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

My EEs are lush, full and tall but this past week the margins between veins are becoming paler in a striped,marbled look. It's most pronounced on the smaller,youngest leaves. They're hard to get to since the bed is full and fronted by vitex and lots of other foliage plants. What treatment do you suggest? Feeding? Would a spray on liquid like Miracle Gro be of some help? At least I could hit the leaves with the spray. Might be able to chuck some Osmocote pellets back there if that's better. What do you think? They have three more months before any risk of frost and I'd like them to stay healthy looking.

Dorothy, The southern part of zone 6 would be 6B. I am not sure elephant ears would survive in a pot above the ground. It would depend on just how cold it gets, and you know how wildly variable Oklahoma weather can be. Having said that, though, our local weather forecasters here in southern Oklahoma tell us we are in a La Nina weather pattern, which tends to give us a warmer and drier than average winter. (For us here in extreme southern Oklahoma, this seems to be true so far, as we are still having daytime highs in the upper seventies to mid-eighties, and haven't had a killing freeze yet. No rain either.) One unfortunate aspect of a La Nina weather pattern as experienced here in Oklahoma, though, is that there are often some very cold though brief blasts of Artic Cold, so 'warmer and drier than average' doesn't mean there won't be some periods of extreme cold. In general, when I have a plant in a pot, I consider the plant in that pot to be one-half to one full zone colder than if in the ground. So, if you are in zone 6B, then your elephant ears in an above-ground container would be overwintering in at least zone 6A and possibly zone 5B. The reason is that the ground is a great insulator, and you lose much of that insulation value if you overwinter in a large above-ground container. If you have no choice about leaving the elephant ears in the container and leaving it outside, you could try to add extra insulation by placing lots of hay or bags of leaves around the container. You could pile a lot of mulch on top of the container. The elephant ears might make it and they might not. Be sure to water them occasionally, keeping them moist but not sopping wet, beacause plants that are very dry suffer freeze damage more easily. Caladium bulbs are tropical and need to be dug and overwintered in a non-freezing location. I have had caladiums survive only one year in the ground in the 9 years I've been in southern Oklahoma and I am in zone 7B. Even when I lived in Fort Worth, which is zone 8, caladiums seldom survived the winter in the ground. Hope this info helps. Dawn

The 1st picture is the side you plant facing up. The last picture is showing where your bulb was broken off of another bulb. Some other advice: - These bulbs are very prone to rotting in cool spring weather especially if the soil is too wet. - They can take a long time to get going but once the warm weather hits they will take off. Be patient. - If you want to get a headstart plant first in a pot. Water the soil thoroughly and place the whole pot in a clear plastic bag sealed at the top. Place in a warm sunny location. Once you see some sprouts then open the bag. - Planting outside early in the cool ground won't speed up growth. High temps are key so it's sometimes better to wait. Good luck