# Anyone happen to know the history of Jack's Giant elephant ears? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-happen-to-know-the-history-of-jacks-giant-elephant-ears/1031010 "2026-06-19T00:27:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-happen-to-know-the-history-of-jacks-giant-elephant-ears/1031010/1 "2026-06-19T00:27:21Z")
I recently bought some elephant ear (_Colocasia esculenta_) corms at my local grocery store. I haven’t grown them in years, but the first time I bought them was in the late 1990s at Walmart, and the corms were several times larger than the ones bought now (for the same $5 price IIRC). These new corms are of the cultivar named Jack’s Giant and I’m curious about whether that’s the same cultivar as the earlier ones I had. But I can’t find much historical information on them. Supposedly Jack’s Giant was introduced into the market by a man named Jack de Vroomen (apparently an important figure in horticulture) of Marlboro Bulb Company (which is less than 50 miles from me), is genetically triploid, and was found in Costa Rica. But I can’t find what year it was introduced into the market. If it became available before around 30 years ago that doesn’t prove I used to have that one, but if it is more recent it proves that it isn’t… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2026, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-happen-to-know-the-history-of-jacks-giant-elephant-ears/1031010/2 "2026-06-21T01:03:13Z")
Don’t know how ‘Jack’s Giant’ was developed, but it seems weird you found it at a grocery store, since taros sold for cooking usually produce plants small in stature. If you’re looking for the hugest elephant ear, ‘Thai Giant’ seems to be the current champ, with massive broad leaves and eventual height up to 9 feet or more. I currently grow Alocasia ‘Sumo’, which has less enormous leaves but gets up to 10 feet tall. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-happen-to-know-the-history-of-jacks-giant-elephant-ears/1031010/3 "2026-06-21T01:30:01Z")
It wasn’t sold for eating, it was sold for planting. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2026, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-happen-to-know-the-history-of-jacks-giant-elephant-ears/1031010/4 "2026-06-21T01:45:44Z")
This is what my old plants looked like in 2001. [![](https://i.ibb.co/1fFwnDG1/IMG-20000101-000100-30.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/1fFwnDG1/IMG-20000101-000100-30.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/4RZ4Yrr3/IMG-20000101-000100-22.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/4RZ4Yrr3/IMG-20000101-000100-22.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-happen-to-know-the-history-of-jacks-giant-elephant-ears/1031010/5 "2026-06-24T00:27:14Z")
With my original large elephant ear corms in the 1990s I used a knife to core out a number of the “eyes” to plant seperately. I didn’t try that on the one corm I bought a month ago, but after buying two more the next time I was at the store last week I snapped off five of the fair-sized baby corms on them to start developing in cups. I didn’t know how long it would take them to “wake up”, but there was growth inside of 40 hours of my putting them in dirt. This is what they look like after seven days. [![](https://i.ibb.co/BHzKc34V/Elephant-ears-20260617-budsall.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/BHzKc34V/Elephant-ears-20260617-budsall.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/TBtSX15c/Elephant-ears-20260623-original-bud1.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/TBtSX15c/Elephant-ears-20260623-original-bud1.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/n8NdFtFn/Elephant-ears-20260623-original-bud2.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/n8NdFtFn/Elephant-ears-20260623-original-bud2.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/zhx4sf6j/Elephant-ears-20260623-original-bud3.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/zhx4sf6j/Elephant-ears-20260623-original-bud3.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/9Xxv5H3/Elephant-ears-20260623-original-bud4.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/9Xxv5H3/Elephant-ears-20260623-original-bud4.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/4g045KcN/Elephant-ears-20260623-original-bud5.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/4g045KcN/Elephant-ears-20260623-original-bud5.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-happen-to-know-the-history-of-jacks-giant-elephant-ears/1031010/6 "2026-09-14T13:30:27Z")
Suprised that some of the chopped chunks of elephant ears corms are already growing new offsets so soon. One chunk of corm was broken off a larger corm 90 days ago today, and it is growing 5 new offsets (so far), each of which will grow into a new plant. Out of 15 new plants started 2-3 months ago, 5 of them are growing a total of 13 new offsets so far. [![](https://i.ibb.co/rKJXzQJk/Elephant-ears-20260617-bud04.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/rKJXzQJk/Elephant-ears-20260617-bud04.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/0pvjsN0k/Elephant-ears-20260623-153927098-bud04.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/0pvjsN0k/Elephant-ears-20260623-153927098-bud04.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/7dqfPgyR/Elephant-ears-20260702-033402928-bud04abc.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/7dqfPgyR/Elephant-ears-20260702-033402928-bud04abc.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/KcR4ddnJ/Elephant-ears-20260912-120622250-bud04a.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/KcR4ddnJ/Elephant-ears-20260912-120622250-bud04a.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/LdXWZmCn/Elephant-ears-20260912-120819155-bud04a.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/LdXWZmCn/Elephant-ears-20260912-120819155-bud04a.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/Gv8wTcmw/Elephant-ears-20260912-120949499-bud04a.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/Gv8wTcmw/Elephant-ears-20260912-120949499-bud04a.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-happen-to-know-the-history-of-jacks-giant-elephant-ears/1031010/7 "2026-09-15T03:56:40Z")
This is part of why I hang out at the SDMB - revealing corm photos. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-happen-to-know-the-history-of-jacks-giant-elephant-ears/1031010/8 "2026-09-20T03:08:34Z")
Postcript: Just got back from a pilgrimage to Plant Delights in North Carolina. Among numerous other acquisitions, I picket up a plant of ‘Jack’s Giant’. Plans are for it to be kept in a cool but frost-free location over the winter and planted out in '27. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9d/af/0b/9daf0bdcebc91e7922909aa2ef9772d9.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9d/af/0b/9daf0bdcebc91e7922909aa2ef9772d9.jpg) \*the person in the above photo was later devoured by the plant, and remains unidentified. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-happen-to-know-the-history-of-jacks-giant-elephant-ears/1031010/9 "2026-09-20T03:38:31Z")
Here’s how mine have worked out this year. Produced from four relatively puny “adult” corms plus the cormels I cut off them as new plants. It took months but I’m finally getting pretty large (though not absolutely full-sized) leaves. They will continue growing up until the first frost, so somewhere around 2 more months here, give or take. [![](https://i.ibb.co/N2PkvZ2P/IMG-20260919-082225202.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/N2PkvZ2P/IMG-20260919-082225202.jpg) I called the corms “relatively puny”; they are a lot smaller than the ones I originally bought at Walmart, but the Walmart ones are puny compared to the corms in this video [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kqMVQ1pXRUw/maxresdefault.jpg "Elephant Ears - Their History and Background Information") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqMVQ1pXRUw) (I’ve looked at their website: those go for $50 each.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2026, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-happen-to-know-the-history-of-jacks-giant-elephant-ears/1031010/10 "2026-09-28T03:20:27Z")
Two of my elephant ears. On the first one, the main center growth point didn’t regrow so all of the energy went into side growth points. The largest stalk in the cluster with the quarter in front of it is the pink thing sticking out of the top of the unplanted corm, with a few other stalks approaching the same size. The cluster has a total of around 16 stalks, large to small, all from the one original corm, planted 131 days ago. [![](https://i.ibb.co/R8czGRY/Elephant-ears-corm1.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/R8czGRY/Elephant-ears-corm1.jpg) On the second one the main central growth point did grow and used the majority of the energy and produced a massive central stalk. Planted 103 days ago. [![](https://i.ibb.co/KcrSw44T/Elephant-ears-corm2.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/KcrSw44T/Elephant-ears-corm2.jpg)