a dumb question

How many stalks will one elephant ear tuber send up? For a lush pot would you use one bulb or several?

If it is a bulb you just bought, most of them will give 1 stem. You would need a big pot to have more than 1 bulb in there. Ofcourse it depends on the size bulb. The upright variety will go best in a pot or from the regular E. Ear the size 5-7 or 7-9 you can put 3 in a 14-16 inch pot or whiskey barrel. They do require moisture.

It depends on the tuber, but one round tuber (say canteloupe sized) will easily make 15-20 leaves in one season. Usually one central stem grows which splits into 3-4 leaves and they all develop from here. The small oblong tubers (sweet potato sized) usually produce 4-6 leaves in a season maximum. How big was the tuber ?

I placed a canteloupe sized tuber in a 10 gallon pot and it was way too little. They dried out in no time. I would recommend a 25 G or larger pot of very well moisture retentive soil if you are planning on growing them in pots. This size pot can take 3-4 of the smaller (sweet potato sized) tubers.

Below a picture of a larger tuber

This is mine from last summer. 30 days after it started to come up. One bulb barely larger than a softball.