Thailand Giant

I am SO pleased with my Thai Giant..........I have a yardstick there for comparison.

yea anna..!!! great pic ..super looking thai giant..
ive grown them for only 3 yrs now..last yr was my most sucessful at getting a huge plant
last yr the leaves got to over 60" long and 3 1/2 ft wide.. i was in 7th heaven..:)
this yr..its been an odd one..
all my EE did well.. but not huge.. and they all sent off pups.. like alot of them..
i think one of my thai giants has 7 or 8 pups off it..and they are good sized..
how are you going to keep your thai giant overwinter???
u must have similar weather ..maybe even colder than i have here in provo,utah...???
good growing anna !!!!

I am in the tundra zone..................gets to -20 during the winter and usually lots of snow. BUT...........with a 30x64 greenhouse................:>)

anna..?? hows the weather up there this spring??
did u have a mild winter?? we sure did here..
last little while has been great.. to soon to plant any tropicals out..
but ive been potting up overwintered bareroot EE..and hauling overwintered potted
up ones out on nice days..which has been quite a few lately..
today i think it got to 80F..thats warm for april ...
i potted up most of my bananas too.. oh my aching back.. LOL
what we do for our plants.. :)
hope your EE are doing well!!!!

Yes, I have many. Mild winter here, and temps in the 80's the end of March. Crazy weather. Now it is more like March weather. LOL Calling for frost again tonight and tomorrow night. I think we had some last night too. I covered my new flowering magnolia and my honeysuckle.

anna..?? did you overwinter any thai giants?? how did they do??
what was your method of overwintering them???

Putting them in the greenhouse in the pots they were in during the summer. I leave all the alo's and colo's in the pots.

I have a Thailand Giant. I just dig it up and put it in the garage. I just put it back out. My black Diamond elephant ear, Mojitos elephant ear, cannas, colocsaias, callas, banana(Musa) pink China elephant ear, black pearl all came back. I mulch about 8 inches cut them down after a freeze and they usually come back. I am afraid to leave the Thailand Giant out. It is one of my favorites. Happy Gardening!!

Anna, I don't have a greenhouse, but I am curious as to how it works? How do keep pests out such as spider mites, white flies etc. I thought about getting one but I was concerned with pests. Thank You, Julie

Oh, I have "livestock" in the g'house............I spray quite a bit. With bringing in other people's plants, the variety is endless..........LOL Mostly whiteflies this year, and a few aphids. I need to spray tomorrow again. Oh, and some spider mites on some of the brugs. They are not all affected.

i always have spider mites overwinter..i use cinnamon..and seems to help a bit..and
prevent molding..
ive taken my EE out several days now..(still potted up)..and hosed them down..
gets rid of the spider mites ..:)
hopefully we get rain from this storm comming in tonite..lawn sure could use it..
looking foward to putting my tropicals out.. hopefully they get HUGE this summer..
if weather cooperates..

Some of my are huge in the greenhouse. LOL They really look cool, tho, when I put them out in May and they are 5-6 feet tall.

Tropicalnutt777, Thanks for that idea of cinnamon. I know it is good for rotting bulbs etc. I will try that. :)

well all my tropicals are in..sigh..LOL last yr i got a ton of pups ..
were having a pretty nice early summer..on the warmer side..but im good
with that.. almost 90F today..higher tomorrow..
could go for some rain though... :)
hopefully my thai giants get GIANT this yr !!!!
i could go for huge plants.and not all the pups this yr !!!
who do i put that order in to??? LOL :)

question for you thai giant owners... I have been gowning ears for a few years now, i want to add this one to my collection, but sadly it wont be till next spring.. I'm just wondering can i expect a pup in the first season?? i've read these dont pup very often but you folks seem to have said differently, so now i'm wondering how true the info i got was... I know theres many factors and conditions in weather i will get one but is it possible?? has anyone not got a pup in a season?? I've also read these are rather hard to grow, are they really any different then other ears..

