Elephant Ear

My elephant ear is thriving in this heat, this beauty was from a package of 3 from walmart that I had purchased in spring of 2011 and was lucky enough to over winter in a Tupperware tote in my hall closet, it amazed me when I checked it out in March and it had started to grow already, I did pot this up in my apartment in late March and then re-potted into the big pot in mid May, I swear its grows inches over night LOL... Please show & brag of your E.E.'s I'd love to see some bigger than mine
Christine

I love EE too. This is my first year growing them.
Kathy

love mine too.First year for these teeny plants from Wellspring. The blackmagic tripled in size overnight.
The second image is Mojito and last image is Teacup.leaves hold water and are born on tall stems

Kathy & ge yours are so beautiful, I love the blackmagic, I've got to get that next year. Thanks for sharing
Christine

Stupid question from EE newbie. Are these from bulbs & you have to lift them in the winter, like caladiums? Even though I'm in FL, we get freezes in North Central and I've learned the hard way that tropicals need to be protected down here. :(

Mine came as teeny plants from Wellspring Tropicals
I have never had any luck keeping tropicals over winter in the house and had a decent looking plant the second season. Its aluxury I afford myself and I order new plants and caladium bulbs every year.

I've always purchased mine as bulbs and I do dig them up every fall and over winter them where ever I can find the coolest place, in the bottom of my fridge works good for me, I've even had them survive in a hall closet.
Christine

GE, this is all your fault! ;) Now I want to branch into EE's and caladiums after seeing your combos.

Have you guys ever seen the Thai Giant EE?!?! My husband wants me to grow one of those. :::rolling eyes::: I think I better start small...

lucky you. I wish my house had such a space. Too dry in winter. I cut costs in other places.
I do know its possible to bring the alocasias ( EE ) in the house as house plants but my area isnt able to support as many plants as I have.

Give a look at Wellspring thats where my teeny plants came from. First year ordering them.Next year I will get the order early and repot so they will be bigger when I put them in planters in late May.
I cant wait til July to get a sized plant that looks good in the combos.I will also plant a light colored something behind the Blackmagic.It really is black.
http://www.wellspringgardens.org/servlet/StoreFront

I was scared to get the huge EE's.
I do believe in starting small.
Its "up north" here and the environment looks wierd with too many tropicals,just my thinking not gospel.

My EE's came from walmart. I grabbed up a few when they first put them out for $2.50 I believe. I put them in a dish pan of dirt in a sunny window. They a a few leaves when I put them outside and for my Va zone they are pretty large for the first week of July.

My neighbor kept her walmart ears in the ground and they actually are leafing out - slowly but still leafing. I think it's because we had a very mild winder but they did survive.

I will always buy the walmart EE's now that I see how large they can get. The one leaf in the pot by the tree with millionbells around the base is one huge leaf!
Kathy

ge, THANK you so much for the link to Wellspring, I've never seen such a variety and they have lots of banana's also which I'd like some of them I have one I just got and love it.

Denise, I have seen pictures of the Giant Thai, you could have that easily in Florida, have you any banana's plants?

Christine

you are welcome. I am going to try more tropicals next year. Trouble is the season is nearly over before they really get going here. It needs a lot of thought.

jasminesmom - unfortunately I'm in N. Central FL and we get freezing temps each year (I learned that the hard way the 1st year I bought tropicals). Another 100+ miles south & I'd be safe. ;)

I may just have to get some and experiment this winter...

DD is goint to try to overwinter the blackmagic as a houseplant.
I'll keep you [osted to see how that goes.

AHHHHHHHHHHH! I had such a great reply and lost it when I went back up in the thread to look at the pictures.

Caroline, Kathy and Ge,

All the plants are beautiful. I bought some bulbs from Lowe's and started them in gallon pots in March in my potting room, temps 65 - 80 degrees. I didn't put them under lights and did not water them much. I didn't want to make them rot. They are just getting pretty. Not like any of yours though. My caladium are just starting to leaf out and I started them in March also. (I can grow very nice coleus from seed). :)
I know that i am not doing something that I need to. Help. Next year has to be a better start.
Please tell me what you do before storing them in the tupperware. I would love to be able to overwinter my EE's and Caladium's. I did well with overwintering my begonia tubers.

Ge, please tell me what the plant in the Rt lower area of the first picture is. It is very unusual, I love it.

Keep sending pictures. They are very impressive and makes me want to do better.

