Read a green guide about the elephant ear plant with information about flowering here. This is how you properly care for an alocasia. Beautiful varieties for living rooms and offices.
How do I properly care for the elephant ear plant?
The elephant ear plant (Alocasia macrorrhizos) requires a bright to partially shaded location, high humidity, permeable substrate and regular fertilization. It is important to avoid waterlogging to prevent root rot. With good care it can grow up to 2.50 m high.
Profile
- Scientific name: Alocasia macrorrhizos
- Family: Arum family (Araceae)
- Synonyms: giant-leaved arrowleaf, alocasia
- Occurrence: Tropics
- Growth type: Perennial
- Growth height: 1.80 m to 2.50 m
- Flower: Flask
- Fruits: Berries
- Leaf: heart-shaped, arrow-shaped
- Roots: Rhizomes
- Toxicity: slightly toxic
- Use: Houseplant
Bloom
An elephant ear blooms as a monoecious, separate-sex perennial. Male and female flowers sit on a long, yellowish-white spadix covered by a single bract. Male flowers develop in the upper area, the female flowers are in the lower half of the bulb. The male zone is 3 cm to 7 cm long, with a diameter of 2 cm. With a length of 1 cm to 2 cm, the female zone is significantly shorter. The inflorescences can only rarely be admired in indoor cultivation.
Fruits
In the tropical natural location, nocturnal insects take care of the pollination of the tiny flowers. The fruits form as scarlet red berries with a diameter of 8 millimeters.
Roots
The giant-leaved arrowleaf pushes its mighty stem from strong rhizomes with tuberous thickenings. In this respect, the plant differs from other arum plants, which sometimes sprout from an edible tuber, such as the well-known devil's tongue (Amorphophallus konjac).
Toxicity
In the tropics, elephant ear is grown as a food crop. The starchy roots, fleshy stems and leaves are edible. Fatally, if prepared improperly, there is a risk of serious symptoms of poisoning. In the worst case, the esophagus becomes severely irritated and swells. Various types of elephant ear also contain toxic hydrogen cyanide. In view of these uncertainties, we strongly advise against culinary experiments with alocasia.
Leaf
The elephant ear plant owes its name to the ornamental, evergreen leaves. These features characterize the sheet:
- Size: up to 120 cm long and 50 cm wide
- Leaf stem: up to 130 cm long
- Shape: heart-shaped, obtuse-triangular or arrow-shaped
- Leaf edge: smooth or slightly wavy
- Arrangement: opposite
- Caution: leaf tissue contains slightly toxic latex
- Special feature: largest, uncompound leaf in the plant kingdom
Don't be surprised if you see the furious alocasia leaves in the hardware store soon. The tropical beauty is so easy to care for that Toom, Obi and Hornbach have many varieties of elephant ear suitable for beginners in their standard range.
Video: Easy-care foliage plant from the hardware store
Planting elephant ear
Hobby gardeners do not invest money in purchasing expensive Alocasia from specialist retailers. You can propagate an elephant ear from pieces of roots and plant it in a decorative pot. Spring is the right time to ask indoor gardener friends who are currently repotting a giant-leaved arrowleaf and cutting back the thick rhizomes. Read how the green project succeeds in the following sections:
Propagate
Bully rhizome pieces from 3 to 5 centimeters in size are well suited. At least two eyes should be visible on a root segment. We recommend a mix of coconut soil and lava granules as a growing substrate. How to proceed:
- Pour the substrate into a pot and moisten it
- Form a hollow with a spoon or stick
- Place the root piece in the hollow and cover it thinly with soil (€6.00 on Amazon)
- Place the plastic bag or glass hood over the growing pot
- Keep slightly moist in a partially shaded window seat at 20° to 25° Celsius
If a rhizome sprouts, the cover can be removed.
Plants
With a growth height of 25 to 30 centimeters, the young elephant ear begins its life as a representative houseplant. Use a 5- to 6-inch planter with holes in the bottom for drainage. The right substrate is nutrient-rich, permeable and has a pH value of 5.5 to 6.5. This is how you plant an alocasia correctly:
- To prevent waterlogging, cover the bottom of the pot with expanded clay or lava granules as drainage
- Fill the substrate up to half the height of the container
- Plant the elephant ear as deep as before in the growing pot
- Penetrating in soft water
A pouring rim of 2 to 3 centimeters is advantageous. If you fill expanded clay balls into the saucer, irrigation water can collect in it without causing harmful waterlogging in the root ball.
Location
As a houseplant, the elephant ear prefers a bright to partially shaded location without direct sun all year round. Varieties with solid green leaves can also be placed in the shade. Temperatures of 20° to 25° Celsius are perfect and do not fall below 18 degrees at any time of the year. In living spaces, place a humidifier or water-filled bowls next to the rainforest plant to create higher humidity. The alocasia feels extremely comfortable in humid spa rooms, such as an indoor pool, sauna or bathroom.
Excursus
Which elephant ear would it be?