thanks
jen

for me here in utah..i have no trouble growing thais.. during spring/summer/fall.. my challenge
has been best way to overwinter them..
i would think down in AL you could overwinter them outside..lucky U !!!
this last winter i was very sucessful overwintering them.. yea..sort of..i have over 20 thais..
i lost ..from overwintering.. 2 yrs ago the really nice thais i had.. i got several from a super grower..
..im sure they were 1 season old.. and last summer all my thai giants pupped..
they didnt get as big as they usually do..but i think part of that was i didnt water them as well as
i should have.. and..im pretty sure i underfertilized them too..
not making that mistake this yr.. im learning..:)
i grow mine in full sun.. i make my own compost.. so alot of compost goes into the gardens ..
im sure they appreciate that..
dont give up on trying them.. they are spectacular when they get huge !!!
good luck to ya...

i have to over winter them as well, to cold here to leave them out.. However saying that my overwintering would be different from yours.. I moved from canada last july so i know what over wintering is like in a cooler climate, dont miss that lol...i had my ears in a home made greenhouse last winter made from vapor barrier and pvc pipes, lost 6 ears of different types when i forgot to turn the heater on, i almost cried.. I could just have put them in the garage, and i think they would have been fine... I wanted to get them this year, but we'll be moving before spring and i wanted to just wait till were settled in the new place before i order them.. i never fertilize my plants i know, i know, i should, but i just give them miracle grow and they always seem fine.. My hubby is very excited to grow these next year, some days i think even more then i am lol...
jen

hows everyones thai giants doing so far??
i think i might get some HUGE plants this yr..
YEA !!! :)
im sure its a combination of alot of factors.. but one i can have some
control of.. fertilizing..
i really think i keep my tropicals.. EE.. thai giants on a diet.. a low cal diet...
LOL what the *(&(^)*()&*(# is wrong with me.. LOL
i was chatting with a friend down in MS ,shes a aroid nut..like us.. :)
back and forth emails..and she emailed me back..
FEED THOSE HUNGRY BABIES !!!!
so.. im doing so.. and the new leaves last 10+ days.. are much bigger.. and
the plant stems are growing in girth..etc..
so..i'll see if i get some monsters by sept..
sure hope so..
how are u all doing????

Soooooo...........what is the food of choice????

lol.. :) im using same fertilizer..just not diluting it down as i have..
i use my own compost tea (rabbit manure,alfalfa meal),with kelp powder,
and 20:20:20 with minor elements.. i use 1/2 full 5 gal bucket.. add the fertilizer
5 tsp to 5 gal..and fill with water what is left from the manure tea...
im so bad.. LOL
?? what are u using as food??
heres hoping i end up with some giant EE this yr !!!! :)

Just MG, tho I really need to get some urea. That makes GINORMOUS leaves.

1 T. urea per gal. of water, and watch 'em grow.

You need to be careful with urea. It's very high in nitrogen and can produce rapid but very weak growth.

not a problem since I wasn't *that* diligent. LOL

anna.. when u use urea..do u make your own fertilizer mix..
do you have a recipe you follow?
ive thought of trying mixing my own..but always figured id miss something
that the premixed ones have all there..
our EE certainly do respond to "higher" levels of N..

I just talked nice to the salesman that sold the Spousal Unit all his fertilizer and chemicals and he gave me 10 pounds of urea. Didn't kill him to do that, since we usually dropped about 30 grand on crop expenses. LOL

My Thailand Giant has a pup!!!! woohoo!!!

:) way to go juliep!!! :)
i never knew they pupped/sent out side shoots..until last yr.. and a good
discussion came of it.. from many very experienced growers..yea!!
keep us posted on size of the mother plant.. last yr..almost all my EE "pupped"
but never got really that big.. good sized..but not GIANTS..im use to..
i attribute some..maybe alot to my not fertilizing them as well as i should..
not making that mistake this yr..
i want MONSTERS !!! :) LOL
and so far..they are on their way.. :)
one thing juliep.. you will end up with tons of plants next yr..
i dont remember how many EE (of all kinds,alocasia,colocasia,xanthosomas) i had
last yr..but i would be safe to say..not 30.. this yr.. i have over 140.. LOL
ive been eying the property next to me.. wish it would go up for sale.. :)
good luck to you juliep !!!

