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Container Gardening

can you water elephant ear too much?

16 years ago

My E.E. grows about one leave per week. It has been looking good. But the last leave looks varagated and is kind of floppy. Not stiff like the other ones. And it seems like it wants to curl up a bit. I have been watering it every day. I noticed the pot does not drain very well.I can flood the top many times and still see almost no water coming out the bottom. The soil was very porus at the begining. But the pot is so full of roots, it makes me wonder where the soil went. I know canna's cant be watered too much is EE the same? I drilled some holes near the bottom at the side to help with drainage.

One more question. I have japanese beetles On all my canna's except my omega and my EE. I was wondering if any one else noticed this. Because if Elephant ear and Omega canna's are something that they don't care for , that would be useful information. Thanks. filix.

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Comments (5)

justaguy2
16 years ago
I don't think you can overwater EE in the summer, but you might be able to before it starts growing early on.

The JB didn't bother my EE at all, and they did very light damage to my cannas, almost insignificant (Pretoria, Striped Beauty and one other type, I forget)
filix
Original Author
16 years ago
I think it might have been not being able to drain well. Because this morning the leave looks fine. The drain holes I drilled must have worked. The JB ate my musafolia's Intrigue and the white of my Stuttgart. They left my Omega alone,"maybe because it's on my blacktop driveway" and they ate my Indica Purpurea the worst. Left the EE alone. I hope they don't care for them, because I want to grow more next year. What a cool plant! wiskey barrels seem to be the right container for cannas. Next year the EE will go in them too. Thanks justa. filix
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luvs2click
16 years ago
I just tried the EE the first time this summer, someone gave me a huge bulb. It grew lightning fast to start with, then I began experiencing the same problems you are having. The water just seemed to lay on top and slowly bubble down through and I couldn't seem to water it enough. I decided to put it in the flower bed as we were going on vacation and there was no one here to water it. When I removed it from the pot, I was in shock as to how rootbound it was. It has only been in the pot 2 months and was already seriously rootbound. It is doing much better since it is planted in the ground. I know I will have to dig it in the fall, but next year I will use a MUCH larger pot.

Arlene
filix
Original Author
16 years ago
yes next year much bigger pot! Mine is doing much better since I drilled new holes. filix
James McNulty
16 years ago
You CANNOT overwater elephant ears. Mine sit in water filled pots all the time. Replanting often in the biggest container you can spare is also great for them.

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