Colocasia esculenta 'Fontanesii' syn. Colocasia esculenta 'Black Stem'
Elephant Ear 'Fontanesii'
This attractive, black-stemmed elephant’s ear looks great in containers, beds, and borders. Plant black stem elephant’s ears tubers when soil is consistently around 70ºF. Separate offsets in spring or summer. It is relatively easy to grow in the UK during the summer months. During the winter, it is best potted up and kept indoors under glass, keeing it dry and frost-free. Stop watering from mid-October through to Spring to ensure the tubers don't rot
Contributed by @EmmaStubbs
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Partial shade
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Frequent watering
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A little frost hardy: 32F (0°C)
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Moist and rich
Common name
Elephant Ear 'Fontanesii'
Latin name
Colocasia esculenta 'Fontanesii' syn. Colocasia esculenta 'Black Stem'
type
Herbaceous Perennials
family
Araceae
ph
5.5 - 7.0 Acid - Neutral
Plant & bloom calendar
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Best time to plant
full grown dimensions
Colocasia esculenta 'Fontanesii' syn. Colocasia esculenta 'Black Stem'
This attractive, black-stemmed elephant’s ear looks great in containers, beds, and borders. Plant black stem elephant’s ears tubers when soil is consistently around 70ºF. Separate offsets in spring or summer. It is relatively easy to grow in the UK during the summer months. During the winter, it is best potted up and kept indoors under glass, keeing it dry and frost-free. Stop watering from mid-October through to Spring to ensure the tubers don't rot
Planting
From Early Spring TO Early Spring
Elephant ears should be planted slightly deeper than they grow as they will push up. During the growing season, Colocasia will continually produce new leaves as the older leaves continually die off.
Propogation by seed
From Early Spring TO Early Spring
Colocasia can be propagated by seed or division. If sowing seed, germination should take place within 21 days.
Propogation by division
From Late Autumn TO Late Autumn
If propagating by division, you can divide the larger tubers or separate the new plantlets that form at the rhizome tips.