when is the best time to divide my elephant ears plant and how do I do this.?

Question

I live in zone 7

Answer 1

I live in zone 7 also, unless you have a greenhouse to grow you elephant ears in, now is not the time to divide them. Your ears want grow during the winter, they will rot and if you dig them now you will only be disturbing the root system. Leave the mother plant alone for the winter and after you know we won't have anymore frost, then you can dig and divide them. I don't know what kind you have, but there are very few ears that make it through our winter. Especially the Black Magic,or Jet Black Wonder, they most always die or rot. If you have the Macrorrhiza a large ele. ear, these are stronger because the bulbs are larger,and can withstand the wet ground. I would mulch them with some pinestraw for the winter, and remove it after last frost. When you do divide and replant, do not bury them. Plant in the soil just at where the stem starts from the bulb, don't bury the stems. You could also dig them up now and store them in a cool dry spot and replant them in the spring like you do caladiums. Hope this helped. Good Luck

Answer 2

The Elephant's Ear plant grows outdoors in zones 22-24. Since you live in zone 7 you probably have the Elephant's Ear as a house plant.To propagate these you take stem cuttings in summer.With a non-climbing variety, shoots taken from the base of the stem should be used as cuttings.

Answer 3

If you have colocasias, now is the time to do it. I'm not sure if you have to dig them up every winter in your area like we must do here.

If you have xanthosomas or alocasias, I'd do it in spring.

p.s. I see another respondent mentioned toxicity. All aroids contain varying degrees of calcium oxylate crystals in their sap. It's not a poison, but it's a hell of an irritant! Luckily, the crystals are easily disolved by washing with vinegar or lemon juice; any mild acid will fix you up in no time at all.

Answer 4

anytime . just dig down and spilt and separate being mindful that you need to get as much root s on the rhizome your cutting .
they can be a ways down in garden bed you've got , so you might have a bit of work getting to the roots . good luck .
p.s. they may appear to 'faint ' --- but don't panic it'll come back soon enough ---- and don't forget if you break a leaf and get some sap on your hands or whatever , don't handle food or put your hand to your mouth or eyes --- it's pretty toxic eh ! ??