Huge Elephant ear Bulb Storage-remove the roots?

Question

A neighbor gave me a small caladium elephant ear bulb. Hers did nothing, but mine was absolutely huge. It’s getting cold, so I dug it up and rinsed it off. There are many pink and white roots. Do I remove these prior to storage? How about the massive stem? I don’t have the room or light to winter it over.

Answer 1

auntvic, I have found it easy to overwinter Elephant Ear bulbs using dry potting soil and a ventilated plastic bag. I usually don’t remove roots because they dry up and fall off anyway. I put a layer of soilless commercial potting soil in the bottom of the bag, then a layer of bulbs, repeat until bag is full or run out of bulbs, close bag, make sure you’ve pokes vent holes and store in cool dark place until ready to plant. I store the bulbs in a barely heatred area, where temps don’t get below freezing.