Expert: Kenneth Joergensen - 4/1/2005

Question
I live in Northern Michigan and would like to try the big elphant ear plant bulbs.  Are they hardy?  Do I need to dig them up each fall?  Thanks for your help.
Cathy

Answer
No, they are tropical bulbs and will be damaged if left in the ground in the winter.

In late fall, either before first frost, or just as a first mild frost blackens the leaves, dig the bulb up and cut the stems off just above the bulb. You may find that is has created offsets (baby tubers) and the mother tuber and the offsets can be harvested. In my experience, the mother tuber sometimes rot during storage whereas the baby tubers usually do well. 2-3 baby tubers planted together can give the same result as a large mother tuber.

I like to start them in large pots indoors 4-6 weeks before planting out. If you can place them in a warm room or even on heat (heatmat) then this is preferred. They sprout quickly if given warm soil. Keep the soil barely moist until the sprout is well out of the tuber. At this time, it consumes no water and there watering should be done very sparingly (you can usually do it once or twice).

Outdoors, the plants get larger if placed in sun. In your area you can grow them in full sun, but the more sun they get, the more water they required. I recommend planting them 8-10" deep and mulch well. water frequently and deeply. fertilize every month with an annual plant fertilizer.

Even if you do not want to store them for the winter, you can grow and enjoy them as annuals. today the tubers are becomming very cheap with the home improvement stores and walmart participating in sales.

A large tuber is available for $5-10 up to $15 for a very large tuber online from reputable growers. I recommend going for the medium sized tubers around $7-10.

They can become very big plants: 6-8 feet tall and wide is not impossible in one growing season.

In summary:
1. start indoors in (large) pots for earlier growth. start in a warm place or on a heat mat. water sparingly (e.g. once really well and then not again until the soil is rather dry 4" deep).
2. once the sprout is well out of the ground, water more frequently.
3. after last chance of frost, and after the soil has warmed a bit, plant outdoors in shade to full sun. Full sun will give larger plants. water frequently and deeply. fertilize monthly.
4. in fall, after last chance of frost, dig tubers and cut the stems off. let the tuber cure in a dry, cool place for 2-3 weeks and then cut the rest of the dying stem material off. The tuber can then be stored dry at room temperature for the winter and restarted in spring.
5. or treat as annual and discard tuber in fall. Replant new tubers next spring.

I highly recommend trying these plants. even if storage fails (tuber rots, which does happen from time to time) it is an amazing experience growing these elephant ears.

Here is a picture of one:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v345/kdjoergensen/gardening/bulbs/elephant%20e...

Here is a picture of a tuber after being cleaned off and the rest of the stem cut off:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v345/kdjoergensen/gardening/bulbs/elephant%20e...

(note: you may have to copy and paste the links into your address bar on the browser. If the link is too long to fit on one line, you may need to copy/paste both lines into one long, unbroken sentence to view it).

Kenneth