Various plants are known under the name "elephant ear". These include, for example, the giant-leaved arrowhead from the Araceae family (araceae) or Kalanchoe beharensis, which belongs to the thick-leafed family. Here, however, we are talking about Haemanthus albiflos.
The elephant's ear has distinctive flowers
This plant belongs to the Amarilly family and comes from South Africa. As a rule, the elephant ear is kept as a houseplant in this country, but likes to spend the summer in the fresh air in the garden. The part of the name "albiflos" indicates the white flowers. Most of the other plants in this genus have red flowers.
How to plant and care for the elephant ear?
Plant the elephant ear in well drained, loose soil. The plant is hardly suitable for outdoor planting because it is not hardy. A freshly purchased elephant's ear only needs to be repotted if it's obviously chipped or the pot doesn't have a drainage hole. Because the elephant's ear, which is otherwise very easy to care for, reacts quite sensitively to overly wet feet. The elephant ear is only fertilized once a month.
Repot your elephant ear in the spring about every two to three years. It should not be planted in a very large pot. If this is about three centimeters larger than the tuber of the plant, then that is completely sufficient. Too frequent repotting does more harm than good. The plant then grows slowly or does not flower.
The elephant ear in winter
An elephant ear likes to spend the winter at slightly cooler temperatures of around 12 °C to 15 °C. During this period it hibernates and prepares for flowering. Now water your elephant ear only a little and do without the fertilizer altogether.
But make sure that the plant gets enough light even in winter, otherwise the leaves will grow too much, but they will be pale and limp. When the heating air is dry, the elephant ear occasionally suffers from spider mites.
Elephant ear care in brief:
- easy-care
- not hardy
- water regularly
- Avoid waterlogging
- keep warm and bright
- put outside in summer
- hibernate at approx. 12 °C to 15 °C
tips
The exotic elephant ear is quite easy to care for and resistant to pests and plant diseases.