I have an elephant ear plant. I planted it about three months ago, and it has been limp for the last two days. What used to be open and spread out is floppy and all over itself. It's not yellow. Is it dead?
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It might not be pretty, but chances your bulb will live to see another season. Some more information might help to determine the cause of the "floppiness."– ychirea1Jul 14, 2015 at 23:17
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Did you have a wind storm/rain storm recently? I see very healthy plants that endured something mechanical recently. They'll probably recover very soon. Do you have a big dog that maybe plopped down on top of this plant? I wouldn't be too worried unless they don't pop back to normal.– stormyJul 15, 2015 at 1:32
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We had a lot of wind and it looks liek they maybe were shifted. Most of it is alive but everyday it's getting worse. It almost looks sunburnt and those area are gray and now are roting away.– DanielJul 16, 2015 at 19:57
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The top of the plant that looks very limp is mostly dead and paper thin. I'm wondering if I should just trim it back so more light can get into it.– DanielJul 16, 2015 at 19:58
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1 Answer
Hard to say without a photograph, add one if you can please.
I assume you're talking about Colocasia, commonly known as Elephant Ear. If the topgrowth is all flat to the ground, shrivelled, brown and crispy, then the topgrowth is probably dead - but these plants grow from tubers rather than ordinary roots, so its possible the tuber retains some life. Water well now, if you haven't been doing so, but some information about how you're growing the plant (pot, ground, sun, shade, your watering regime, type of soil) would be useful for a more complete answer.
UPDATED ANSWER:
So, not at all dead then! If where its growing dries out or isn't shady, that won't be helping it at all - they like rich soil and lots of water. They like heat, but being a tropical plant, they also like very high humidity and partial to full shade. If you didn't enrich the soil before planting, it won't get so large as it should, and particularly if it goes short of water or has too much sun. It actually looks as if something's sat on it or its exposed to a lot of wind from the right hand side, and its bending over as a reaction - but it might simply be its growing conditions are not ideal. Despite your fears, and whether its growing to its full potential or not, it most certainly is not dead.
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I think you're pretty much right. I might dig it up. This is going down the side of my driveway so it's probably too much wind, too much sun, a little far from the hose but I make sure to water it with my can. Still this happened so I might dig it up and put it by the pool or something.– DanielJul 20, 2015 at 20:13