Elephant Ear plants, including Colocasia and Alocasia genera, are popular tropical foliage plants. Cherished for their large, dramatic leaves, they add a lush, exotic touch to gardens and indoor spaces, making them a favored choice. These plants are primarily grown for their bold foliage, which varies in color, size, and texture.
Understanding Elephant Ear Runners
Elephant ear “runners” are specialized horizontal stems that facilitate plant expansion. These structures are typically stolons, growing along or just below the soil surface, or sometimes rhizomes, which are underground stems. Stolons are slender and can extend a significant distance from the parent plant. They serve as a natural method of vegetative propagation, allowing the plant to spread and colonize new areas. As runners grow, they develop nodes from which new plantlets, or “pups,” emerge.
Identifying and Managing Runners
Runners typically emerge from the parent plant during active growth, especially once established. They appear as thin, root-like structures extending horizontally from the main plant’s base, sometimes just below the soil surface or even above ground. These runners can grow aggressively, spreading to establish new offspring.
Once identified, you have two primary management options: allowing them to grow or removing them. Allowing runners to grow naturally expands your elephant ear patch, creating a denser display. However, if you want to control spread or direct the plant’s energy towards the main foliage, removing runners is beneficial. To remove them, use a clean, sharp knife or pruning shears to cut the runner close to the parent plant. This concentrates the plant’s resources into existing growth, promoting larger leaves and overall vigor.
Propagating New Plants from Runners
Propagating new elephant ear plants from runners effectively expands your collection. The ideal time to separate a runner is when it has developed a small plantlet with a few leaves and a healthy root system. Carefully excavate around the plantlet’s base to expose its connection to the runner and ensure it has its own corm or tuber. Using a clean, sharp knife, cut to detach the plantlet from the main runner, aiming to include a section of the runner with a few nodes if possible.
Prepare the new plantlet for planting by trimming any damaged roots. For direct planting, select a well-draining potting medium, such as a mix of compost, perlite, and bark, which provides good aeration and moisture retention. Plant the runner section or plantlet shallowly, ensuring any nodes or the small corm are partially buried. After planting, water thoroughly to settle the soil around the roots. Place the newly potted plant in a warm area with bright, indirect light and maintain consistent soil moisture, avoiding overwatering.
Runner Production and Overall Plant Health
Runner production is a natural reproductive strategy for many elephant ear varieties, particularly Colocasia species. Some varieties, like ‘Black Runner’ Colocasia esculenta, are specifically named for their prolific runner production. While beneficial for natural spread, extensive runner production can sometimes impact the parent plant’s energy and vigor. If many new plantlets form, the parent plant’s resources are diverted, potentially leading to smaller leaves or reduced overall growth.
Conversely, Alocasia species, another type of elephant ear, generally do not produce true runners. They primarily grow from rhizomes or corms, forming clumps. Environmental factors influence runner development; plants grown in ample space with consistent moisture and sufficient nutrients are more likely to produce vigorous runners. Providing balanced fertilization during the growing season can help the parent plant sustain its own growth and the development of new runners.