Colocasia Esculenta ‘Mojito’
The Colocasia ‘Mojito’ is one of my absolute favourite plants, indeed it was one of the first tropical type plants I ever purchased. A frost-tender perennial with bright green heart shaped leaves that are covered in deep purple irregular markings. Who can fail to be beguiled by the amazing patterns? Each leaf is entirely different to any other.
The pale green petioles transform to a dark pink/purple as they get older. As with all Colocasia the next leaf will emerge from the last petiole.
The family Colocasia is widely referred to as ‘elephant ears.’ In gardens it is grown for its ornamental foliage which can reach huge proportions given the correct conditions. In some parts of the world Colocasia are grown for consumption, but care must be taken in the preparation of the large, starchy tubers otherwise they will upset your stomach. The sap is also a skin irritant.
At the moment my Mojito is growing in the garden in a pot submerged in 1-2” of rain water at all times. This family of plants absolutely loves water and those large leaves require a lot of nutrients. My feeding regime is a 50% dose of Miracle-Gro every two weeks during the spring and summer. She could probably use more but I’m always a little reticent to over fertilize my plants. I’ll bring it inside once the night time temperature drops to below 12°C.
Light preference is the same whether indoors or outside: good filtered sunlight light to partial shade. I’ve found partial shade most of the day while getting full sun either in the early morning or late afternoon suits my plant best.
My soil mix is well drained as the Mojito likes moist but not soggy conditions. For this reason I used coir mixed with perlite, activated carbon and orchid bark.
Interesting fact: the difference between Alocasia and Colocasia is that the leaves of Alocasia point up and Colocasia point down.
If you’re going to keep yours outside either in a pot or bed, I recommend placing them in an area that is sheltered from wind to avoid damage to the petiole (stems) which are quite delicate.
This is a plant that will grow very well in shallow pond margins or in a boggy bed but you will have to take it inside early after the first frost and store the rhizomes for next year.
First cut back the foliage
Dig up the rhizomes
Allow them to dry for a few days before storing them in a cool dark place such as a cellar.
Propagation is via offset tubers that grow from the parent plant during the summer. You will see little pups growing around the base of the plant. Once these have grown to a reasonable size they can be removed and potted up for swaps!