Colocasia Black Magic (Colocasia Esculenta) Crucial Care Tips
Colocasia Black Magic is part of the elephant ear family. These plants can grow leaves that are anywhere from two to three feet long and wide, resembling those of an elephant. But for me, it’s the deep purple or black stems and foliage that captivate me every time.
Colocasia Esculenta, or simply Black Magic, hasn’t been the easiest plant for me, but it’s taught me a lot, and I want to share all of that with you. So if you’re interested in knowing everything you need to know to care for this magical plant, then stay here. I’m going to share crucial care tips regarding lighting, watering, soil mix, humidity, and any insights I’ve gained from caring for this beautiful plant.
Table of Contents
General Info
I got mine in a small size, but of course, now it is double or triple its size. Unfortunately, my plant had a nasty case of spider mites. Shortly after bringing my plant home and taking a closer look at it, it was basically overrun by mites. Luckily, at the time, it was spring, and I was able to move this plant outdoors and treat it for the mites. At that point, I was basically unsure if it was going to even survive.
It has obviously pulled through, so thank God for that. Clearly, in my experience, mites love these plants, and one of the only other plants that have had a really bad case of spider mites was one of my Alocasia, so go figure. So obviously watch out for spider mites, be thorough when you are maintaining or caring for your plants when you’re watering them, check under the leaves, check the stems, but ultimately make sure that you’re giving your plants a once-over when you’re at the nursery as well.
Anyway, let’s jump into some crucial care tips and details when it comes to caring for Black Magic.
Care Tips
Elephant ears are tropical plants, and as you know, they’ve got gorgeous heart-shaped foliage.
Now if you live in the tropics, good for you; you can expect these plants to reach full size, that’s two to three feet in length and width for just the leaf alone. Actually, pretty quickly, probably in two or three months. If, however, you don’t live in the tropics, well, you’re going to need to adjust your expectations.
Watering
Elephant ears are native to the wetlands, so watering these plants is especially important. You’re going to want to do your best to keep the soil for your Black Magic consistently moist, and you’re going to want to do your best, obviously, to avoid letting the soil completely dry out. So basically, my advice here is to use your finger to touch the topsoil of the plant, and if it is not moist or have some moisture in it, then that is an important indication that you need to water this plant.
Now obviously, your conditions will dictate how often you should be testing this soil, but I would suggest anywhere from every other day potentially to every day. Now soil composition can obviously help with water retention or keeping the soil nice and moist.
Lighting
In terms of lighting, Black Magic can be anywhere in full sun to partial shade, but ideally, you’re going to want to have this plant in dappled sunlight.
Now it is important to mention that the variety of elephant ears that I have, Colocasia Esculenta, Black Magic, they do need a little bit more consideration when it comes to sunlight, and they may need a tad bit more light, and that is to help obviously with the coloration and help those leaves turn to that dark deep purpley black color. So if you are troubleshooting in terms of the foliage color, it’s most likely a light issue, and new growth does come in this sort of beautiful light green color, and over time, the stem as well as the leaf will begin to turn that purpley black color.
Humidity & Fertilizing
And again, as these are tropical plants, they do appreciate some humidity, so if you are able to provide that, it’s all for the better.
These plants can and should be fertilized. A fertilizer high in nitrogen will work best.
Repotting
My Alocasia Black Magic has basically outgrown its original pot, so I needed to repot it in a slightly larger pot, only about an inch or two wider in diameter.
Now one thing you should change is to use a slightly different soil mix, so you can keep the perlite, the coco coir, and peat moss the same. These plants do like a slightly acidic soil, but you can go ahead and add also about, so all of those things that I just mentioned are about one to one, and then add two or three parts of a really good indoor rich organic potting mix that you can pick up from one of your local nurseries, and that’s just really going to help with some of the water and moisture retention and add a lot of organics to the mix. Then carefully take your plant out of your old pot and place that in the new one. You’re good to go.
Don’t forget to give it a nice watering, and one other quick pointer: you can prune off any dying or dead stem and leaf, so don’t be afraid to do that. Well, that’s it for me.
 *(Include an image of droopy leaves)* Some plants, such as calatheas, prefer moist soil at all times; otherwise, they develop that signature brown tissue damage on the leaves. The annoying thing here is that the damage cannot be reversed and can only be cut away, leaving you with a damaged plant. If the soil of your plant is bone dry, you'll notice that it's pulling away from the sides of the pot. This is because the soil has shrunk due to a lack of moisture, so make sure you are not letting this happen by watering a little more frequently. #### Signs Your Plant is Overwatered (darkgreen) Overwatering plants is a really common way that people kill their plants. Beginner plant enthusiasts often have a common misconception that houseplants need lots of water, but the reality is that these plants are native to hot climates where they may get periods of drought followed by large rain which rehydrates them. **Yellowing leaves** (red) can indicate an overwatering problem as well as an underwatering problem. If you are watering your plant too often and the soil is always wet, this can lead to root rot, which will begin to affect the leaves of your plant. **Limp and mushy leaves** (red) also indicate that you are overwatering your plant. This is particularly true with succulents such as Echeverias. Echeverias store water in their thick leaves and have difficulty storing excess water if you are watering your plant too often. This leads to mushy plants that eventually fall off.  *(Include an image of yellowing leaves)* Philodendron and Pothos plants tend to get mushy leaves that fall off if the soil is consistently soggy. My Philodendron Birkin recently developed some new brown leaves that fell off because I was overwatering it. Whereas crispy brown edges on leaves indicate an underwatering problem, if the whole leaves are turning brown, this tends to mean that the plant tissue is rotting due to too much water. You may also notice some water droplets on the ends of the leaves of some of your plants. This is the plant perspiring excess water through its leaves and can indicate that you are giving the plant too much water. Now, this tends to happen on plants that prefer drier soil, and I notice it quite often on my Philodendron Birkin and my Tradescantia Nanook. **Increased presence of fungus gnats** (red) can also be a sign that your plant is too moist. Fungus gnats like a moist top two inches of soil to breed and lay their eggs, so if your soil is wet, it creates a breeding ground for gnats. If you see lots of flea-like flies jumping around the top of your soil, I would just dial back on the watering and let the top two inches of the soil dry out before watering again. #### Watering Tips (darkgreen) It is important to allow the soil of your houseplant to dry out between waterings. This prevents the possibility of over-watering, which is one of the most common reasons people kill their plants. **Check the soil moisture** (red) before watering your plant by sticking your finger two inches into the soil. If it feels wet, leave it a few days and then check again. An even better way to check the soil moisture is to invest in a moisture meter. This device needs no batteries and tells you exactly how much moisture is in the soil, giving you control over watering your plants.  *(Include an image of a moisture meter)* When you identify that your plant needs water, make sure you give it a thorough soaking. Take your plant to a sink area and soak the soil four or five times until water drains out of the bottom each time. This ensures that all the soil in the pot gets moistened and there are no dry patches. **Bottom watering** (teal) is a method that has changed the health of my plants since I implemented it a couple of years ago. Place your plant in a container of water and let it absorb moisture from the bottom up. This method prevents water from getting on the leaves, which can cause leaf tissue damage. I hope this article was helpful. Now you know when to water your plants and when not to. Apply this knowledge to your plants and see the growth. Happy gardening! --- Incorporating these visual and formatting enhancements will make your article more attractive and engaging for your readers.](https://growinggaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/pexels-artempodrez-7242495-scaled.jpg)
