The elephant's foot is known as a houseplant in this country and is also popular because of its unusual growth habit. It originally comes from Mexico, where it grows in tropical but dry forests. There it can grow up to nine meters tall.
How big does an elephant's foot get?
As a houseplant, the elephant foot reaches a maximum size of around 1.5 to 2 meters. However, in its natural habitat in Mexico it can grow up to 9 meters tall. Growth is very slow, but the plant can live up to 100 years.
How fast does an elephant's foot grow?
The elephant's foot is one of the slow-growing plants. For this reason, attractive specimens are also quite expensive in stores. It takes several years for an elephant's foot to tower over other houseplants. The growth per year is only a few centimeters. An elephant's foot can easily live 80 or 100 years. In the room it hardly grows taller than 1.5 m.
How do I optimally care for the elephant foot?
With good care and a carefully chosen location, you can give your elephant foot optimal growing conditions. It only needs a little water, but definitely a lot of light. Because he gets sunburned quickly. Windows facing (south)west or (south)east are therefore well suited for the elephant's foot. A window facing directly south should definitely provide shade during midday.
Can I influence growth?
Even if this seems logical, you should not fertilize the elephant's foot excessively, because abundant fertilizer does not automatically mean abundant growth. Rather the opposite is the case; over-fertilization can cause significant damage to your elephant's foot. It is a succulent plant and does not need a lot of nutrients or a lot of water.
A very large pot usually stimulates the growth of the roots. The elephant's foot then puts all of its energy into root growth and does not grow above ground. A suitable pot should be about two to three centimeters larger than the diameter of the trunk at its thickest point.
The most important things in brief:
- maximum size in Mexico: approx. 9 m
- maximum size as a houseplant: about 1.5 m, rarely up to 2 m
- very slow growing
- lives up to 100 years
Tip
Even with the best care, the elephant's foot grows slowly, but it gets very old.
