Elephant ear bulb wilting

[gardennewbie]

I bought an elephant ear bulb with a short stalk coming out of it 3-4 weeks ago. I planted it in a large planter. While the stalk has recently turned dark green, it has not grown vertically at all yet. Last night, I put a plastic cover over the planter due to cold temps. I took the cover off today and the stalk was brown and limp! Help! How do I save my bulb and jumpstart the growth of this elephant ear? I have read that others have seen stalks and leaves within 4 weeks. Also, the instructions say to plant the bulb 4" under the soil line. I planted it so that the stalk tip was peeking through the soil, about 2-3" below soil line. Is this wrong? How do I save my bulb and get it growing? Thanks!

 

[Marck]

Greetings, welcome to the Forums.

If possible, please post pictures of your plant. 'Before & After' shots would effective.

Several questions.
By Elephant Ear , do you mean Colocasia esculenta, or another species? There are a number of possible Elephant Ears.
Exactly how cold did it get the night your Elephant Ear turned brown?

Without further information, cold damage seems the most likely possibility. In all likelihood. the corm is fine and will begin to grow again when consistently warm Summer temperatures arrive.