It is standard advice to bring your tropical plants indoors on nights when temperatures drop below 50° F. The only problem is that a lot of the plants sold as tropicals are actually subtropical plants - and some are even temperate plants. You need to find out where the plant comes from, and what types of conditions it is exposed to in its native habitat. Elephant Ears are true tropicals, and will be damaged by temperatures below 50° F, but even if a plant is a true tropical - it may be cold hardy like a Pigmy Date Palm (I have read that some people believe that the Pigmy Date Palm is actually a hybrid, and that is the reason for its cold hardiness). You will need to experiment and investigate to find out how much cold the plant can really take. I will also be posting information on this site on a regular basis, based on my observations.

Updated October 23, 2010