How to Care for Your Elephant Ear Plant Indoors - Ted Lare - Design & Build (2024)

FAQs

How to Care for Your Elephant Ear Plant Indoors - Ted Lare - Design & Build? ›

For growing or relocating indoors, you should choose a large 14-20 inch pot. If growing from its tuber state, plant it about 8 inches deep into the soil. Watering: These plants like to stay moist but avoid wet feet. Proper drainage is key to regulating water distribution and avoiding root rot.

Elephant ear indoor plants need to be watered anywhere from every few days to once a week. Elephant ears are native to tropical regions and are accustomed to large amounts of water. They grow best in soil that stays consistently moist, but not soggy.

Keep Alocasia in a warm indoor location with high humidity and bright indirect light. Plant in slightly acidic soil in a container that drains well. Water to the point that the soil is evenly moist but scale back in the winter during dormancy. Feed with a balanced fertilizer during the growing season.

Treatment Tips:

When treating elephant ear, With Imox or other systemic herbicides, treatment is most effective when the plants are mature or close to full grown. This allows for more plant surface to spray enough mixture on. Treat in late summer to early fall to get better kill of the root systems.

Inspect your Arrowleaf Elephant Ear for dead or damaged leaves – these are your first targets. Snip them off at the base, close to the main stem, to avoid unsightly stubs. New growth often emerges near these cuts, so be precise.

Brown leaves: Brown leaves on the Elephants Ear could be caused by two problems: Overwatering or the cold. Check your watering approach and ensure that the soil is moist and not soggy.

Elephant Ears like consistently damp soil, so the plant needs water if the soil is slightly moist. If the soil is dry, then the plant definitely needs water. Other signs your Elephant Ears need water include leaves wilting or drooping.

Elephant ear plants prefer warm temperatures between 18-29°C. They also need high humidity, so it's a good idea to mist the leaves once or twice a week. You can also place a humidifier near the plant to increase the humidity or keep them in a naturally humid place like a bright kitchen or bathroom.

Plan on giving plants at least 2-3 inches of water per week. Fertilizing: Elephant ears are heavy eaters, as well as drinkers. Fertilize monthly with a general fertilizer of choice. Organic slow release fertilizers will last longer, so choose something like bonemeal or bloodmeal when possible.

Water regularly to keep the soil consistently moist. Maintain an indoor temperature of at least 70°F during the day and at least 60°F at night. Feed elephant ears regularly with a high-nitrogen fertilizer.

Do elephant ears grow better in pots or ground? ›

An excellent plant for a shaded porch or patio, it thrives when planted in large containers. Elephant's ear is cold-hardy in USDA zones 10–11. In colder climates, it can be planted in containers that are moved inside in winter.

Watering: These plants like to stay moist but avoid wet feet. Proper drainage is key to regulating water distribution and avoiding root rot. Tropical plants love humidity, so encourage humidity indoors with a saucer of pebbles and water. Dormancy: Elephant ears may go dormant indoors during Iowa winters.

Try to mimic a rainforest climate for your alocasia. If you live in a dry place, use a humidifier or trays of water to increase the humidity in the air around your tropical plant. Consider placing your alocasia in a room with higher humidity.

Light: Alocasia plants grow natively under a dense rainforest canopy with bright shade or dappled sunlight. Place indoor plants in a location that receives bright indirect light such as a window with eastern or western exposure. Outdoors, grow in a spot that receives open shade.

Yellowing leaves on your Hardy Elephant Ear can be a red flag for watering issues. Overwatering often leads to leaves that feel mushy and limp, while underwatering will leave the soil bone-dry and your plant looking thirsty. It's crucial to distinguish between these symptoms to take the right action.

As a wetland plant, elephant ears need a lot of water. This makes it a good plant for wet areas where gardeners usually have trouble finding suitable plants. The plants survive in 6 inches of standing water, although they do best if you keep the soil wet but not soggy. Never allow the soil to dry out thoroughly.

Most can be grown in a few inches of standing water, and can be added to water gardens as emergent plants (the roots in water and with the soil just covered with water, but the plants not submerged). Dark-leaved elephant ear growing in a water garden.

Light. Most elephant ears will thrive in full sun (at least six hours of direct sunlight per day) or part sun (two to six hours of direct sunlight). You can veer towards planting in light shade with a couple of hours of direct sunlight if you live in a very hot or dry climate.