A colorful dance of magnificent house plants goes by the name Elephant Ear. Apart from the genus Alocasia, there are the aroids Taro (Colocasia esculenta) and Tannia (Xanthosoma sagiitifolium), which sprout from an edible tuber. The brood leaf species Kalanchoe beharensis is also known to indoor gardeners as elephant ear.
Care for elephant ear
Care is characterized by high water and nutrient requirements with modifications in winter. Repotting is on the care plan every year. Any problems that arise can be solved easily and without chemical aids. Read important tips for keeping elephant ears in top shape in the following sections:
Pouring
The decorative giant leaves evaporate a lot of moisture. Water consumption is correspondingly high. Keep the core of the substrate slightly moist all year round. The soil should be 2 centimeters dry on the surface before you water an alocasia. Let the irrigation water slowly run onto the root disc until the first drops run into the saucer. To prevent waterlogging from forming, pour away the accumulated water after 10 minutes.
An elephant ear is watered with room temperature, low-lime water, ideally rainwater or well-stale tap water. Additionally, spray the leaves regularly with soft water, which makes the rainforest beauty very comfortable and keeps cunning spider mites at bay.
Fertilize
From April to October, add a liquid fertilizer for green plants to the water every week. In the period from November to March you can either stop the nutrient supply or fertilize once a month.
Wintering
An elephant ear will be happy to keep you company all year round in the living room, winter garden and office. There are no plans to move to winter quarters. Only the care is adapted to the changing conditions during the dark, cold season. This is how you properly overwinter the giant-leaved arrowleaf:
- Watering more economically without risking waterlogging or dry bales
- Spray more frequently when the heating air is dry
- Do not fertilize or add half the concentration of liquid fertilizer to the irrigation water every 4 weeks
- Observe minimum temperature of 18° Celsius
Lack of light in winter causes fading green leaves. In this case, a daylight lamp solves the problem.
Repotting
Alocasia can be repotted when the planters are completely rooted. With a growth of up to 35 centimeters, an elephant's ear becomes too cramped in its current bucket every year. The best time to move to a larger pot is in spring when budding begins. Fresh substrate is pre-fertilized and contains nutrients for around four weeks. Only when this supply is used up do you administer the first liquid fertilizer for this season.
Solve problems
Care errors, diseases and pests make life difficult for an alocasia. The problems can be recognized by the leaves or roots. The following table lists typical damage patterns with information about common causes and gives tips for solving problems:
| malicious image | Cause | Countermeasure |
|---|---|---|
| yellow leaves | Waterlogging | repotting |
| light spots, brown spots | Spider mites | shower, spray soap solution |
| Root rot | Fungal infestation | unpot, dust roots with cinnamon |
| brown leaf tips | Drought stress | Mist leaves daily |
Yellow leaves are not always an indication of waterlogging. Even an evergreen elephant ear leaf doesn't live forever. If you can rule out waterlogging as the cause, the alocasia will gradually pull in the affected leaf. Wait until the foliage has wilted completely before picking or cutting it off.
Popular varieties
You can conjure up a cozy jungle feeling in your living room, office and winter garden with an imaginative combination of decorative varieties:
- 'Alocasia macrorrhiza 'Stingray': extravagant elephant ear variety whose leaves are reminiscent of a ray.
- Alocasia zebrina 'Tiger': heart-shaped leaves sit on green and white striped petioles.
- Alocasia 'Polly' (Alocasia amazonica): boasts arrow-shaped, dark green leaves and distinctive, white leaf veins.
- Alocasia gageana 'Variegata': Rarity with green-yellow variegated, oval-heart-shaped leaves.
- Alocasia lauterbachiana: delights with burgundy-red, elongated, arrow-shaped decorative leaves.
- Alocasia 'Portodora': graceful elephant ear with rich green, decoratively grained arrow leaves.
- Alocasia cucullata: brings a refreshing touch to your living room design with light green leaves.
- Alocasia calidora: Indian elephant ear with dark green foliage, ideal for living room and office.
FAQ
Is an elephant ear poisonous?
The green parts of the plant are permeated by a slightly poisonous milky sap. Direct skin contact may cause itching and eczema. For this reason, please wear protective gloves when planting and caring for an elephant ear plant.
How to propagate alocasia?
Alocasia is easiest to propagate by dividing the rhizomes. The best time is in spring when the tropical plant is repotted. Cut the runners into small pieces and plant them in pots with coconut soil. At temperatures of around 25° Celsius in a partially shaded location, the rhizome pieces root within a short time. It is advantageous to have high humidity, which you can create with a glass hood or plastic bag.
My elephant ear has yellow leaves. What to do?
Yellow leaves can be attributed to various causes. Waterlogging most often causes the leaves to yellow. Repotting into dry substrate immediately solves the problem. The elephant ear plant also reacts to a location that is too cold with temperatures below 18° Celsius with yellow leaves. If even a single alocasia leaf turns yellow, it is morbid fading. Wait for this process until the leaf has largely withered and cut it off at the petiole end.
