Colocasia, or the Elephant ear plant, is one plant that people either love or hate.
Native to Southeast Asia, this plant thrives in tropical and subtropical regions. It is pretty low maintenance, which often causes it to grow independently.
Since the Elephant ear plant is poisonous and takes up a lot of garden space, many individuals do not like its presence. If you are not a fan and want to know how to get rid of Elephant ears, we are here to help!
Getting rid of the Elephant ear can be a tedious task.
Our guide on how to get rid of Elephant ears via three easy methods will help you throughout the process.
So, without further ado, let’s begin!
What Are Elephant Ears?
Before you embark on the journey to destroy the Elephant ears in your garden, get familiarized with this tropical plant’s anatomy.
It will help you strategize your actions and save you a lot of your precious time.
- For starters, the Elephant ear is toxic to humans and animals. Hence you do not want to use any method which puts you in danger.
- Elephant ears like to grow in acidic and moist soil. So, you can eliminate the plant by altering these environmental factors.
- Being small, getting rid of the plant is easier using a suitable old digging-out method.
Now that you know about your enemy, let’s get rid of Elephant ears via three easy methods.
Related article: Alocasia Odora Variegata – 5 Best Growing Tips for Your Elephant Ears
What Do You Need to Get Rid of Elephant Ears?
We cannot stress enough how important it is to check your inventory before beginning any gardening task.
Our guide is beginner friendly, and the described methods use items you might already have in your garden toolbox.
Nevertheless, countercheck the items against the list written below:
- Gardening gloves
- Gardening scissors
- Garden shovel
- Herbicide
- Herbicide sprayer
That aside, let’s see how to get rid of Elephant ears.
How to Get Rid of Elephant Ears?
Following are the methods to get rid of Elephants ears from your garden.
Method 1: Dig Those Ears Out
It is the easiest of the methods as it does not require the use of a lot of equipment.
The technique relies on the mechanism of detaching the roots of the plants from the soil.
- To begin executing this method, wear your gardening gloves (we do not want you to get harmed!).
- Once you have the safety precautions, grab your garden shovel, and start by drawing a circle around the Elephant ear plant. You can use the edge of the shovel to do so.
- Once you have your outline in the form of a circle, start digging in the soil. Make sure to dig deep, so the plant’s roots are detached.
- You can go all rough at this stage as you want, as the purpose is to damage the plant’s root system.
- Once you have all the roots detached, pull the plant out of the soil.
- If any roots are left in the soil, cut them with gardening scissors.
You can discard the Elephant ear you have just pulled out of the soil.
Method 2: Deprive the Nutrients
If you don’t want to dig and wish to get rid of the Elephant ears, even if it takes time, then this method is for you.
This method essentially operates by cutting down the needs of the plants. As a result, the plant is deprived of ingredients and is unable to survive.
- To get rid of the plant via this method, start by cutting off the plant’s water supply. It will lower the water content in the soil, thereby hindering the photosynthesis process.
- You can also place the Elephant ear plant in direct sunlight to further damage its operative process.
- Lastly, if you want to take the getting rid process to the next level, add a pH regulator that turns the soil basic.
All these factors will make it difficult for the plant to survive; you will be able to get rid of it.
Remember this method is useful but do not use it if you have other plants growing closely with the Elephant ears, as a decrease in soil nutrition would also hinder their growth.
Method 3: The Herbicide Spray Method
Good old chemistry and chemicals come to the rescue when everything else fails.
This method is very effective, and we recommend that you progress to this only if all the other methods have failed. Furthermore, if you do not have experience handling chemicals, you should seek help from someone else to perform the task.
- To start this method, grab your gardening gloves to protect yourselves.
- We also recommend you wear tight clothing, as it will lessen the chances of accidentally contracting the herbicide.
- Once you have all the safety precautions in check, start by filling the herbicide of your choice in the herbicide sprayer.
- After the filling, start spraying the chemical on the Elephant ear plant.
- Keep a distance of at least 3–4 inches between the sprayer nozzle and the plant. It will ensure adequate plant coverage.
- Spray the herbicide generously over the plant, focusing on areas such as the root and the stem. Keep spraying until you have covered all of the plants.
That’s all! Now you know how to get rid of Elephant ears.
The Frequency of the Methods
Elephant ears are resilient plants, so you might have to repeat the methods a few times to get rid of them.
We recommend that you wait at least a week after the execution of each method.
If the plant refuses to budge away, do not shy away from repeating the task.
Conclusion!
We understand your desire to get rid of the Elephant ear plant when it appears in your garden like an uninvited guest.
Getting rid of a tenacious plant such as the Elephant ears can be a pain in the neck.
Our guide on how to get rid of Elephant ears explores three easy methods that will help you get rid of this plant once and for all.
So, what are you waiting for?
If you find this article helpful, comment below and let us know! Also, don’t forget to share this with your friends.
Regards.