Hardy Tropicals UK

Kris - I think the flash makes the leaf look rather nice.

Leigh - interesting set-up on your filter. Are the roots making use of the fish poo?

kentgardener wrote:

Leigh - interesting set-up on your filter. Are the roots making use of the fish poo?

Yes Kris works a Treat bit of an experiment really, something i've been meaning to try since reading that Koi keepers in America use collies in there filters.
Both filters were in the shed/lean too that i pulled down and built a sort of open type hut with a double glazed roof earlier in the year.

Didn't want to wreck the proper filter lid so just cut up a bit of marine ply to shape made some holes and dropped the pots with about an inch of shingle in in the bottom of each and compost on top.

Allthough you cant see them in the picture there's about 10 big Koi up to about 4lb in the pond aswell as the goldfish probably about 30 + fish in total and would normally be cleaning out the two ports where the collies are about once a week but since the collies went in i've not had to touch the filters at all so seems to have worked a treat and will improve on this next year with more plants and will probably do the same in the second filter which you can't see in the pic

But thats a bit off topic

I received my C Mojito from Amulree today. This is going to be an interesting plant

Been reading and some say for best colour keep in dappled shade, or shade. I think most Colocasia prefer light shade to full sun as the humidity can be kept higher in summer, but in winter they may well prefer full sun for the warmth when it's shining

Yours has a good bit of black in it from others I've seen Dave. Thanks for the positioning info, if I don't kill mine this winter I'll find a better place for it next year.

Mine has been sitting under my maurelli so has had 50/50 shade/full sun for the last month

Looking like a reasonable size leaf Jezza

Information from Plant Delights Nursuery
Colocasia esculenta 'Mojito' PPAF (pronounced Mo-he-toe) is a sport of Colocasia 'Burgundy Stem' via Colocasia 'Black Marble', discovered at Florida's Agristarts. Named after the popular Cuban mixed drink, the amazing leaves are medium green with dark purple flecks throughout ... just too cool! Since this clone has less vigor than many others, you can expect the clump to only reach 3', less in drier sites. Although winter-hardy in Zone 7b, the central tuber will often die in the low teens F, so to get larger-sized plants, mulch well in winter to save the central tuber.

Burgundy stem has proved to be quite cold tolerant for me, although I did lose them last winter.

Update on this. My greenhouse dropped to 5c (well it was -7c outside), but my mojito obviously didn't like it, went droopy, and has begun to rot, with lovely rot smell to match. 5c is a no no for these.

was it wet Jezza ? . I found that Burgundy stem rotted off in summer if wet around the base of stem.

Mine has been down to 7C so far

No. I've only been giving it a watering once a week. I've cut off the dead stems leaving two leaves, and it's now started to produce a new stem, so it's ok.

I've lost a few colocasias in the last week or so. Not because of temperature but with over watering. Very easy to do when some collies seem to need a lot more water than others. Botrytis seems to have taken its toll on many with many leaves succumbing to mould and dying prematurely.

Thankfully the mojito is hanging on. (minimum temps has been 8 degrees)

kris, you need to remove every last trace of old leaf bases, as these go soggy against the stem and induce rot. Then old leaves die back in autumn /winter, don't cut them off, but peel the base away from the corm leaving no flesh to rot,

Cheers for the advice Dave

Mojito doing good now. Noticed that one leaf is total black on the upper surface on one side if the leaf. From the under side it's the normal mojito mixture of black and green. Can't wait to see this one take off in spring

Kris, if you look back up the topic Plant Delights were saying that Mojito came from Burgundy Stem via Black Marble. Maybe the odd leaf reverts towards Black Marble.

Now I have rigged up my Reptile mat the Colies are starting to move faster. Mojito now has 3 leaves, with the last one appearing over the last few days. The compost temps are around a minimum of 18C now, so watering can be increased.