[Aroid-l] Taro

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Dear Members,

 

some months ago (in Feb 2005) i bought some tubers of a „black Taro“ on ebay.de. The seller said that this one is a giant species….Here is a link with a photo of an adult plant from the seller:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19792&item=4380743508&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

 

1. Can anyone tell what species it is? I thought that it could be a cultivar or variety of  Colocasia esculenta.
2. The tuber sprouted well. It has produced two shoots out of one rhizome. The only thing I wonder is that each shoot only holds three leaves at once. When the fourth leave is developing the oldest one dies off. Is this a sign of lack of fertilizer. When planting the rhizome I added Osmocote (15-11-11) + trace elements into the substrate. Two months ago I transplanted it into a huge pot (old pot was far too small) adding Osmocote again. Should I fertilize it again?

 

Thanks a lot for your help.

Best

 

Frank