Marie

Thats a favorite of mine.
I was looking for a wow drama thing and it jumped into my kart.
Kalenchoe Flap Jack. It will come inside with me. I planted the whole nursery pot in the planter as It doesnt require much water and I didnt want to over water it.

Not an EE, but if you like big leaves, these are four footers.

Al

WOW

OK, Al, what is that & can I grow it in Florida? ;)

Thanks,
That looks like a caster bean plant. Is it?
You are in the same climate as I am but I don't think I could ever get them to grow that big. How are you doing it?
I have the purple leaf variety and the leaves are about 1' wide, the plant about 3'tall and growing bigger every day, I love them. I am excited to see how tall mine get, they are very beautiful. Your brug is very nice also,

It's Ricinus communis (castor bean). That's an early August (Aug 8) picture, so that plant had another 6-8 weeks to grow. It was more than 15 ft tall before the frost got it in late September. They were grown from seeds planted around May 15. I usually plant 2 seeds per hole & cull the weaker of the 2 seedlings. No special care required, other than trying to keep them from getting too dry. The seed pods are bright red & covered in spikes, reminiscent of a horse chestnut.

Al

Denise, you will not have to lift the EE bulbs in Ocala. A frost may take the leaves, I was in Ocala this past January and saw some fried foliage, but the bulb will be fine, your soil does not freeze. Mine have been in the ground or in pots outside for many years.

Absolutely awesome Castor Beans Tapla. Although most of the plants in my garden could be considered poisonous, the castor beans are the only ones I am afraid of with the grand children and dogs. Ricin is bad stuff. I still grow them to help control the moles but I am cautious.

Thanks, Ardesia!

I planted some castor beans but got a very late start. My babies are only about 12 inches tall. I will get a better start on them next year - that is amazing!
Kathy

Al, I would love some of your seeds this fall. I am going to save seed from my purple leaf ones. Maybe we can make a trade?
Marie

Great picture Al, one more plant I'm adding to my wish list for next year !!
Christine

Lol - I was going to apologize to the OP for almost hijacking the thread, when I realized you ARE the OP. The picture is several years old, and I no longer have seeds, but I DO pick up seeds from the farm market where I bought them for friends and relatives that want them. If you remember that you want seeds next spring, just let me know and I'll see you get them. They should be sown when soil reaches 55* or near your last expected frost date. They don't take off until the soil warms, but then you can almost SEE them grow. I've grown them taller than the top of a basketball backboard many times - even had my picture in the paper one year standing next to the plants. A spot that's sheltered a little from the wind, and in full sun is best.

I had an EE that I over-wintered in my unheated garage last year. It was one of the tubers you can buy at nurseries/BB Stores. I NEVER would have dreamed it would make it through the winter - wasn't planning on it making it, but it did .... with flying colors, and it's doing fine. The only thing I wonder at is how root-bound it must be. The container is prolly 6 gallons +, but it makes a LOT of roots. I also got a Thai Giant from a friend (nursery owner) who ordered a bunch for friends. That, I have in a container (in the 5:1:1 mix) that holds at least a 25 gallons of soil. It's starting to come on now in the heat, so we'll see how it does.

Best luck!

Al

I have castor beans available. If you would like some dmail me. I just didn't get mine started early enough but I've grown them in the past and they were huge, but not quite as large as Al's.

Al what type of soil do you have? Mine were grown in very rich, soil when they were planted years ago. Have do you think contributed to the huge growth other than getting the plants started inside early

Kathy

Al, with all your knowledge who could even think of you hijacking a thread, I wish I knew all that you know about plants, so I say KEEP ON HIJACKING !!!!!! Thank you for your offer,I may take you up on the beans next spring.

Kathy, thank you for your offer but it's too late for me to start now with maybe 2 months of summer left for us, we call it crazy NY weather
Christine

jasmine you could save the beans for next spring. I feel sure they will be fine. My beans were from last years crop that i received in a trade. They will still be fresh enough

They're from seed planted in the ground. I plant on our last frost date (5/15) to give the soil a little chance to warm up, but they don't do much until the soil temp is above about 60*. I don't think I even fertilized the plants in the picture. Our soil is loamy & fairly rich from adding compost & mulching every other year with a couple of inches of pine bark fines. That site gets full sun from about 8AM until 3 or 4PM. I plant them about an inch deep & cover loosely with soil. Thasaboutit.

You could start some now if you wanted to. They might not have time for seeds to mature in NY though. If I can still get seeds, or you find them somewhere else, maybe you'll have enough for spring - don't let the seeds freeze. When you plant - plant 2 seeds per planting hole & cull the weaker of the 2 plants.

Al