Potting elephant ear pups

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I suppose that technically elephant ear "pups", or offshoots, should be called "calves", I guess. And one of the good things, and bad things, about successfully growing elephant ears is that, like any plant that grows from a bulb, they reproduce by offsets. Quite a lot, in fact!

It's a good thing from the point of view of having a garden that fills in nicely, it's a bad thing when the crowding gets to be so bad that none of the plants really have a good chance to grow. I was noticing a fair amount of crowding this past month so I decided it was time to do some thinning. You know, like when you're planting carrots. But it pained me to throw the little plants away. So a friend of mine gave me a lot of little pots, I got some potting soil, and started the "elephant ear rescue".

Since these plants love water, I found some little plastic trays to put the pots in. I am keeping my eye on the water level, as they should never go dry. They will grow to be monsters, so it's just temporary, of course. I am trying to give them away to friends. If you have a shady area that stays wet all of the time, or an area on your patio where you can put a big pot, come and get some. Be sure to allow several feet, though. They're small, but they won't stay that way!
Full-grown elephant ears in The Tropical Paradise last year

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