Hi,
I just bought two Elephant Ear bulbs, or big hunks at Walmart.
There was no information about how to grow them.
Could someone on this list please advise me as to whether or not they like
full sun, partial sun, or shade? Do they like well drained soil or very
moist soil? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks for any and all answers.
Sandy

"Road Runner" wrote in message
. ..
Hi,
I just bought two Elephant Ear bulbs, or big hunks at Walmart.
There was no information about how to grow them.
Could someone on this list please advise me as to whether or not they like
full sun, partial sun, or shade? Do they like well drained soil or very
moist soil? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks for any and all answers.
Sandy

They like the same conditions as caladiums. That is, they need warmth, even
moisture, and shade to partial shade depending on where you are located.
Where are you and do you intend to grow the indoors or outdoors?

Wear a big floppy hat and nobody will notice your elephant ears!!!!

Of course, you already did a Google search and nothing has turned up on the
subject. Is that not the case?


"Road Runner" wrote in message
. ..
Hi,
I just bought two Elephant Ear bulbs, or big hunks at Walmart.
There was no information about how to grow them.
Could someone on this list please advise me as to whether or not they like
full sun, partial sun, or shade? Do they like well drained soil or very
moist soil? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks for any and all answers.
Sandy

They do well in sun, shade or partial sun/shade. Good drainage is always a
plus. Mine have always been in partial shade and do nicely. If planted in
full sun, I'd increase watering accordingly. My experience has been that they
won't begin to grow until the soil really warms up so I'd wait until summer
like weather in your area before planting them. I plant mine with about two
inches of soil covering the top of the bulbs. I must confess that I've never
fertilized my plants and they still are magnificent with leaves exceeding 36".
I can only imagine what a shot of fertilizer would do! Have fun with
them..they are a favorite of mine.

Road Runner wrote:

Hi,
I just bought two Elephant Ear bulbs, or big hunks at Walmart.
There was no information about how to grow them.
Could someone on this list please advise me as to whether or not they like
full sun, partial sun, or shade? Do they like well drained soil or very
moist soil? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks for any and all answers.
Sandy

actually, these grow in drainage ditches in the deep south, so I'm not
convinced that drainage is an issue
of course the soil there is sandy

wrote in message
...
They do well in sun, shade or partial sun/shade. Good drainage is always a
plus. Mine have always been in partial shade and do nicely. If planted in
full sun, I'd increase watering accordingly. My experience has been that
they
won't begin to grow until the soil really warms up so I'd wait until
summer
like weather in your area before planting them. I plant mine with about
two
inches of soil covering the top of the bulbs. I must confess that I've
never
fertilized my plants and they still are magnificent with leaves exceeding
36".
I can only imagine what a shot of fertilizer would do! Have fun with
them..they are a favorite of mine.

Road Runner wrote:

Hi,
I just bought two Elephant Ear bulbs, or big hunks at Walmart.
There was no information about how to grow them.
Could someone on this list please advise me as to whether or not they
like
full sun, partial sun, or shade? Do they like well drained soil or
very
moist soil? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks for any and all
answers.
Sandy

On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:05:13 GMT, "Road Runner" wrote:

Hi,
I just bought two Elephant Ear bulbs, or big hunks at Walmart.
There was no information about how to grow them.
Could someone on this list please advise me as to whether or not they like
full sun, partial sun, or shade? Do they like well drained soil or very
moist soil? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks for any and all answers.

My experience with them (in zone 7) is stick them in the ground and then just TRY to get rid of
them. I bought a couple of the giant "bulbs" from Wal-Mart, too. Around 7 or so years ago.
Looking at the bulbs, they seemed to have "eyes" like potatoes. So before planting them, I cored
off a couple of dozen "eyes" and planted them in those little 1 inch or so pots. Most of them did
indeed grow into tiny elephant ear plants (with leaves about the size of your pinky fingernail).
When those "eye" plants were big enough, I planted them outside, too.

To make a long story short, two years ago when I dug up the plants to move them, I had more than 100
bulbs of different sizes, most of which I gave away, and replanted a couple dozen of the bulbs. In
the spot where I dug up the bulbs, new plants grew up from bulbs that were apparently too small for
me to notice, and reached full height that same season. As big as those "bulbs" from Wal-Mart are,
they grow into much, much bigger clumps of bulb and root, then seperate into dozens of smaller
bulbs. The diameter of the largest stems by the end of the season should be much bigger than the
diameter of the bulb itself right now.