Can Taro be winterized?

[Gemma]

Does anyone know if Taro can survive the winter in dormant state?
I usually pull and winterize Cannas, but I'm looking at my Taro and I'm thinking it would be so awesome if I could save them too! Keeping it in water it's not an opption, if I'm to save it, it's got to be in a dormant state

 

[sissy]

You can dig up the bulb or potato from it .I have had mine for years now and in the winter I put a heavy duty plastic bag around the bottom of it and mulch on top of that ,but my winters do not get bad .You can dig them up and treat them just like cannas .Just keep them a little moist at first until they adjust .I kept mine in NJ in pots in my basement .I put the bulbs in damp newspaper after I dug them up and cleaned them good .When the newspaper dried out I just left them alone in a cool dark place

 

[Tula]

I have a couple that come back every year, and they're in the ground!! I used to pull those I had in containers and over winter them in vermiculite, in paper bags, in my crawl space.

 

[moby]

Tula...'crawl space' please explain to an over the pond person! Thanks!

 

[Gemma]

You can dig up the bulb or potato from it .I have had mine for years now and in the winter I put a heavy duty plastic bag around the bottom of it and mulch on top of that ,but my winters do not get bad .You can dig them up and treat them just like cannas .Just keep them a little moist at first until they adjust .I kept mine in NJ in pots in my basement .I put the bulbs in damp newspaper after I dug them up and cleaned them good .When the newspaper dried out I just left them alone in a cool dark place

I put my Canna in a box full of pine shavings (chips) would this work for Taro?

 

[sissy]

yep anything that will preserve the bulb .When they have been growing for years they will survive if near a warm wall on a house and have a lot of mulch around the base to keep the soil from freezing down to the bulb .Crawl space is a house that has no basement just a dirt area under a house .I am surprised in Ohio you would even have a crawl space

I put my Canna in a box full of pine shavings (chips) would this work for Taro?

 

[bettasngoldfish]

My house has a crawl space and I hate it especially when we have to get in there for something (think spiders, spider webs, and other critters if you will) luckily we haven't had to get under there very often.

On another note one of my cats recently got stuck in the crawl space (hubby was doing some work from inside the house and had the door to the crawl space open and when he was done closed it back up and of course cats will be cats ) she was under there for a few days before we realized it (I'm embarrassed to say that but it's true) I heard a cat meowing and I thought it was coming from outside. I looked all around the front and back yard (thinking it was a neighbor cat as mine don't go outside) and of course checked inside the house to make sure I had all three cats and that's when I realized momma was missing. Poor momma was scared and hungry when we got her out of there (had cob webs stuck in her whiskers) but she was so glad to see us she started purring immediately when my husband reached down and pulled her out.

Moral to the story is when you have cats you have to watch them all the time lol

I honestly wish my house was on a slab instead of the crawl space so that I could have larger aquariums. Not a good idea to have a 125 gallon fish tank without being on a slab or you could find it falling through the floor.

 

[morewater]

As with any bulb or tuber, ensure that it has completely air-dried prior to wrapping it in newspaper or whatever medium you're going to use. Do it with dahlias ever year.

Storing it damp will only encourage rot.

 

[sissy]

slabs transfer cold and add to moisture problems .My house has a basement with double set of steel trusses .No bounce in my floor .I only added moisture to get rid of roots on the bulbs .I was told to keep to store them with damp newspaper so .I could rub them clean .It was hard to get the dirt off them and that made it easier .Here i just leave them in the ground .The bulbs I took out in NJ were as big as a bushel basket .They were over 20 years old .They sure had lots of babies also .

 

[Gemma]

So should I keep them semi-moist or semi-dry?

 

[sissy]

dry to store them .Mine were huge and hard to clean

 

[DrCase]

I put some of the baby's taro in a tub and let them winter on my back porch till spring .
Most of the ones I leave in the ground come back each spring

 

[addy1]

I was told years ago, to dry them in the sun, then store in sawdust, newspaper, in a box in a cool dark place.

From the net:

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/elephant-ear/storing-elephant-ear-bulbs.htm

The first step for storing elephant ear bulbs is to dig them out of the soil. It is very important to the success of saving elephant ears for the winter that you dig the elephant ear bulbs out of the ground undamaged. Any damage to the elephant ear bulb may result in the bulb rotting over the winter. In order to keep the tuber undamaged, it is a good idea to start digging about a foot away from the base of the plant and gently lifting the plant and bulb.

The next step for saving elephant ears, is to clean the elephant ear bulbs. They can be gently rinsed, but do not scrub them. It is okay if some dirt is still on the bulb. You can also cut off any remaining foilage at this time.

After you clean the elephant ear bulbs, they must be dried. Keep elephant ear bulbs in a warm (but not hot) dark place for about a week. Make sure that the area has good air circulation so that the bulbs dry properly.

After this, keep elephant ear bulbs wrapped in paper and in a cool dry place. While you are storing elephant ear bulbs, check on them every few weeks to make sure that there are no pests or rot. If you find pests, treat the bulbs with an insecticide. If you find rot, discard the damaged elephant ear bulb so that the rot does not spread to the other bulbs.

 

[morewater]

You let them "dry" out naturally so that you can shake the dirt off of them, then store them.

 

[addy1]

You let them "dry" out naturally so that you can shake the dirt off of them, then store them.

Mine are sitting outside on a table, letting them air dry, but right now raining so not helping. lol
I did this years ago, stuck they back in the pond then we had a freeze in May and they died. So this is the first time I have planted them in years. A friend sent me 4 I stuck them in the bog, next thing you know we have a whole bunch all sizes.