Page 2 | Elephant ear in trouble!

BooseysMom · 2023-05-04T07:39:31+00:00

I love this plant so much but it has developed brown scorch marks on its leaves. See photo. Does anyone know what it is? It's in a centrally heated room, not in the sun, and i spray it regularly. Thanks

ConflictofInterest · 18/01/2025 10:02

@SuePine73 Yes it can be any time of year if they've been kept as a houseplant as the temperature/humidity shift could be when you switch the heating off for spring or don't water them when you go on holiday for 2 weeks in summer for example or something like that. I'm just saying often they look dead but are actually dormant and will grow back if you rest the corm somewhere dark and dry and re-plant it in a few months time. I grow mine outdoors on the patio in the summer, they don't seem to mind the sunlight, and I usually use the clay beads and keep them in water and they grow fat white roots that grow into the water reservoir but they always die back into the corm once Autumn comes, they are very cold sensitive, but I store the corms and re-plant them in the spring. Obviously sometimes they are just dead but it's worth a try.

radiatorcat · 18/01/2025 11:06

I found this video helpful.

SuePine73 · 18/01/2025 17:49

ConflictofInterest · 18/01/2025 10:02

@SuePine73 Yes it can be any time of year if they've been kept as a houseplant as the temperature/humidity shift could be when you switch the heating off for spring or don't water them when you go on holiday for 2 weeks in summer for example or something like that. I'm just saying often they look dead but are actually dormant and will grow back if you rest the corm somewhere dark and dry and re-plant it in a few months time. I grow mine outdoors on the patio in the summer, they don't seem to mind the sunlight, and I usually use the clay beads and keep them in water and they grow fat white roots that grow into the water reservoir but they always die back into the corm once Autumn comes, they are very cold sensitive, but I store the corms and re-plant them in the spring. Obviously sometimes they are just dead but it's worth a try.

There was a very interesting thread on reddit about this. I don't know if we're allowed to link to a thread on reddit so I will tell you what someone said. He or she wrote that in the wild Alocasias don't go dormant. When grown in tropical or subtropical conditions they don't go dormant. Not unless something happens to stop them growing like a drought.

When we try to grow them in the UK they will not thrive when light levels decrease or the temperature decreases. Their foliage begins to suffer and the best thing to do with them (unless you want to try growing them in artificial conditions) is to not water them until next year.

The foliage will die away but they will still be alive at the roots and can start regrowing when watering recommences in spring. So he or she is saying that dormancy isn't something they evolved to do. He or she could be wrong but it seems to make sense although I'm sure there will be many people on YouTube or wherever who will tell you they need to go dormant.