Big leaf record in Australia

A Victorian, Australian farmer has announced that Australia has grown its biggest leaf. Accordingly, the leaf is large enough to support an adult in the form of 'low birth weight' when standing on the water.

Geoff Cochrane on the giant leaf.(Photo: ABC)

Geoff Cochrane, from Blue Lotus Water Garden Incubator Company in Yarra Junction, Northeast Melbourne, has grown a giant Amazon water lily leaf diameter up to 1.7 meters in the nursery.

Mr. Cochrane contacted botanical gardens throughout Australia to check on the record of the size of the leaves and learned that the largest leaf grown in Adelaide is only 1.65m in diameter.

According to Cochrane, water lilies are cultivated from seeds in warm environmental conditions and need to be provided with food every three weeks. They grow very fast, have complex structures on the underside of the leaves and have good support.