Plan to plant Taro plant for the first time

[pimen]

I know this plant for a long time
In my place, we call this "Talas/Tales",
but recently Im fallin in love with how beauty "Black magic Taro" is, cos several days ago I saw this amazing plant directly in front of my eyes

1. Is there any advice or special caresheet of this plant ?
2.Nased on my research on the internet, they grow best in full shade ? is that less than 3 hours direct sunlight ?
3.are they the real deal of nutrient lover?
so I must feed as much as possible to my fish and turtle ?
and the most important question is....
4.They said Taro is poisonous plant cos has calcium oxalate something.... but some peoplee said that stuff only present in leaf and steams.. Is that true ?
lets say the toxic are all over the parts...
so I am thinking when plant this in bog filter for along time, the ROOTS part will always wet and contact and be a part for the whole water pond system,
as long as the plant grow, the old decaying roots will be unavoidable while the new roots shoot coming
is that root calcium oxalate contaminated can hurt and disturb the water chemistry and organism in the pond ?, some said if consume too much veg that has calcium oxalate can form a kidney stone.., is this condition can hurt my turtle and fish too ????

 

[DrCase]

I grow a few bare root taro on the edge of my pond and in my water fall .
I never noticed any problems.

 

[sissy]

I grow taro but not in my pond .I used to but just stopped because the roots were very aggressive and took over .I had the black magic and still do but in my garden

 

[Gemma]

I love Taro, I grow it in my pond bare root and I also grow it in pots, mine are in full sun and as long as I keep them moist they do fine.
The one in my pond I don't do anything to, the one in pots I do fertilize
Didn't know they were poisonous
Last year I tried winterizing Taro for the first time , I'm so glad it was so easy!

 

[brokensword]

I've had Black Taro for a few years now; I overwinter under lights in my basement where it survives if not thrives. When I put it in my bog two summers ago, it grew to 7' and had leaves 2' in length. I didn't do that again as it took over the whole bog! Now, it stays smaller in it's own water-filled pot outside the pond.

 

[Gemma]

I've had Black Taro for a few years now; I overwinter under lights in my basement where it survives if not thrives. When I put it in my bog two summers ago, it grew to 7' and had leaves 2' in length. I didn't do that again as it took over the whole bog! Now, it stays smaller in it's own water-filled pot outside the pond.

I only saved mine once so it isn't very large at all. I cut, let dry and store in the basement in a box with wood shavings, in February I bring it (them) out, put it in a glass vase with pebbles and water and within a few days they begin to grow and not too long after that the first leaves emerges...when it has leaves I start feeding Miracle Grow ...it is very attractive sitting on the kitchen table, and grows very good (my kitchen has lots of natural light) I bet I could grow it there as an indoor plant and it would do fine

 

[sissy]

I have lots of black taro and green and they just stay in the ground here and I throw more mulch on them and a old throw rug .Even did that in NJ and they are still living .My neighbor up there told me this summer they were over 15 feet tall .She loves it because they were on the edge of her property and she parks her car there to shade it .She said it is great no bird poop and no sap on her car .

 

[Gemma]

I have lots of black taro and green and they just stay in the ground here and I throw more mulch on them and a old throw rug .Even did that in NJ and they are still living .My neighbor up there told me this summer they were over 15 feet tall .She loves it because they were on the edge of her property and she parks her car there to shade it .She said it is great no bird poop and no sap on her car .

I doubt the mulch would be enough to save them here,
I don't mind pulling them, gives me a reason to change the garden around instead of having things growing in the same place
What type of Taro is your green one? I think the one I'm looking for is Imperial

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

I doubt the mulch would be enough to save them here,
I don't mind pulling them, gives me a reason to change the garden around instead of having things growing in the same place
What type of Taro is your green one? I think the one I'm looking for is Imperial

If you are afraid of losing your elephant ears, Taro, or even cladiums.....dig them up, wash all the dirt, trim the roots back leaving about one inch, let them dry out in the sun or blot all the moisture off. Then go to Lowe's or Home Depot and get one of those large bricks of dry peat moss, then lay about one inch on the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket, put whatever bulbs on top of that then add another layer of peat, take a piece of printer paper with a permanent sharpie write what is underneath. Keep doing it until the bucket is full then start another. When I am finished I put them under my house, or you could put them anywhere they won't freeze..... Been doing this for years, but I have noticed that after about three years they turn back into what they were originally a green plant, especially cladiums

 

[sissy]

my brother has some that I mailed to him 3 years ago and they over winter for him .He puts 2 bags of mulch but this year since they got so many babies 5 bags of mulch and bigger piece of carpet and then 3 of those really heavy black plastic garbage bags .He said he is amazed him self when he finally pulls everything off that he sees them sprouting up .He lives near the ford plant there since he works for ford

 

[teeemkay]

I tried teacup Taro in the pond this year and it grew like crazy. The plant was almost 3 feet tall by the end of the growing season. I agree that the roots grow aggressively--they pushed out of the basket and took over that corner of my pond. It was a beautiful plant, though, and provided a good amount of shade for the pond by mid-summer onward.

 

[sissy]

I have the mini ones also and the bigger ones .But the more sun they get the less black they seem to get .Also my brother lives in Flatrock Michigan Teemkay did you get the flower buds .I got lots of them and tried to find out if they carry a seed of some sorts

 

[teeemkay]

Nope, didn't get any of the flower buds. Maybe next time!

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

Nope, didn't get any of the flower buds. Maybe next time!

I have grown elephant ears for years and I always have flowers but I have never had any seeds...... Wondering if we don't have the right creatures to pollinate them...... It's the same with Cannas lots of seed pods but no seeds

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I have grown elephant ears for years and I always have flowers but I have never had any seeds...... Wondering if we don't have the right creatures to pollinate them...... It's the same with Cannas lots of seed pods but no seeds

http://www.hardytropicals.org/blog/entry/harvesting_seeds_from_colocasia_gigantea

Also Cannas do produce seeds. They are available on-line.

Of you are not getting seeds from your plants then the pollinator is absent. Some plants require only certain species of insects for pollination. If the plant is too far North of its natural range these pollinators may not be around.