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You ’ve seen them ! The elephant ear plant – colocasia , with its salient outgrowth and huge leaf , contribute a tropical look to any landscape .
Learn all about develop them , their needs , pest issues , and how to carry them over winter to delight again next yr . Read on …
Photo Credit: Instagram @le_fzl
The Elephant Ear plant or taro elephant ears is the common name for the genus Colocasia , a Perennial genus Tuber coming from the tropical swamplands under the family Araceae .
These plant - type incandescent lamp or tubers of Elephant ear are grown in Northern and Southern garden in the first place for their very decorative , ornamental foliage and need lots of room .
The gravid , dark dark-green , warmheartedness - shaped leaves of the elephant spike resemble a shield that can reach 3′ to almost 4′ feet in length and overall plant height of 6′-7′ foot magniloquent .
Grown indoors , the flowering of elephant ears is rare . Outdoors , once make , the pocket-sized green sheath holding a green - xanthous filbert of flowers is common . Most of the flora species have no special scent .
What Light and Temperature Should I Grow Elephant Ears?
Some lowly elephant - ear - look plant life varieties , such asColocasia esculentacan handle full sun when uprise outside . leaf may burn at first , but once acclimatize to the sunlight , they will do fine .
Some can take the direct sun , but the green foliage types prefer high light than your plant life with dark green leaf .
However , by providing a light fond shade but still strong light , elephant spike plants can mature massive .
Indoors bring home the bacon as much light as possible . Good , solid light is authoritative to produce firm stems to hold up the large elephant ear foliage .
Growing Colocasia in spite of appearance requires gamey humidity . Use a humidifier in the room where you plan on growing Colocasia inside .
Regular way temperatures are fine , and the plant can support temps in the 60 - arcdegree Fahrenheit range .
Overall , it is best to maturate the elephant ears outdoors during the summer .
Watering and Feeding
When develop elephant ear , recollect they crave water . They are a swamp plant that develops a good , sturdy , submersed radical system .
A splattering of winter sun is acceptable as long as the grime moisture is regularly observe , with complete dodging once summer add up along . Due to the specie ’ sensitivity to chemical ,
Over - watering symptom include a collapsed foot , yellowing older leaf , moldy soil , and plant destruction . If you feel that origin rot is to blame , remove the touch leaf , solution , and soil and replace them with a fresh mountain of houseplant compost .
This is why the Colocasia find itself “ fit out up ” shallow backyard ponds and a good option for those looking for landscape painting leafage plants to institute in wet areas .
Colocasia Quick Care Tips
Being a fast raiser , elephant ear flora are also heavy feeder . They can be fed at every watering and react well to foliar plant food and dumb - discharge fertilizers , but they take to be high in nitrogen .
Elephant Ear Plant Care
When you plant elephant ear bulb of any assortment , but especially Colocasia esculenta , you ’ll demand to implant them in the ground or in large container for several reasons .
The potting soil should hold water well with lots of constitutive material . Fertilize using a ‘ Houseplant ’ labeled provender every four glasses of water in the spring and summertime , reduce this to every six in the cold month .
In the spring , as stored Tuber of elephant ears begin to spud and grow , place tubers in pots just big enough to hold them in a potting mix of peat moss , Baroness Dudevant , or something similar .
The pots are just to get them started for implant alfresco when the weather has warmed up . Keep stain moist .
When planting these tropical plant outside , give elephant ear establish plenty of space , approximately 3′ – 6′ infantry between plants . During summertime months , offer them with portion of water and tidy sum of full sun or fond shade .
Grooming Elephant Ears Plant
The only “ curry ” require is to remove old leafage as they buy the farm off and withered material in the declination time of year before winter arrives .
If you desire to overwinter elephant ears in your yard , advice will differ somewhat depend on the hardiness zone in which you inhabit .
Most colocasia are hardy in zones 8b through 11 – so can be grown outside twelvemonth round – but require special wintertime shelter when grown in stale region , ’ explains garden expert Melinda Myers .
Propagation
Use set off tubers that the parent plant has grown during the grade of the summer .
Landscape Uses For Growing Elephant Ear Plants
These large ornamentaltypes of bulb plantscan be very impressive when placed and develop outside in a sheltered location during the summertime .
Especially in northerly position , elephant spike plants provide a very tropical landscape look even for a brusk period and make good additions near water gardens .
Elephant pinna can live on outside all twelvemonth in USDA Hardiness Zones 8 – 11 . In these twelvemonth - rung growing orbit , some consider the elephant ears to be an invasive flora .
In northern climate , they can be address more as annuals , where the elephant ears bulbs , corm , or genus Tuber are stored over winter for the next growing season .
Over Wintering Elephant Ear Bulbs
Plants uprise in the background :
After the first frost has strike …
flora growing in pots :
extension by division of tuberous taro roots at bound potting meter .
Related : More onDigging Up Elephant Ears
Colocasia Plant
Colocasia esculenta(Taro or Dasheen ) – “ esculent , ” meaning edible , is acquire not only for ornamental purposes . It is also widely grown like rice around the earth for its large comestible , stiff tubers and is an important food germ .
The food crop plant must be properly cooked before eating . Otherwise , it can upset the stomach . The sap can rag the hide .
Colocasia antiquorum , an cosmetic mintage with very large leaves , has variations displaying margins and veinings of purple , sometimes shout out the “ opprobrious elephant ears , “ mordant witching taro root , ” or “ black taro . ”
Elephant ear and coco yam are called jumbo elephant ears or plant under the same family , such as Xanthosoma sagitifolium and white caladium . This is probably the elephant ears formerly known and sometimes still know asCaladium esculentain the plant list .
Elephant Ear Leaf Problems and Pests
Colocasia plant are very racy raiser and drink a lot of water , which is a thirsty plant . Never allow the plant to dry out .
It is susceptible to a few of the common garden pests . Spider mites love the elephant ear leafage and its grain . Especially industrial plant growing where the melodic line is very wry .
take care for typicalspider mite net under the farewell . prove rinsing the flora soundly with a right bam of water .
Thrips can attack leave and nurse the juices out of the flora , and develops silvern wan patches on the parting .
Frequent misting will helpkeep the thrips away .
Spray with insecticide if necessitate .
Different specie of elephant ears may stimulate harm to humans due to the irritant in their system . It may cause terrible soreness to the lip , pharynx , mouth , and other parts of the unwritten caries .
This comes from microscopic acerate leaf - like raphides made of Ca oxalate monohydrate , the plant life used as ego - defense against herbivores who would attempt to wipe out it .
If you are looking for landscapepatio plantswith a tropical face and feel or in need of plant for wet areas … check out Colocasia – the elephant ear plant .
