What is the best thing to help elephant ears grow that are planted outside?

This is the 4th year that they will come up but last year they weren't that big? I didn't know if I could put 10-10-10 fertilizer on them in the spring? Thanks

What is the best thing to help elephant ears grow that are planted outside?
Don't just dump a bunch of dry fertilizer on a plant once a year -- the dry fertilizers are highly soluble and if you use too much, you're likely to burn the plant. Many of the organic fertilizers are also best applied in small amounts more often.





Instead, think of the growing conditions: plants need light, water, and mineral nutrients (fertilizer and soil minerals) and they need to be able to absorb the nutrients, which is a function of soil pH (acidity and alkalinity).





If you haven't had a soil test, it probably would be worthwhile to do at least P,K and pH. Many soils have enough P and K, and the limiting nutrient is N, so you might be able to use a higher nitrogen fertilizer and avoid the cost of the extra P and K. (Fertilizer numbers go N-P-K, so 30-5-10 is 30% N, 5%P, 10%K) If the pH is very far off neutral, plants can't get the nutrients they need from the soil.





Light: elephant ears don't like full sunlight in most climates, but they don't like extremely heavy shade, either. Take a look at where you're planting them. As an experiment, you might move one to a more or less shaded area.





Water: they do like moist (but not soggy) soil. If the soil is dry, just watering may give you the growth you want -- but it's more likely to be a combination of factors that need adjusting. I'm betting on N and water, as those are the most common things that are in short supply, and I don't know what your growing conditions are.





In short, experiment. Use a little fertilizer every month on some of your plants. Water as needed. Think about moving one or more to different light conditions. Watch what happens and then you can figure out what you wnt to do the following year(s).
Reply:fertilizer, yes, and LOTS of water, mulch will help too
Reply:Yes you can put 10 -10-10 fertilizer on them. I always put it about 2 inches from plant early spring that way when they first start growing they have the nutrents there when they need it.
Reply:MiracleGro....mine are in both full sun and full shade, they grow anywhere.
Reply:fertilize and water----what else??





look at a gardening website
Reply:They will benefit from the same care as any other plant, but would probably respond better to a fall feeding than spring as that's when they store the energy to start the spring growth. I'd feed them both times, and a light dressing of bone-meal will do wonders, just sprinkle it around them and work it into the top inch or two of soil.