D- I have had that happen to me before. I am no tropical expert by any means, however My EE's planted in partial to full morning shade,and good sun the rest of the day seem to do better than the ones planted in full sun all day. The ones that did not make it were in full sun all day, and wet all the time after planting as they were at the end of a slope.
Maybe this could attribute or help you, I think there can be bad bulbs too.

My EE's are not up yet either, except for 1. But, we have had extraordinarily cool weather for Oklahoma this past month. I would imagine you are experiencing similar conditions? For me, EE's don't do much of anything until the days and nights are consistently warm. These temp fluctuations we are having are not doing a thing for them, and I still anxiously await the warmth of the sun and warmer nights for my EE's to emerge. I have the regular c. esculenta and the giant, too.

Susan

I'd just wait, it's simply still dormant. They are bearly stirring here either. PF

Thanks for the replies! I'll just sit and be patient then, there's still hope!

Destany

Elephant ears require warm soil before they break dormancy. Try warming the soil to a consistent minimum of 60-70F and yours should wake up. Otherwise, your plan to be patient sounds like a good one!

Thought I would give you an update. My colocasia esculentas are up and at it, as is my upright EE - FINALLY!

How are yours doing now, after all that patience we had to exert. I might as well have worked a full day in the garden, as much as I worried about these babies.

Susan (OKC zone 7a)

Yea Sus- They just have to be sure its safe to come out (grin) The ones in the morning shade now are huge!! They are in a row with the plants that get the longest sun the biggest. The ones in full sun are doing good too. I keep pouring the water to them during this dry spell. Lots of mulch.
Something very interesting this year is : I find little ones comeing up far away from the main bulb. I think that this has something to do with this area being the place I had them last year.
Could they have somehow overwintered?

Okay: I'm still wondering and trying to be patient.

Planted mammoth EE in mid-March--indoors. This is what I've been doing to EE's for just years. This one never emerged. Moved onto deck in sunny, warm location after the weather warmed. No action.

Checked down under the soil to see what's what. (did I plant it upside down? Rot? anything?) and found that the top of the bulb has several little "eyes" (buds, I think).

Let it sit uncovered for a few days. No action. Recovered.
Still no action. It's been 95 degrees and warmer.

Is it a "dud"? Any suggestions?

Thanks for your input!

You're in zone 4, so I would imagine they are not quite ready to put forth much in the way of growth, despite your 95 degrees and warmer. What are your night temps? I think that has a lot to do with it, too.

My regular EEs have one leaf about 4' tall, but the rest are still small. The upright EE has just broken ground and is still very slow at best. When they do decide it's time to grow, katy bar the door. It will seem like it happens overnight. My hitchhiker EE is putting out its 2nd leaf, yeah! The wentii has several leaves on it, the largest of which is about 8", so it's still got a ways to go.

Windclimber - anything's possible, and if you mulched them well and had a mild winter (like we did), it's highly likely. I think these things are hardier than we have ever given them credit for. Every year, I worry, worry, worry, that they are lost, and when I finally give up the ghost, here they come. We gave been very dry here. June has been our rainiest month, which is odd. Now we're in for the drought. Probably won't see rain until late September. sigh.....

Susan

I'm originally from Texas and adapting to gardening life here in Wichita Kansas I have giant colossal elephant ears of all varieties in the ground and in pots I presumptuously put them out back in late March I'm talking very large bulbs in very large pots and in the ground and I'm just now seeing 1 of my darker Leaf variety of elephant ears just breaking the soil as I anxiously await the arrival of all the others in the ground and the rest of the pots I was thinking the very same thing I guess we just got to wait

Hi Wesley. Here in Atlanta we've had more cold spells than usual for a spring. My plain old colocasia esculanta elephant ears have been trying to explode for over a month, now. They keep getting nipped back. They were at least 8 feet tall last year. My colocasia 'Illustris' next to a west-facing brick wall of our house are beginning to put up small leaves. It's a later-than-usual start for them. You're a bit colder than we are here, so I'm not surprised yours are taking their time waking up. By July I'm sure both of us will have our jungles in their full glory. One thing I've found that helps a lot in over-wintering subtropicals that I leave in the ground is to only cut them back to a foot or two in the fall once the first frosts get to them. I used to cut them flush with the ground, but leaving a foot or two of stalk has really made a difference in more severe winters. I don't get nearly as much die-back. This works for my large elephant ears and my hymenocalis "Tropical Giant", which gets 4ft tall and 6ft across. Of course, in 6b Wichita you probably need to dig everything unless you have a sheltered microclimate.

I potted a big EE bulb (brought from costco) a month a back. I have it out in sun. I make sure to keep it moist. I have the top completely mulched by an inch or so. Did i do something wrong? Should have I not mulched? How will the stem come out and up, if there is mulch?

My EE bulbs (brought from a bulb company) have been in soil, plastic container with lid, moist but not wet, in full sunlight coming up for 2 month, you guest it NOTHING !!! I following the instructions from the company by the letter. It's so much money to waste and I was so looking forward to having the EE on display in my garden. Very sad lady in Kent, UK.

I would counsel patience. Elephant ears, like most subtropicals, need a few days if not weeks in at least the 70F/20C range before they will come up. Don't worry about mulch on elephant ears, they will easily punch up through it. Just remember that the mulch which keeps your subtropicals warm over winter will also keep them cool during the spring as temps warm up.