While plant care is easy for the most part if you are growing plants that aren’t too demanding, unfortunate things that damage the health of your plants can happen at times, and fixing these issues can take more effort than regular plant care.
When we think of unfortunate things, pest infestations and plant disease are the first things that come to mind as they are quite the most common things that can trouble a plant. That being said, these are not the only occasions where your plant’s health is at risk.
Even though it’s rare, a broken stem is an issue that can severely damage your plant and requires treatment as soon as possible. While any plant can suffer from a broken stem, today, we will be talking about elephant ear plants in particular, as these plants grow quite tall with long stems that are prone to bending.
So, what to do if your elephant ear plant has a broken stem?
If your elephant ear plant has a broken stem that isn’t completely severed, hold the broken parts together, add some support, such as a wooden stick or a pencil, and wrap the stem and the support together with a material that can hold them, such as plant tape or string.
After you secure the stem, you can also add extra support by tying it to a wooden stake sitting in the soil to hold it up.
While fixing the stem of an elephant ear plant can seem difficult if you have never done it before, it’s a straightforward process that can easily save the stem if you react quickly.
Next up, we will be going into greater detail about different kinds of broken stems and the appropriate things to do depending on the severity of the situation.
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What to Do If Your Elephant Ear Plant Has a Broken Stem?
A broken stem on your elephant ear plant can certainly be a nightmare as the sight of it can be quite saddening, especially if you never had to deal with such a thing before.
As a broken stem can either mean completely severed or broken but still not severed, we will be discussing each of these scenarios and the correct course of action to follow in these scenarios separately.
Broken Stem on Elephant Ear Plant
If the stem is broken but not completely severed, there is still hope for it with adequate care, especially if you caught it quickly.
To heal a broken stem on your elephant ear plant, here are the steps we recommend taking.
- Carefully combine the broken parts by holding them together with your hand. Make sure to wear gloves during this process to reduce the chance of transferring bacteria.
- Sterilize a wooden stick, a pencil, or a similar object that will act as a splint, place it right next to the broken part, and hold it with the stem.
- Wrap the stem and the splint together with a piece of string or plant tape (feel free to improvise here as anything that can hold the two together would work), but not too tightly. As the stem requires space to grow back, it’s vital to provide a little wiggle room.
- Place a long wooden stake in the soil and tie the broken stem to it. Doing so will give extra support to the broken stem and allow it to stay upright as it heals.
While there is no guarantee for the stem to heal, following these steps as soon as possible gives it the best chance for survival.
Severed Stem on Elephant Ear Plant
On the other hand, if the stem of your elephant ear plant is severed, you won’t have much of a chance unless it happens right in front of your eyes and you react to it instantaneously with the steps we have mentioned in the earlier section.
In the case of a severed stem on your elephant plant, we recommend following the steps below.
- Start by sterilizing your gardening scissors.
- Cut the stem as close to the base of the plant as possible.
Cutting the stem at the base prevents the plant from spending nutrients on a dead part for no reason and promotes the quicker growth of new stems and leaves.
How to Fix a Bent Elephant Ear Plant Stem?
A bent elephant ear plant stem is highly likely to make a full recovery with appropriate care, but it’s vital to react quickly to prevent it from eventually breaking.
Here are the steps we recommend taking to fix a bent elephant ear plant stem.
- Hold the bent part of the stem straight as if it was not bent.
- Place a wooden stick or a similar object that will act as a splint right next to the bent area and hold them together.
- Hold the bent stem and the splint together by wrapping them with tape (plant tape or electrical tape works best) or tying them with a piece of string.
- Add extra splints to provide more support to the bent area if a single splint isn’t enough to hold it up, or place a long wooden stick in the soil and tie the bent stem.
Can a Plant Survive with a Broken Stem?
Even if you had to remove a broken stem, your plant will grow a new one in no time and go back to its usual health.
So yes, a plant can easily survive with a broken stem as long as you remove it correctly and keep providing the right conditions for your plant to stay healthy and grow.
While it can definitely be saddening for your plant to have a broken stem, you can take solace in the fact that a healthy one will eventually replace it.
How Long Does it Take for a Broken Stem to Heal?
A broken stem may take between 2 to 4 weeks to heal, which is why it’s best not to disrupt it for a while and leave the splint and the tape attached.
As the splint and the tape do not cause any adverse effects for your plant, they can stay there indefinitely without issues, which makes it a better idea to be on the safe side and leave them there until you can tell that the stem has made a full recovery.
Wrapping Up
While a broken stem on your elephant ear plant can certainly be disheartening, you will most likely be able to save it with adequate care unless it isn’t completely severed.
Even if the stem is severed, a new one will grow back in its place before you even notice, and your elephant ear plant will go back to its usual health and look.
Whether it’s a bent, broken, or severed stem, reacting quickly as possible with the appropriate actions is the best thing you can do to salvage the situation, which is why we highly recommend keeping some wooden sticks and plant tape handy at all times.