Winterize elephant ear
I have a question about how to winterize Elephant Ears growing in my yard. What needs to be done and how.
Elephant ear, Alocasia are a semi-tropical tuberous bulbs that are hardy in zone 8-11 and will die in freezing temepratures.
In a cooler climate, zone 7 or lower, there are several methods you can use to winterize your elephant ear plant.
Option 1:
When the foliage starts to die back (turn brown) reduce watering. If/when a frost blackens the foliage, cut the stem down to 6″, dig up the tuber and remove excess soil. Try not to bruise or cut the tuberous bulb as that can cause infection and rot during storage.
To “cure” the tubers, air dry, out of direct sunlight at 60F for three weeks or dry them in the sun for a couple of days and then remove the excess soil.
Once dry, store the cured bulb in peat moss, vermiculite or sawdust around 40-60 degrees in a dry, ventilated location such as a basement or cellar. During the winter, check the bulb for shrinkage and rot (discolored soft spots). If the bulbs appear shriveled, moisten the medium a bit. Replant next spring.
Store in container
You can also store the bulb as is in the pot in a heated garage. Insulate/wrap the container for added protection. After the leaves yellow and die back, cut off the dried foliage and add 2-3″ of mulch on top of the soil.
If you don’t have a heated garage, a cool, dark place such as a basement will work. Store between 40-60F and water lightly once or every 2 months to keep the soil from totally drying out.
Option 2:
Treat your elephant ear as a houseplant. Give it a southern exposure (high light), high humidity and water enough to keep the soil from drying out. If it continues to produce leaves, feed it with a 1/2 dose of liquid fertilizer, otherwise, just keep it moist. The plant may sulk indoors during the winter but when the weather warms up in spring bring the plant back outdoors slowly re-acclimating it to brighter light exposure.
This will be the second year that I will bring my plant indoors. So is it OK for me to grow it like a house plant two years in a roll. And is it OK to dig up the babies and plant them will they make it?
Last fall I got really busy and never dug up my elephant ears from the pots and stored them in my garage in Buffalo NY for the winter. The garage is not heated but is definitely warmer than the outside. While I am thinking that I killed the elephant ears, I am going to try to see if they come back in the pot. The question is – should I just bring the pot into the house in a sunny location to jump start the growing and water? Do I dig up the bulb and replant? Just not sure what to do to start up the growing process again. Thanks for the help!
Also my neighbor said he would like to have some seedlings are babies from them how do I get that do I just dig them up and do they have seedlings on the sides ???
I did not dig up my elephant ears last year but they all came up this year will they come back next year if I don’t dig them up??
I bought a home that has elephant ears in the backyard and there are four areas where they grow from. There are tons of bulbous tubers above ground at this point all of which have no soil around them summer about halfway in the ground and most are mushy and white at the top. I cut the Dead leafy pointed tops off of them exposing a white spongy interior. Last year I I saw a lot of growth out of these bulbs above ground but I am curious as to whether I should cover them with soil and whether cutting the tops off the tubers exposing the white spongy area is a mistake.
Hi!
I have a potted elephant ear that I will bring inside for our cold MN winters. I made a mistake and didn’t watch the forecast close enough and one morning came out to froze leaves on my elephant ear. Of course now it is indoors and I am wondering what the best thing to do at this point is. Should I cut back the frozen leaves?