Plant guide:ðŋ Colocasia (Taro / Elephant Ear)
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Growth
Dormancy Die-Back in Colocasia
Commonly affects: Colocasia esculenta (Taro / Elephant Ear)
Leaves yellow and die back entirely, sometimes leaving what looks like a completely dead plant, typically as temperatures drop in autumn.
Potential Causes
- 1Natural seasonal dormancy â Colocasia is often grown from a corm that die back above ground in cooler weather and regrows the following season, especially in temperate climates where it's grown as a seasonal plant
- 2Cold temperatures triggering the natural dormancy response
- 3Mistaking normal dormancy for the plant having died entirely
Solution Steps
- 1Allow the foliage to die back naturally rather than trying to force continued growth
- 2Lift and store the corm in a cool, dry place over winter if grown outdoors in a climate with frost, replanting in spring
- 3Keep an indoor-grown corm's soil barely moist (not fully dry, not wet) during its dormant rest period
- 4Resume normal watering and feeding once new growth emerges in spring
Prevention Tip
Complete die-back to what looks like a dead plant is normal dormancy for many Colocasia varieties â the corm is very likely still alive and will resprout in spring.
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