When starting a tropical garden this cultivar should be one of your first purchases. Large leaves, hardy, and fast-growing, what more could you want? If grown in optimum conditions this cultivar can reach its ultimate height of 1.5m in one year (Please note; Colocasia are herbaceous so will loose their leaves over winter). One of the hardiest species of Colocasia tolerating temperatures down to at least -5c, and knowingly in some areas down to -10c.
We advise when young, a plug plant or a potted 9cm to pot into a 14cm before planting out into its final space in the garden. Bring into a frost free environment for the first winter after purchasing as growth will be young and more prone to frost damage.
In the summer Colocasia love food and water, feed every other week with a general multipurpose feed with a high nitrogen content (That's a high N on the NPK on the back of the bottle). When growing in pots place the pot in a saucer of water and keep this well filled, this will encourage lots of new and hopefully bigger leaves. Remember if growing in the ground to provide lots of water too!
Colocasia 'Pink China' can be grown in full sun or half shade, the ground or in a container. When planted in a container ideally put somewhere frost-free or sheltered over winter and fleece the pot. When planted in pots, the corm is essentially above ground and therefore much more susceptible to frost, so remember to move and wrap. Do not water over winter, wait until new shoots begin to emerge around late Spring. (Watering over winter will cause the corm to rot).
When planted in the ground wait until the first frost and then cut the leaves to the ground, lay these leaves over the plant to add additional protection from frost and excessive moisture in winter. New shoots will normally begin to re-emerge around late April if planted in the ground.
Can you grow Colocasia as houseplants? Short answer... No. and why? They need bright conditions to grow really well and what you find is they produce alot of leggy and weak shoots, and will loose their leaves in winter. If you are looking for large leaves for indoors why not try Alocasia. They are evergreen, so will keep their leaves throughout the year.
Colocasia esculenta 'Pink China'
- All of our online website plants come with a 30-day guarantee from the date of purchase. If your plant dies within the 30 days we will ask a few questions about what care you have provided for the plant as well as asking for photos of the plant. If there is nothing drastically wrong with what you have done we will get another sent out to you or a credit note!
