Who's got the biggest?

My father once had a contest with a friend to see who could grow the largest elephant ear. I father lost to a massive 4 foot leaf that his friend had grown that was on a 8 foot tall Colocasia. I was wondering who on the list can grow the largest elephant ear colocasia or Alocasia. I would also like to see who could grow the largest Colocasia Black Magic? I will send the winners a odd plant that is if they can beat me!

Will need a ruler in the pic to make sure no one cheats by using little people LOL . I will set a date when the contest is over should be in Sept.

Here is my black magic so far right around 5 feet tall looks to be a little over 2 foot long leaf.

how fun! i'm so in..............i'll have pics in the morning. i might not win, but i love a healthy competition. :o))

i don't have a black magic but i do have elephant ears. this is a picture from the front. the pool enclosure to the left is 8 ft.

and this is a close up of the one of the leaves about 4ft 4in.

My black magic is puny in comparison.

I was thinking of entering until I saw candela's...wow, that's huge! What's your secret? How about a prize for the smallest? lol

it gets alot of shade under the coral tree and it might have something to do with it being on top of the septic tank. i only fertilize when i do all the palms 4 times a year.

i didn't mean to scare anyone off come on show us your ears.
i am not sure what kind this one.
cass

Those are great.

I will go in on the Colocasia Black Magic, but I don't have a chance with my others against candela's.

Wow!! Might be Portadora?

Your big one in the first few pics is Xanthosoma Sagittfolia Sorry but not in the contest only Alocasia and Colocasias. Manly because in Florida they are huge and we really could not compete.
The last one is Alocasia plumbea so far the largest leaf shown.

Man, I saw a huge clump of C. "black magic" growing in a median in Savannah Ga. last summer, the pics didnt turn out to well though. They were at least 6 foot tall and had leaves comparable to yours brian. I have a pretty huge A. x portora Ill try to get a pic of it in the next few days.
Michael

this is what i have so far.....

black magic at 25"

this is my favorite leaf in the yard. the marbling is beautiful.

colocasia at 3'

i don't know what this is called. an alocasia with an upright leaf.

measuring in at 3'

i'm not sure, but this one looks similar to the one that wasn't part of the contest. could you tell me what it is if it's different.

44"

I think we should have two different categories.
1. >Zone 7b, where EE are hardy and
2. < Zone 7a, where EE aren't hardy (and no heated GH cheating!).

Otherwise, those in OH don't stand a chance!
What do you think?
ROX

I think you may have a point. I enjoy looking at the Xanthosomas but I doubt anyone up north can compete with them. As for alocasia and Colocasia it maybe possible to compete with them for northeners but a bit harder when you have more months of warm weather.

As for the last two pics the upright is Alocasia macrorrhiza and below that is Xanthosoma Sagittifolia

This was taken last evening, it is over 6 ft tall with 3 1/2 ft leaves. It is the one that bloomed for me last year. May I be so lucky this year. John

OH NO I just got slapped! I put my DW, of 43 years on a post without her permission. WoW that hurt!!!!

Is there a difference between Black Magic and Black Runner? I found this Black Magic yesterday in the grocery store for $9

It had lots of plants in the pot, and lots of 'runners'. How do I use the runners to start another plant?

This looks like black runner to me. It usually will not get as large and has ruffles around the edge of the leaves it also produces runners.

I guess I deserved the slap, heck, I didnt even follow the rules. I tryed to take pics of mine today with the help of my son. This one measured 7 ft tall 3'4" x 2'5" leaves. It was late this afternoon and it droops some, it is even taller in the mornings. John

Those are amazing John! You may just be the winner. Do you bring them inside for the winter? What do you feed them?

Linda, I just snip that runner off.....you can see where the roots are starting to form. And pot it up....very easy!

Nice big ears there John! And your DW is beautiful.....you've certainly made a beautiful home.

Nice thread Brian....caught my eye! LOL

carrjohn,
Both your plant and your wife are beautiful, so tell her no harm done!

I'm saddened Floridians won't get a fair shake in this competition, we KNOW we will lose in the northern daffodil contest....Let my people go... :D

Brian, very fun thread...my plants have taken a toll from the high heat, so I won't bother to enter this time. I think my caladiums are larger than any of my alocasia and colocasias this year!

ROTFLOL Mary! We do get to leave our daffs in the ground year round but once they hit that maximum size, that's pretty much it for them. LOL

You all have gorgeous ears. Mine are not near as big but they are still my babies. These are in what I call my big tree garden. I only have two there and several in pots. The pots are not near as big.

Picture of the whole plant.

This colocasia will be apart of my bogg if I ever get it done.

And this is my pretty little philodendron are that i havent put in the ground yet either. Next year I will plant all of these around and in the new pond. (under construction right now). Oh my goodness look at that Sparkey made the picture. He is one of my 4 Min Pins.

Fly-Girl, I tried an experiment last year, and left one large ear in the ground and overwintered the other one packed in shredded paper in my cellar. I fertilized with a compost of shredded oak leaves and horse manure. The one kept in the cellar by far is doing better. John

If I stop killing all of mine I will join in. I might go plant one quick in the ground.

WOW Linda, I would buy that one in a heartbeat. What a deal.

John, did you get slapped for that last pic too? LOL. Too funny. Your EEs are fantastic!

I thought so too, started to buy more than one but then asked myself "and where do you think you're going to plant it??"

John, whatever you are feeding them you should put it in a bottle and sell it. Next year John, I'm going to get me some horse manure. Right now I use cow and mine are about 2' long, that's it. Yours are amazing! Good job!

Next year I hope to give you some fierce competition..... heehee

fly_girl.......I hear ya.....here in Florida we don't even have soil, only sand. So although we have the weather to grow tropicals, unless you really enhance your plantings, you hope things will grow as good as can be expected in sand. My small Sarian, has 24" leaves, but that's the largest I have. Unfortunately, there aren't many people in Orlando that have farms or farm animals, so manure is a rare commodity.

carrjohn, you tell DW she is a cute as she can be. we're glad you posted the pic.

I failed to water yesterday morning, as a result I lost two large leaves, I took this pic this morning with the two leaves removed. The top rail on my porch is 7ft6in tall. The leaves measure 3ft7in x 2ft 6in. John

Some great photos I am waiting to take some nice photos of mine as they mature. Unfortunatly I have to work with the flowers in my breeding so I dont cut them off. It may slow them down a bit but its worth it in the long run for me.