you can get more info if you search in aroid forum for alocasia (elephant ears). there are different types. a pic would help. caladiums grow from corms(alocasia grows from tubers). you cannot do a cutting of the leaf to propagate, you need to plant a corm (what you call a bulb). plant about 2-3 cm below surface. the pot should not be too large , just about 2-3cm wider all around planted corms/tubers. yours that went dormant without water might or might not grow. it takes about a month to see sprouts. you might very gently feel thru the soil with your fingers to feel if anything started growing, but be careful you might knock off the shoots! keep the pots only slightly watered, until you see 1-2" shoots coming up, then start giving more water. do not allow them to totally dry out (same goes for alocasia). normally caladiums go dormant after about 6 mo of growth and need to rest for at least 3 mo before they will resprout. you can keep them totally dry in the pot, in soil. in your very dry climate it is probably better then digging them up and storing in dry peat (which is another way). both caladiums and alocasia like humidity and being warm and moist, but not wet/soggy. your alocasia probably has dry edges due to low humidity. alocasia also might go dormant if too dry or cold (below 65F). it can also burn if exposed to strong sun. they both prefer morning filtered light for sev hours only. western dappled or filtered is ok too, if not too hot and strong. they also both need to be fertilized with even number fertilizer like 10-10-10. alocasia can take more fertilizer with high 1st number (nitrogen) .the soil need to drain well, do not let them stand in water on the saucer or get soggy wet. it's good to put 2-3 cm of pebbles on the wide tray and fill it with water just below to pebble top - this will raise humidity. then you put your plant on top of pebbles. just watch how much water you pour in - it will run out into the saucer. the bottom of the pot should not stand in water for more then 10 min, even ten is not good.

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

;-) ok. shoot me an email with your address. and let me know when its safe to ship. I think Kylie is too busy over on the world of brugmansia website to pay attention to us here ;-)

There are some things you need to know about Elephant Ears. First of all, there are two basic kinds. One is a great big bulb. These will have leaves that face the sky. The other kind grows on roots. These face the side. If the ones you have face the side, they are very likely invasive. Do a search on Elephant ears and you can read how incredibly difficult these can be to get rid of in your part of the country. I have read that some of the side facers are clump formers, specifically Black Magic. I sure would like to have confirmation of this from someone who grows it. But that's for another discussion. Back to your questions. If you have leaves that are laying on the ground, you can trace them back to their base and cut them off. The plant should regenerate fresh leaves. Any that are withered should be removed too. Cannas (the kinds that grow on roots, not bulbs) like nitrogen and water. They will actually grow in standing water (which is why you see them growing so well in ditches). Even if you damaged your original plant, keep it watered and you should be fine in a few weeks. As far as Miracle Grow is concerned, I don't recommend it ever for a newly planted or newly divided plant. It has very strong salts in it that can be harsh on tender roots. That being said, it's unlikely you hurt Elephant Ears. In the future, try using it at half the strength the bottle calls for, or better yet, use Fish Emulsion which is an organic fertilizer that never fails to do plants a world of good. Back to the invasiveness issue. If you determine that your EEs are the invasive kinds, I would highly recommend that you dig them out before winter comes, if not sooner. Not to worry, you won't get them all out. Any roots that break and remain in the ground will come back next spring. At that point, you may want to transplant a few of them into large pots, so you can enjoy these beautiful plants without having to declare all out war. Again, do a search for several threads on them.