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I have a plant of unknown species on my closed balcony. Since the last few months it seems to vegetate and starts to lose its leaves without producing new ones. For some time there was some white powder spread over the whole plant, but it seems to be gone now. Anyone have any idea what plant it is and what could be wrong?

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Thanks for your help!

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I think its a variety of Colocasia, or Elephant Ear plant, and the pot it's in is way too small for it. These plants can get up to 9 feet in a season - they grow from a tuber, and are tropical, so in temperate regions, will be planted outside in the ground once all risk of frost is over. Given the pot is too small, its likely the symptoms you're seeing on the leaves are due to this, because there's no room for the roots to develop properly. You would need a much, much larger pot over time to enable its correct growth, but it isn't really a suitable subject for a balcony, unless the area of the balcony is very large. If you live in a tropical area, the plant won't die back in winter either.

Some information in the link below about these plants, though the one displayed in the picture is a particular variety with darker leaves - note also that Elephant Ear is a name also applied to Alocasia, a plant that's closely related and not dissimilar in growth habit.

http://landscaping.about.com/od/unusualplants1/p/elephant_ears.htm

With regard to the 'white powder', it sounds as if it had powdery mildew and this infection is often related to dryness at the roots of the plant - it wouldn't be difficult for the plant to get too dry given its in such a small pot. If it happens again, spray the leaves thoroughly, top and bottom with a solution of 1 part cow's milk to 9 parts water.

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  • Thanks for your detailed response. Sadly we live in an area where it freezes in the winter so I have to go with a bigger pot and maybe i can find another place for it. Thanks again!
    – Sosian
    Sep 26, 2015 at 11:52
  • Well if you have to store the tuber over winter somewhere frost free, just start it off again in a pot next year, and pot it up into something bigger as it grows, even if it gets large, it will die down when it gets cold again, so won't always be taking up a lot of room.
    – Bamboo
    Sep 26, 2015 at 12:00

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