When was the giant strain from Thailand discovered?

Colocasia gigantea The giant strain from Thailand was discovered in 2003 by former Plant Delights Research Director, Dr. Petra Schmidt. Petra is an aroid expert that PDN owner Tony Avent sent to Southeast Asia on a plant collecting expedition (check out a list of PDN plant expeditions here).

Petra toured Laos and Thailand and kept her eyes peeled for something new and amazing…and boy did she ever hit the mark! While she was in Kanchanaburi province, a local guide took her to a huge specimen of Colocasia gigantea growing in a national park. As you can see in the picture, the plant was bigger than the minivan Petra was traveling in!

Petra collected seeds from the plant and the seedlings became the base of the plant we have on the market today. The seedlings are slightly different, but they are all much larger than average. That’s why we call it ThaiGiant Strain instead of giving it some cultivar name…the plants are not clones.

How big will it grow?

Colocasia gigantea The giant strain from Thailand is marginally hardy in our Raleigh, NC garden. It goes dormant at the first sign of cold weather in the fall and remains dormant until the following summer. The plant doesn’t wake up until it’s very, very hot…which is usually July for us. It grows quite fast and at the end of September it approaches its maximum size in our garden. Ours tops out at about 6′ tall, but the leaves are gigantic and can easily be 3′ wide and 4.5′ long. Our short warm season greatly limits its final size. This plant will do much better in the semi-tropical states of the US, where it feels more like its homeland, Thailand.

In its natural home, the parent of our seed variety grew to over 9 feet tall…truly monstrous!

How do we take care of the giants of Thailand?

Colocasia gigantea Thailand Giant Strain is a hardy zone 8 plant. Raleigh is in zone 7b and therefore we need to take steps to protect our plant during the winter. The following list is a highlight of our efforts:

  1. We plant our Giant of Thailand in a location that remains dry in winter. A damp location will promote winter rot.
  2. In late summer or fall we dig up the plant and re-plant it deeper. We have recently learned that Colocasias tend to move up the soil profile over time. We need to counter this so the crown doesn’t freeze.
  3. In the fall, we remove dead foliage and pile a mound of shredded leaves on top of the bulb to insulate it.
  4. At the end of spring, we remove the shredded leaves so that the soil does not remain too wet.
  5. During the summer we keep the soil evenly moist but not soggy. Unlike C. esculenta, which likes wet feet, C. gigantea does not.