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Container Gardening

Elephant Ear plant

14 years ago

Just a quick question about these plants as they grow like weeds around our house.

How well do they do in containers? I spent the day yesterday chopping up a bunch behind our fence line to keep the skeeters down. I dug up 2 little plants that were starting to come out of the ground. Roots and big tuber on the bottom came up and I potted in some 8"pots for now.

Are they kind of like bananas? one big tuber and and just send out pups?

We have a few big ones with flowers around our fence. Since they grow so fast here I would like to have a bunch to add to my "jungle" on our rooftop.

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Comments (5)

monet_g
14 years ago
That's the only way I grow them here in Michigan - in pots. I keep mine moist, in semi-shade and fertilize regularly. They seem to do well and yes, they send out offsets which can either be removed to start a new plant, or leave them with the mother plant.
filix
14 years ago
Yes they do well in containers.

{{gwi:4565}}
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I grew a cultivar this year called 'Kona Koffee'....the spelling may be off. Big, dark-leaved things, they've grown to much larger proportions than I'd expected. And that's with the J. beetles shredding the leaf edges. So I do know they will eat at least this cultivar, darn @!^(@*!s! As to your leaf spots, to be quite honest, I'd have to crack open my big book of plant maladies-or the internet itself-to see what exactly are known issues with Colocasias and Alocasias. Some answer, huh? I don't know. Does slightly remind me of the end-result of some leafminers I've seen on other plants. Are those blemishes somewhat shiny and translucent-looking? If so, a leafminer could have gotten in there-probably via the adult laying eggs in between the layers of cells in the leaves. Just a thought-not at all saying this is it.
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The term "Elephant Ears" is applied to a number of different genus of plants. But just in Colocasia there are thousands of varieties. They've been cultivated as food plants by people for several thousand years and many different varieties were developed from that. I was reading a text from a tropical research station which had compiled a list of different cultivars and they came up with around 2000. But I don't remember now if they included all the recent cultivars which have been developed for purely ornamental purposes. So even if you're only collecting Colocasia, there's still quite a lot more out there for you.
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It's not a swallowtail but a sphinx moth caterpillar....Pergesa acteus, to be exact. My advice would be to put it back where you found it, but others may provide ideas about how to provide care and feeding, and a proper pupal environment.
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You can post photos! You have to wait a minute for it to fully load to the comment. I had same issue before thinking it was just me. It will be light color like it’s loading and when it’s done It will be normal color! Hope that makes sense!
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jojosplants
14 years ago
Wow!
That's an amazing plant!!

What size container would work for 1. I got a bulb at walmart recently. I'm going to put it near the kids pool to help shade a little.

I tried one a few years ago in the ground and it didnt make it. From what ive read here, it was most likely lack of water.

Thanks,
JoJo
filix
14 years ago
This one here is on its third year. Every year I bring the roots down the cellar. This year will be the fourth year. It's in the 5.1.1. And they do love water. goodluck! filix.
justinhk
Original Author
14 years ago
sweet lord!! that is big plant!! Do you feed that thing steroids?
I guess my question is answered, thank you

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