Is it making room for more leaves?

These large-leaved plants can grow quite quickly and their production of leaves is prolific. Ask an Expert is made up of groups and individual experts. You may always know when your children are ailing, but sometimes it can be difficult to see if a plant is feeling poorly until it is too late. You said you have a sunny window – again because they are fast growers, they need lots of energy from photosynthesis.

Not enough sun? The New Sunset Western Garden Book; Kathleen Norris Brenzel, Editor. They generally prefer to be outside with plenty of light in summer months and indoors in winter. Common Hydrangea Diseases : Tips On Treating A Sick Hydrangea, Tomato Seedling Problems : Learn About Diseases Of Tomato Seedlings, Radish Cercospora Management: Treating Cercospora Leaf Spots On Radish Leaves, Herbal Vinegar Recipes – How To Infuse Vinegar With Herbs, Fruit Flavored Vinegar Recipes – Learn About Flavoring Vinegar With Fruit, Home Canning Mushrooms – Tips For Storing Mushrooms In Jars, Wilting Swiss Chard Plants: Why Is My Swiss Chard Wilting, Bristlecone Pine Information – Planting Bristlecone Pines In Landscapes, What Is Hellebore Black Death: Recognizing Black Death Of Hellebores, Chimera In Onions – Learn About Plants With Onion Leaf Variegation, Pressing Flowers: Bringing The Outdoors In Year Round, Halloween In The Garden: When Plants Become Dormant For Winter, Haunted Houseplants – Top Houseplants For Halloween, Giant Pumpkin Growing: Life Lessons Through Gardening. When aphid populations are large, the leaves become discolored and often wilt, and growth is stunted. Or are the tiny bugs killing it?

Stunted leaves may indicate a lack of a macro-nutrient. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. Hello and thank you for your response. Elephant ears are usually robust plants which are very hearty. It has taken most of them out, although they do come back, but they are getting less and less. Sign up for our newsletter. Should just keep it inside? The easiest way to get rid of aphids is to blast them off the leaves with a strong stream of water. I washed them off, and then I applied an organic insecticidal soap to the leaves every 2 weeks or so.

One of the most widely grown food crops is an elephant ear.

Pests like aphids and mealy bugs can cover a plant in days. When the fungus is in full bloom, there is also fuzzy growth. In fact, the microorganisms love water so much that this disease is often simply called "water rot… It is not life threatening but does mar the leaf appearance with numerous holes. You'll usually see them in groups on leaves and stems, and unlike other insects that congregate on leaves, aphids do not move quickly when disturbed. They have longs legs, antennae and piercing mouth parts. Adult aphids are generally wingless. If you can upload a good close up picture of the pest I … They weaken plants by sucking on the stems and leaves. This was about 3 weeks ago, and it had a mark on the leaf, most likely from the bugs. I have an elephant ear plant and I can't figure out what is wrong with it. She works as both a writer and author and enjoys writing articles on many different topics. They can be feed each time you water and respond well to foliar high nitrogen fertilizers. If you have a Colocasia, you probably know that they are not at all frost tolerant, require regular, even water and a full sun location. Like fungi, they spread on water and thrive in very wet soils. Aphids often spread plant diseases, including dasheen mosaic virus. Yes, I agree that keeping it separate from your other plants until you can confirm/treat for mites would probably be in the best interest of your other plants. Signs of the virus include distorted, yellow leaves with a feathery mosaic pattern. Tropical elephant's ear (Colocasia esculenta) has huge arrowhead-shaped leaves measuring up to 2 1/2 to 3 feet in length, depending on the cultivar. Unlike with other vegetation, the elephant ear can't be dried out to kill the fungus. I already had to cut off one large ear, because it started drooping and I came home to its stalk completely broken in half because it could no longer support the weight. Tiny black fruiting bodies are also observed. You might also consider whether your pot is big enough. This is known as taro, but there are numerous varieties of the plant, Colocasia, many of which are simply ornamental. button button The ... Aphids look like small green, white, yellow, or black spots that can appear on all parts of a plant.

To get rid of the mites, try rinsing the plant thoroughly with a good blast of water, or following the label directions, treat with a specific miticide.