenhouse.would you suggest unpotting them and putting in bags? Got my laosy giant and few other species growing well in there but they are already sprouted?
If you’ve got Laosy Giant growing well it sounds like it’s warm enough and you should be fine, I was trying to be general with the advice as there’s going to be people with small plastic greenhouses and a few subzero nights this week!
The bag way isn’t necessarily the only way of doing it, potted up should work too but obviously you can’t see any mould issues as they’re happening.
Yeah mines a small plastic one haha iv only ever had 1 sprout out of about 6 bulbs the rest iv bought as plug plants. Tho the ones I bought from jaques amand nursery come ready sprouted which is brill since they are under a fiver.
Thank you for great advice George. I put my esculenta straight into a pot a couple of weeks ago and moving it between house and unheated conservatory. Nothing happening. Should I dig up and use bag method? I have a heated propagator
@@OssyDL That’s a great price, especially if they’re already sprouted!
How many in a pot can I put in
Hi, a large bulb can definitely fill a 30cm pot by the end of the season but you could certainly pack more into a larger pot or to get a fuller display quicker. Treat them like a large bulb but keep in mind how big the leaves get.
Can I use aroid mix for colocasia growing indoor?
Hi, I’ve had no experience of it personally but I imagine it would be perfect. Moisture retentive but still well draining.
Are Colocasia poisonous to dogs?
They potentially can be yes, probably best avoided if you have a pet that enjoys nibbling plants!
Ive got 3 in the propagator they have a small tiny leaf when should i take them out please
Hi and well done. Personally I'd keep growing them on for a couple of weeks and then grow them on in a polytunnel or greenhouse from late April before planting them out in mid-late May.
@GeorgesJungleGarden Thanks, My garden is basically down to You and Tiki Mark. Your videos are inspirational
Thanks, I appreciate it! I'm sure Mark and I have inspired each other over recent years too, I'm happy to share any ideas and tips I pick up on here and it's great to know they're helpful thanks.
Good luck with all your garden plans this year!