Hi,how large are the leaves and is it a named EE?I have snail vine,the one with the purple blooms.E-mail if interested.Debbie

I make large elephant ear castings too, and I have been using drywall tape as reinforcement. I put on a layer of concrete (I use portland and sand 1:2, or vinyl concrete patch mix)about 1" thick, keeping the mixture about 3/4 inch from the side of the leaf, then I let that set for 10 or 15 minutes. Then I lay the drywall tape out running it down the length of the leaf, not touching, but about 1/2 to 3/4" apart. On top of that layer of drywall tape I place another layer running perpendicular to the first. Then I add the second layer of concrete to make the casting about 2" thick. The second layer usually makes the first spread a little more, closer to the edge. My edges are usually thinner than the center. I'm not walking on them, so that's not a problem. I have used this method to make some tables, adding some wrought iron bases and they seem sturdy. I don't have a problem with cracking. You have to be sure that you are making the concrete over the central vein thick enough,sometimes that's hard to judge.

Hannah, Yellowing between the veins of older leaves generally indicates a lack of a transportable nutrient, such as Magnesium. What is the analysis of the Plantacote? It could be that it is too slow releasing for the needs of the A. x calidora. These plants are very vigorous and that means they need enough nutrients to sustain that growth. Otherwise, they will decline and die down or out. I give my host of Alocasia hybrids a soluble fert solution every week and I use a higher nitrogen mix as well, occasionally supplementing with extra iron and manganese. Even under these conditions, some of mine get a little pale from time to time, especially in the summertime growing months. Many, if not most, of these Alocasia like well draining soil mix as well, so if your soil is heavy and wet, that might be part of the problem. Healthy roots are a must for proper nutrient uptake. Hope this helps, LariAnn Garner Aroidia Research Here is a link that might be useful: Alocasia x calidora

@love_the_yard I was at the Lowes on Atlantic Blvd the other day and there were huge discount racks of all kinds of stuff. I got ground orchids 1 gallon for 3.00 -they are the orange flowered ones. No name on them except 'Ground Orchids' lol. I am pretty sure they are the tropical types and will have to overwinter in the gh in our zone grrr. I saw Belotti passiflora, white and pink mandevillea, and a bunch of annuals and other perennials on the discount racks. I think they were getting ready to put some 3 gal roses on there too because they were in the process of pulling them from the display and moving them to the discount area. I also saw some 3 gallon Sting Ray alocasias that were good size (I already had some of those). I might go back this weekend and see what's left on the discount racks though lol. We also have the 'wild' green alocasias on our property. Last summer one had a leaf as big as the hood of my car! I am thinking of making a huge fountain base or birdbath with a few leaves (concrete casting). They are soooo big! I don't like how they invade my flower beds but if there are few off by themselves somewhere they don't bother me. These things do reseed like crazy as well as make runners. The huge one by my car last year made about 50 seedlings. Hopefully most of them froze cuz I only see about 10 over there now. I keep my Mickey Mouse Taro in pots. It likes to go out the holes in the bottom of the pots and start new plants all over the place lol. It is definitely the cutest EE !! I saw some at the Ace Hardware in Mandarin that were obviously MM taro but they had them labeled as "Variegated Sting Ray" and a big "WOW!!" marked on the sign in front of them. Reminds me of the ebay seller ads. That Ace is normally a great place to find unusual things (in their gh) so I was kinda surprised at the mislabeling. I got a 3 gallon black Bat Plant last year. It was great and flowered nicely then one of the dumb roosters came and ate up the blooms grr. It is still doing good and overwintered in the gh where I only light the heater when it goes under 32F. So I think they are a little hardier than zone 10b/11. I have another baby black one and a baby white bat that overwintered in my somewhat cool gh as well. ~SJN