10/13/2026
THE TIME IS SOON
Your elephant ears don't have to be a one-season fling. Those giant, dramatic leaves are powered by a big underground corm, and with a little effort in fall, you can save it and grow the same plant again next year instead of buying new ones every spring.
Colocasia esculenta is a tropical plant, generally reliable in the ground year-round only in USDA hardiness zones 8 through 11. Some gardeners in zone 7 get them to return with heavy mulch, but it's a gamble. Anywhere colder, the corm will rot or freeze if left outdoors. The good news is that overwintering them is straightforward, and University of Illinois Extension lays out a simple process that works well.
Timing matters more than most people realize. Dig too early and you cut the plant off before it has finished storing energy for next year. Wait too long and the corm risks damage from cold, frozen soil. The sweet spot is right after a light frost has damaged the foliage. Once that happens, plan to dig within a few days, since frost-damaged tissue opens the door to rot-causing organisms.
When you dig, start several inches away from the plant with a shovel or digging fork. Elephant ear corms can be surprisingly large, so give yourself plenty of room. Loosen the soil all the way around, then lift the entire clump. Any cuts, gouges, or skinned areas on the corm become entry points for disease, so go slowly. Brush off the loose soil and trim back the foliage. Wearing gloves is a smart move here, since the sap contains calcium oxalate crystals that can irritate skin.
Next comes curing, which is the step people skip most often. Elephant ears need about 1 to 2 weeks to dry before storage. Set them somewhere well ventilated, out of direct sun, ideally around 60 to 70°F. A garage shelf or a screen in a sheltered spot works nicely. Curing toughens the outer layer and helps the corm resist rot over the long winter ahead.
Before you pack anything away, inspect each corm carefully. Anything soft, mushy, or showing signs of pests should be discarded, because one bad corm can spread problems to the rest. Also resist the urge to divide them now. Fresh cuts invite rot, so save any dividing for spring.
For storage, nestle the corms in 2 to 3 inches of peat moss, coconut coir, vermiculite, sawdust, or sand inside a breathable container like a cardboard box or a crate. Try to keep them from touching each other so rot can't travel from one to the next. Here is where elephant ears differ from some other tender bulbs: they prefer storage around 55°F, a bit warmer than dahlias or cannas. An unheated garage in a cold climate may get too chilly, so a basement or cool interior room is often a better choice.
Check on them every few weeks through winter. Remove anything that starts to rot. If a corm begins to look shriveled or wrinkled, lightly mist the storage material with a spray bottle, but go easy, since too much moisture causes more losses than dryness does.
When spring arrives and frost danger has passed, replant outdoors, or pot them up indoors a few weeks early for a head start. You'll be rewarded with those same enormous leaves, often from a corm that has grown even bigger than the year before.
