This was my first year growing huge Elephant Ears and this tutorial is exactly what I needed to know to save the bulbs for next year. Thanks for a very well written idea with great photos.

If you haven't dug yours yet greene, then you might want to leave a few in the ground and mulched good, as long as they stay dry most of the common EE are plenty hardy for 8b!

Great article Swayback! Very thorough and clear reading. I'll go star this article A.S.A.P. A few Mojito tubers developed rot, I was slow to remove the leaves and they were stacked too tightly I guess. They've been cleaned and have healed over though. I didn't apply a fungicide. Do you think a light misting and fungicide application would be helpful?

Thanks for the tutorial, I think I'll give these a try next year.

eclayne said:Great article Swayback! Very thorough and clear reading. I'll go star this article A.S.A.P. A few Mojito tubers developed rot, I was slow to remove the leaves and they were stacked too tightly I guess. They've been cleaned and have healed over though. I didn't apply a fungicide. Do you think a light misting and fungicide application would be helpful?

I'd stay away from misting, and defiantly apply a fungicide!

There are some exceptions...if the bulbs are drying up and dessecating is the only time I would even think if adding moisture to a storage situation!

If you must, just spritz a bit on the bulbs themselves, not on the surround packing material, let it dry a bit, and repack it.

I'm going to experiment with a few things this winter, one of which is soaking dessecated bulbs. I WOULD NOT advise trying this, I have no idea the long term effects!

I had a few bald bulbs, they were offsets, no leaves no roots, they just looked like little potatoes...they became soft very quickly, it was my fault for not carrying for them better!
After a few days of them declining, I deceided to soak them, I just filled a bowl with cold water and tossed em in!
In 24 hours they were all back to hard and firm status!
I let them dry fully and packed them in peat, one of 15 rotted at the tip before I could ever pack them! The other are fine now, 2 weeks later, not so sure about 2 months down the road...

A couple questions if you don't mind:
What size are the bulbs?
how do plan to store them?
Are they solid and firm?

Mojito doesn't store the best...or grow the best...it's sure a beauty though!
Removing the leaves quickly and cutting them just the right height...low...it's really important!
That tip rot sets in so easy this time of year!
Soft bulb growth due to late season growth is atleast partially to blame.
That little growth tip is so tender until the bulbs drys and hardens off that the slightest damage or rotten leaves around it, quickly progresses!

It's easily stopped, by just what you did!
Cut away the bad and let the good dry up and scab over.
Sulphur or copper based fungicides are so dry that caking it on a wound and dusting off the extra, can really speed thing along!

The tubers are medium sized, maybe 2" dia. and nicely scabbed over. I usually apply the fungicide right after the rot is removed and they're still moist. Like you noted I pack tubers this size in peat, sometimes they just get tossed in a box.

With mojito, defiantly go for the peat!

Fungicide now would be good, and just keep a close eye on em til it time to wake em up.

You lucked out there!

One cool thing about that tip rot is that when new growth emerges, it will be from several points, each making a plant, the same principal as eye scooping.
A bulb that size I would expect to make 3-5 shoots!
The trade off is that these plants are smaller than they would be if the bulb made only one plant.
Just pot the bulbs like usual, use an extra loose mix if you want to separate each individual plant, I do, colocasias grow so fast that it's more than a fair trade!
So you'll be in the mojito business as long as they make the winter!