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  • Answered by
    Nikki on
    November 4, 2014
    Certified Expert
    A.

    There should have been a tuber and with elephant ears. They are rather large - about the size of a softball, maybe a baseball. They would be round, brown and knobby. If you did not find one, it is possible that the soil where they were growing was poor and the plants were unable to replenish their tubers. I would check the area again, maybe a bit deeper. If you can't find anything, keep the thicker parts of the roots as tubers. They may be smaller due to not be able to store enough food over the summer.

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  • Answered by
    theficuswrangler on
    November 11, 2014
    A.

    There are many varieties of elephant ear (Colocasia,) but few of them make very good houseplants. They need more light than they can get indoors. Insufficient light is one reason it would be failing. Also, they need soil that doesn't go drier than slightly damp. Soil either too wet or too dry could cause the leaves to yellow and die. Learning too test soil moisture all the way to the bottom of the pot is very important with houseplants. This article could help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/testing-moisture-in-plants.htm
    Also, it's easy to over fertilize potted plants, and foliage plants fresh from the grower don't need
    fertilizer at all for the first 6 months. At this point, there's two things you can do. You can put the plant in higher light - (you may need to use supplemental light https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/hpgen/fluorescent-lighting-for-indoor-gardening.htm
    keep the soil slightly damp but not wet, and give it time to adapt and start growing again. Or you can wait till all the leaves die back, move it to a dark and cool place to spend its dormancy, then take it outdoors in the spring. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/elephant-ear/growing-elephant-ears-indoors.htm

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  • Answered by
    theficuswrangler on
    November 25, 2014
    A.

    There are two ways to treat elephant ears for the winter. One is to bring them inside, keep in a pot, and treat as a houseplant (a BIG houseplant) in high light. The other way is to wait till they die back, then dig up the rhizome, clean and dry it, and store it in a dark place for the winter. It sounds like you've got the two methods confused. I would take the plant out of the closet and give it light, since it seems bent on growing. This article has more information: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/elephant-ear/storing-elephant-ear-bulbs.htm

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  • Answered by
    theficuswrangler on
    January 3, 2015
    A.

    Depends on where you're located. If you're in zones 11, 10, 9, even 8, where the plants can grow outdoors all year, and you have an elephant ear that seems too big, or is growing where you don't want it, just cut back the in the way leaf stalk(s) to the ground. Or, if the plant is too big for its spot, you can transplant it to another position. This article has more information: https://www.gardenguides.com/92668-transplant-elephant-ear.html
    If by any chance you're talking about cutting back plants for the winter, here's an article on overwintering them: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/elephant-ear/storing-elephant-ear-bulbs.htm

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  • Answered by
    theficuswrangler on
    January 3, 2015
    A.

    You could dig up some of the plant, looking for a corm, or small bulb, growing from the root. The corm will be able to send out a shoot. These articles have more information: https://www.gardenguides.com/92668-transplant-elephant-ear.html
    https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/elephant-ear/growing-elephant-ear-plants.htm

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  • Answered by
    shelley on
    April 6, 2015
    Certified Expert
    A.

    Your plan of action sounds very good. My best advice would be to duplicate the soil, watering and fertilizing you have provided your elephant ear plants thus far, as it seems to have served you very well!

    For more information on growing elephant ear plants, please visit the following link:
    https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/elephant-ear/growing-elephant-ear-plants.htm

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