How to Grow Elephant Ears (Caladium Bulbs)

Elephant ears grow easily from divided tubers.

Grown for their long-lasting and colorful foliage, elephant ears, or Caladium, add visual interest to shady areas of the garden with their large, arrowhead-shaped leaves. Each leaf grows to between 6 and 20 inches in length and features a variety of striking colors such as chartreuse, pink, gold and burgundy. In most areas, elephant ears must be lifted from the ground in autumn and stored over the winter since they are very frost tender, but this provides an opportunity to divide the tubers and grow new plants.

Things You'll Need

• Trowel or shovel
• Large plastic bag
• Sharp sand
• Gardening knife
• Compost
• Mulch
• 5-10-10 ratio fertilizer
• Anvil shears

Instructions

1. Dig up the bulbs of a mature elephant ear plant in early autumn once the foliage dies back after the first frost. Remove the frost-bitten foliage. Work the blade of a trowel or shovel underneath the 2-inch-deep tubers and lift them out.

2. Brush off any soil clinging to the tubers. Store the tubers over the winter in a large plastic bag filled with enough sharp sand to completely cover them. Keep them in a cupboard or other dark place where temperatures stay between 45 and 55 degrees F.

3. Remove the elephant ear tubers from storage in spring once soil temperatures reach 60 degrees F. Take them out of their storage bag and brush off any sand clinging to them.

4. Locate the "eyes" or buds on each tuber. Cut the tuber so each portion has two or more eyes on it. Make each portion approximately 2 inches in length.

5. Work a 2- to 4-inch-thick layer of compost into the chosen planting site, or fill a large plastic planter with rich potting soil.

6. Create a 1-inch-deep planting hole for each elephant ear tuber. Orient the tubers horizontally in the planting holes. Space the tubers 10 to 12 inches apart.

7. Water each elephant ear tuber to a depth of 6 inches immediately after planting them. Water twice weekly to a depth of 2 inches after that.

8. Watch for foliage growth in two to three weeks. Spread a 2-inch-thick layer of mulch around the base of the elephant ear plant as soon as foliage emerges. Leave a 1-inch space between the mulch and the base of the plant.

9. Water the elephant ear plants every other day during the warm growing season. Run a garden hose at a low volume near the base of the plant for 15 to 20 minutes to thoroughly saturate the soil.

10. Feed the elephant ear plant once a month from spring until autumn using 5-10-10 ratio fertilizer. Follow the label instructions when applying the fertilizer to yield the best results.

11. Remove dead or yellowed leaves as they appear using a pair of sharp, clean anvil shears. Inspect the leaves for small tan spots, which indicate an anthracnose fungus infestation. Discard the effected leaves in a green waste bin rather than composting them. Treatment of anthracnose fungus is not needed as long as the leaves are removed promptly.

Tips & Warnings

• Elephant ears are suited to growing in all levels of shade, but some newer varieties tolerate full sun.

• Do not allow the soil to dry out around elephant ears. They are heavy drinkers and must be kept watered at all times.

References

• "American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation"; Alan Toogood; 2005
• Floridata: Caladium Bicolor
• University of Kentucky Horticulture Department: Kentucky Garden Flowers