Colocasia Metallica -mixed hardiness info?

[Craig A]

Hi @John . I’m always weary of labels hardiness ratings, it all depends which part of the world the plant labels were intended for. That said, I’ve heard of some unexpected Colocasia and Alocasia surviving UK winters recently. If your are going to give it a go I would recommend that you ensure it has good drainage to prevent the root zone freezing solid during a cold spell.

[John Humphreys]

I’ve decided to plump for positioning them in a raised planter, positioned against a wall to provide shelter. That will give me the ability to add a layer of mulch, straw and cover with fleece over winter, hopefully to prevent losing them.

The wall normally warms up during the day and releases the heat in the evening, so I’m hoping this will encourage growth come spring.

[Russell Beeson]

Metallica is a superb plant. I haven’t tested it for hardiness but I can report (from last year) that it not only flowers quite freely in a pot but sends out profuse long runners which produce youngsters at the ends, so it’s easy to propagate and also the youngsters seem to survive winter well on a windowsill.

[John Humphreys]

Thanks for sharing.

They are doing quite well on the container I put them in. Although the Armandii has gone mad while I was away, so I’ll need to trim that a little to get more visibility to the colocasia.

[aroidartist]

I’ve had Metalica in the ground for a couple of years and it’s not good news. They even survived last winter with -5 here (Northwest UK) but they came back late and have struggled to put on size. They are in an area with Pink China and Gaolgongensis which cope fine of course. If you are going to risk it this year I’d say make sure you have a back up! I’m chopping mine and storing as soon as we hit 2.