Tropicalnut777, I grow all different EEs. The Thailand Giant I dig up every year. I have only had it 2 yrs. I have Pink Chinas, I have black Pearl, Teacups, I have regular EEs and they stay in the ground. Our winter gets very cold but I mulch 8 inches and they come back. My bananas and cannas do too!!! I dont feed them diligently. I guess I should. Happy Gardening!!

Tropicalnutt777, I also have uprights that are 6ft tall in pots, black stemed and others!!!!

juliep..arent they fun!! love these tropicals..
i just started growing amorphophallus' now..
they are great..

my thais are doing ok..i dont think theyre going to be huge this yr..sigh..again..tons of
pups.. again..LOL
one EE that is getting giant are my jacks giants.. one of my bigger plants last unfolded
leaves was 46in long.. and we still have all of august..and sept.. YEA !!!
my xanthos are doing good too.. and lari anns robodoras are doing good too..
?? wonder why my thai giants are ..??
same soil, same sun,same fertilizing... weve had a pretty windy summer.. i dont know
if the wind has bothered them.?? or im just thinking to much on this..LOL

Would these grow in an 18 gallon big tub well? I have always wanted something like this that has big beautiful leaves. I have an indoor atrium or my mothers greenhouse it could be brought into for the winter. Where can they be found to start with?

i think thats plenty big a pot.. use good compost,peat/or coir.. and perlite to lighten the mix
and help with good drainage..
u should try thai giant..they are mor spread out..(typical colocasia habit..unlike alocasia which are more
upright)..
several good sources.. i think brians botanicals is WONDERFUL ..ebay has some good sources..
and if they are given good soil,plenty of watering,and warmth..they grow fast...:)
good luck to ya..
let us know how they do for you...

Thought I'd post a pic of my Thai Giant. It was my first year growing it. I'm not sure how the heck I'm going to store it for the winter. The largest leaves measure 5' long by 4' 9" wide. It's a beast.

Donna

dj.. looks great !!! thai giants dont like to go dry overwintering.. unless you have a greenhouse
once leaves take frost and wilt..dig up..cut back leaves.. store in barely moist peat or i use shredded
leaves from fall..:) keep in cool room..mine overwintered great..around 50F so unless you have a
warm big spot to keep it.. try to get it to go semi dormant for winter..
again..great plant!! way to go !!!!!

well everything is overwintering ok..so far.. not even mites..
i shouldnt say that out loud..LOL..:)
im anxious to get going again.. its a ways off for me here of course..
:( thinking of expanding one of my big raised beds.. its what we do up
here in the north..dream what many of u in the south enjoy all yr long..

Donna thats a Thai giant ,Ive got several along with 10 other varities of colocasia and alocasia,but my thais dont get that big,they say there are different strains you must have the jolly green giant LOL Hoitider

alls good on the western front here..
my EE's are doing great this winter.. last yr..i had a pretty good
infestation of spinder mites.. this yr..nothin..??? go figure..
the EE's plant bases are firm..lookin good..
its still real early here..
ive been kicking the idea around ??? what do u all think???
i usually pot up everything..get the roots started..then transplant out into
the gardens ..when last frost is over.. usually around early june..
i was thinking of just planting out ..skipping the potting up..
what do ya all think???? thanks...

Being in zone 5 I would not rush into it.There slow to start any way.I use to rush putting my caladiums out early till I lost them and iam in zone 8
now I wait till mothers day,Half of my thais are overwintering in the ground as well as many othe colocasia but I keep half in reserve potted up in my sun room garage and downstairs sunroom.Will see which gets the fastest start to bloom

That's a bit ambitious, if you normally put them out in June, still 3 months off. I had to defrost my freezer this morning, couldn't imagine my Xanthosomas being happy inside that, LOL.