How to overwinter Alocasia & Colocasia plants

You would be hard pressed to find a leaf that can give your garden a taste of the tropics as easily as Colocasia/Alocasia plants. There are hundreds of fantantastically varied cultivars and species available, a plant to suit every taste.

Getting your Colocasia and Alocasia plants through winter is a doddle of you follow a few key steps.

During winter your plants will enter a dormant or semi-dormant state. At this stage they don’t require water for new growth so you can keep them very dry. How dry you keep your Colocasia and Alocasia plants in winter will depend on how you treat them.

The first, and simplest option is to bring your potted Colocasia/Alocasia plants indoors to a warmer spot such as a conservatory or heated greenhouse. Treated this way your plants will stop growing and may even shed an old leaf or two. Watering is recommended only if the plant is severely wilting, and even in this event you must water very cautiously. Overwatering a semi dormant plant in a warm spot os the perfect recipe for rot. Nurse your plant through winter this way and come Spring you will have a head start. As they days get longer and the weather warms you can gradually start watering your plant more to encourage new growth. When your Colocasia/Alocasia plant really starts growing it is probably a good idea to pot it up and your ready for another summer of jungly leaves.

The second option is to leave your Colocasia/Alocsia plant in its pot as before, but this time cut off all the leaves and leaf stems. This method forces your Colocasia/Alocasia into full dormancy as an overwintering corm. Unlike before, for this method you will need to keep the soil 100% dry and below 10 degrees celsius (51 degrees farenheit) but no cooler than 5 degrees celsius (41 degrees farenheit). The great thing about this method of winter care is that it is extremely space efficient. Each pot can be stacked on top of another to take up as little room as possible. As before, when the growing conditions are right in Spring you can gradually begin watering to encourage new growth.

The final method to overwinter your Colocasia/Alocasia plants is to completely lift the underground corms. The corm is the underground starchy part of the plant that stores energy to survive difficult conditions, similar to a bulb. Begin this winter care process by cutting off all growth and separating the roots and corm from the soil. Rinse off any dirt and leave the corms out somewhere warm to completely dry for a week or two. This process will force your Colocasia/Alocasia corms into dormancy for winter. Store them in trays of grit, paper bags or wrapped in newspaper. The trick is to store them somewhere dark and cool throughout the winter months. In spring, just plant them into soil again and they will begin growing.