Newbie questions on EE's

I bought a couple of EE's this spring from a big box store, I was not even sure about how to plant them til I received help from this forum. I planted one each in the largest pots I have. Quickly found out they needed water every day, and late in season figured out they looked better and grew better with a little liquid fertilizer every other week or so.

Now I am in zone 6 and I had cut plants off and moved pots into my garage before killing freeze. Due to my job and such I let them set for a couple of weeks til today. I carried pots outside and dumped them out. I have am used to storing bulbs and roots for winter storage,but have never raised EE's. I was pulling roots from the soil trying to get to the big bulb I had planted in spring. I found that where all the stems had came up there was a small bulb growing. I ended up pulling on leaf stems and pulled the baby from the original bulb. Then when I was working on the other pot something had eaten part of the "mother" bulb and it had babies around it also. these babies pretty much fell away from the "mother" bulb.

My questions are
1.Will these smaller baby bulbs be okay by them self or do they have to be a certain size to be on thier own? I found a couple that are about the size of a golf ball.
2. What is the best way to store them for winter?
3. Will the mother bulb that has been eaten on be any account or is it done for?

thanks.

taj

ps. Here is a picture of my EE's

Taj I have lots of EE's but I've never stored mine for winter, I simply bring the pots in and place in a sunny location. but I do know if they are at least golfball sized they can be stored like amaryllis, or other bulbs

Taj, I hope you didn't miss the sticky at the top of the aroids forum regarding storing of EE's over winter. Some are easy, some are more difficult. You need to know what kinds you have to make the best decisions. Like "Witch" some of mine get precious window space while others get put in the basement (still in pots) and ignored until the spring.

I'm just a pest and try to grow everything in the house and annoy these guys here with questions sometimes, but I'm always trying to challenge normal plant boundaries

I saw the sticky, but I do not know what kind I have. When I bought them the tag said Elephant Ear, period, no other name at all.

taj

If you post a pic on this forum, it can be ID'd pretty easy.

I posted a pic in the first message of the EE's I have. I just wondered if I should put the bulbs in peat moss for winter or replant in some dry potting mix.

I have really enjoyed them this year and do not want them to dry up or die over winter. i have them in a heated garage now just laying on floor drying off after I hosed dirt from around thier roots, and like I said i had pulled all the baby bulbs away from the mother bulb on one of them leaving one baby attached. I can take pics of the bulbs if that would help in answering my questions. I hate to be stupid but I really do not want to screw this up. I have really enjoyed them and next year I think I am planting them in the ground unless I can get some huge pots for them.

taj

Taj, Sorry I missed the pic in the earlier part of the thread. Those look like C. esculenta to me, but I am way far from being an expert at IDing EE's. However, you may want to consider doing a "share the risk" approach. Take a couple of the smaller plants/bulbs, plant them up and put them in a bright window. That way, you can keep a couple small plants going through the winter. Put the rest in peat moss in a pot and set it in a cool corner of your basement or garage that does not freeze, on the floor. My basement has a concrete floor and is somewhat damp, which provides a good environment for storing dormant plants and bulbs. It is not so dry that they die nor so wet that they rot.

Doing this, you will find out if you can store them dormant but have some if they do not make it in storage. Indoors in the winter, I try to always keep a little water in the bottom of the saucer the pot sits in. I want them alive, but not growing too much, so do not fertilize.

I like the jungle look in the house so they get tons of light water and fertilizer. but this year I am trying storing some for the first year ever because I havesome amaryllis bulbs I want to try and don't have quit enough room in there for that many very large pots

Hi taj, Heres what I've been doing for years, after the bulbs dry, even the babies, I wrap them in newspaper and put them in a cardboard box in a cool location. I do check them over the winter to make sure none have rotted. Works great for me, no muss no fuss :>)
Christine

thanks christine I think I am going to try this and hope it will work for me also.

taj