From Chicago, I planted some nice black elephant ears pretty late (August). They took well in my garden, so in October I cut them way back, put them in big pots in my basement, now they're growing like they're outside! The basement gets lots of natural light. Is this OK or do they *need* a dormant season?
TIA
They don't need a dormant period. However, if you stop watering them, they will go dormant. I just dug all of mine this week. I will store them in the basement in a box until next spring.
Thanks for the info. So, if I stop watering them, they'll just go dormant and not die completely?
My apologies for incorrectly posting under this thread.
Yes. They will go dormant. The top will die back, but the rhizome will survive. Here is a link to some information:
All caladiums (elephant ear is one of them) will go dormant regardless. I have some growing indoors and I watch them. When they start looking tired I cut back on watering and they go dormant on their own. The ones outside are hardy in the ground in my USDA Zone 8b.
Victoria
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