I am having the same problem!! I purchased my black magic about 5 weeks ago I planted it in a bed with my hostas, top soil dirt only in this bed, shady area gave it plenty of water and the leaves were drying up like leaves do in the fall it starts around the edges and after about 3 days the leaf is dry and crunchy. I do get wind I wondered if they could wind burn. I moved the plant to a large pot 2 days ago it has 1/2 miricle grow potting soil and 1/2 cheap potting soil I moved the pot to a sunnier location I pray it does better here. I would HATE to lose this plant my mother thinks I'm such a good gardener so she purchased it and it was already potted and so preety and not cheap. I feel like I'm letting down my plant and my mom. UNLIKE the black magic, My outher elephant ears are happy in the filtered shade and top soil.

Hey There: I am very confused about Black Magic. I got two Black Magic Elephants Ears 3 years ago. They got gigantic and started putting out long runners everywhere with juvinile plants sprouting from the tips. The following year I thought they had died, because they took until late June before they started to sprout the following year. I purchased another one while waiting for them to sprout. The previous years babies soon surpased the newer larger plant. This year I knew it would take a long time to sprout so I purchased 2 more. They are really hug but no runners. I am wondering about this as they look identical to the others from the previous year.. All purchased from the same place. Is there a difference between Black Magic and the running type?

These are very easy plants to care for, once you have a good understanding of their basic needs. They will even tolerate quite a bit of neglect. (Mine most certainly do, lol...) What they don't tolerate is the chlorine and/or fluoride that is in most tap water. As for using melted bagged ice, that will have no affect on the fluoride in the water. Neither boiling or freezing fluoridated water will do nothing to rid the water of fluoride. Which is why I just avoid using tap water on my spider plants altogether. Do that, and your spider plant will pretty much tolerate just about anything else. I've recently pruned off all of the offshoots from my Hawaiian spiders. So they can focus more on growing bigger, rather than branching out and growing so many little plantlets. Plus, the old branches were looking kind of ragged. It was long overdue for a "haircut" to help freshen them up a bit. Not to mention, the pots themselves were getting quite heavy. When I got finished, the pile of the little offshoots took up more space than the original mother plants, HaHa.

The spots are scars left by a physiological disorder called oedema. See the short piece I wrote below, which explains the cause and how to keep it from happening. Oedema Oedema is a physiological disorder that can affect all plants. It occurs when the plant takes up more water than it can rid itself of via the process of transpiration. The word itself means 'swelling', which is usually the first symptom, and comes in the form of pale blisters or water-filled bumps on foliage. Under a variety of circumstances/cultural conditions, a plant's internal water pressure (turgidity) can become so high that some leaf cells rupture and leak their contents into inter-cellular spaces in leaf tissue, creating wet or weepy areas. Symptoms vary by plant, but as the malady progresses, areas of the leaf turn yellow, brown, brown with reddish overtones or even black, with older damage appearing as corky/ scaly/ ridged patches, or wart/gall-like bumpy growth. Symptoms are seen more frequently in plants that are fleshy, are usually more pronounced on the underside of leaves, and older/lower leaves are more likely to be affected than younger/upper leaves. Oedema is most common in houseplants during the winter/early spring months, is driven primarily by excessive water retention in the soil, and can be intensified via several additional cultural influences. Cool temperatures, high humidity levels, low light conditions, or partial defoliation can individually or collectively act to intensify the problem, as can anything else that slows transpiration. Nutritional deficiencies of Ca and Mg are also known contributors to the malady. Some things that can help you prevent oedema: * Increase light levels and temperature * Monitor water needs carefully – avoid over-watering. I'd heartily recommend a soil with drainage so sharp (fast) that when you to water to beyond the saturation point you needn't worry about prolonged periods of soil saturation wrecking root health/function. Your soil choice should be a key that unlocks the solutions to many potential problems. * Avoid misting or getting water on foliage. It slows transpiration and increases turgidity. * Water as soon as you get up in the AM. When stomata close in preparation for the dark cycle, turgidity builds. If you water early in the day, it gives the plant an opportunity to remove (for its own needs) some of the excess water in the soil. * Put a fan in the room or otherwise increase air flow/circulation. Avoid over-crowding your plants. Al