planting taros soiless ???

[tinkster]

I am going to take the advice here and ignore the lady on ebay and put my black eears in the pond. Do yall find they do better in a pot with gravel or do they need soil to do their best?   If you use soil what type of pots etc to keep it from leaching into pond. 

Thanks

tinkster

[Jonna]

These are taro in the skippy without any soil, they are just holding on to the grate that keeps the media down.  I weighted them down at first and then they grabbed on.  I also stuck one in the waterfall and it has grown a lot and the roots now just run along the liner under the rocks.  I think they may get larger in dirt as long as they have a lot of water but they get pretty darn big just in water.  These are actually the pups of the original taro.  I took the skippy apart last summer and had to almost rip the taro up to get it out.  I put the really large ones in the ground and only put the smaller ones back in the skippy, so this is one years growth.  The ones in the ground are also doing well but they seem to be spending more of their energy spreading out than growing tall, so they aren't really bigger in height or leaf size than the ones in the skippy.



Another pic from the back

[perplexed ponder]

My taro in pots never got THAT big!! I'm going to try that this year!!

[Teresa]

Taro are pretty sturdy and will grow whereever you put them.  Just make sure the plants are growing and have leaves before you submerge the bulb - otherwise, you'll have a rotten mess.

[PondmaninAL]

I put wild taro in my plant filter when I first set it up here. When I cleaned it out last year, I had huge plants that nearly took over the whole filter. Now I have my Black Magic in there and my water canna. Both are doing well.

Happy ponding,
Scott

[JohnInFlorida]

Go for it Tink, mine are planted in the gravel of the bog, no soil and they're doing fine.\

Keep Smilin'
John 

[SheilaJ]

I had 'black runner' a few years ago and it definitely preferred the pond. I think it liked the extra water, plus the pond is somewhat shielded from the wind by the south wall of the house.

[tootsie]

E-gads, now I know what happened! I planted a few HUGE tarro bulbs in pond water and clay! Checked every few days and NUTTIN Waited one week, NUTTIN Ok, another week, could not stand it, shook out pot, and there they were, PUUUUUUUUUU, rotted Now I know just what to do I am off to plant more tarro, THE RIGHT WAY

[tranquility]

Just to clarify something....Colocasia taro is fine to plant in water...but, if they are Alocasia or Xanthoma (which is what the EEs are they you buy from the store) they do not do good at all or just flat out rot....basically most Colocasia form by runners-Black magic is an exception where it forms in colonies or clumps....they do have a black magic runner now though....some of the more common colo. are black magic, violet stem, Imperial, black stem, green ruffles,and chicago harliquin.....
Lawanna

[Joyce]

Another thing, not all Taro are pond plants.
Depending on the botanical name of whichever taro you have,
you may or may not have a pond plant.
This is the problem with 'Common Names'.

Colocasias generally like a lot of water.

Alocasias can take a lot of moisture (damp to wet soil), but some species may rot if submerged.

Xanthosoma's are another type of Elephant Ear or Taro,
and they can be finicky about water too...possibly rotting with too much water.

Anyway, maybe someone else will clarify?
I think Marilyn and Tammie know exactly which ones are water sensitive.

HAH! See???!! I knew someone would know...Thanks Lawanna!