{"id":3871,"date":"2013-05-15T12:00:13","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T16:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=3871"},"modified":"2012-10-03T17:48:55","modified_gmt":"2012-10-03T21:48:55","slug":"bikini-tini-colocasia-creates-movement-in-the-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2013\/05\/15\/bikini-tini-colocasia-creates-movement-in-the-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Bikini-tini&#8217; Colocasia Creates Movement in The Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_3872\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Colocasia-6.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3872\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3872\" title=\"Colocasia (6)\" src=\"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Colocasia-6-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Colocasia-6-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Colocasia-6-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3872\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cupped Leaves of Bikini-Tini Colocasia<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Colocasia (<em>Colocasia esculenta<\/em>), aka taro, ape plant, and elephant ear, among other names,\u00a0is marginally hardy in the Southern Appalachian region (USDA hardiness zones 6 and 7). The\u00a02011 colocasia introduction &#8216;Bikini-tini&#8217; has garnered high praise from neighbors and friends\u00a0visiting\u00a0my garden\u00a0in the\u00a0summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bikini-tini is a strong stemmed thick-leaved plant that grows 4 to 5 feet in height. Its bluish-gray leaves cup upward, supported by dark purple petioles and prominent veins beneath.\u00a0Its cupped leaves capture and\u00a0pour out\u00a0rainwater, creating motion in\u00a0the garden.<\/p>\n<p>Elephant ears are easy to grow. Your garden or container soil\u00a0should be well drained and compost rich. Soil pH should range between 5.6\u00a0and 7.0. Site in direct sunlight, and keep the soil moderately moist. Elephant ears are heavy feeders and thrive on a\u00a0steady diet\u00a0of water plus fertilizer. Use a water soluble product such as Miracle-Gro\u00ae, Jack\u2019s Classic\u00ae, or Daniels\u00ae every 2-3 weeks from mid-May (planting time) to late August at\u00a0the one-half strength rate. An alternative is to feed once with an organic slow release fertilizer in early spring.<\/p>\n<p>Disease and pest problems are rare when plant(s) are properly sited and cared for. Potential crown or stem rot problems are best avoided by growing in a well drained soil (media) and by not overwatering.<\/p>\n<p>Bikini-tini is rated winter hardy to USDA zone 6 with some protection. Protect the crown over the winter with 2-3 inches of a loose leafy mulch such as straw or oak leaves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colocasia (Colocasia esculenta), aka taro, ape plant, and elephant ear, among other names,\u00a0is marginally hardy in the Southern Appalachian region (USDA hardiness zones 6 and 7). The\u00a02011 colocasia introduction &#8216;Bikini-tini&#8217; has garnered high praise from neighbors and friends\u00a0visiting\u00a0my garden\u00a0in the\u00a0summer.\u00a0 Bikini-tini is a strong stemmed thick-leaved plant that grows 4 to 5 feet in height. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,759,665,877,774,551,625,202,777,630,646,113,642],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3871"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3896,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871\/revisions\/3896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}