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Nile the black colocasia with Jason Williams
In this article, Jason 'The Cloud Gardener' Williams looks at how to grow and care for Colocasia Black Magic plants.
  • Regularly caring for your plant offers gentle physical exercise, through activities like watering
  • This is a beautiful plant to look at, bringing enjoyment to your space
  • As Colocasia Black Magic can be grown indoors and outdoors, it suits almost every garden and home

If you are thinking of adding some exotic plants to your garden or home, you’ll love the amazing Colocasia Black Magic plant. You may also hear it called by its common names of 'elephant ears' or 'taro'.

Colocasia Black Magic has striking, bold architectural foliage. The large, heart-shaped leaves can reach a whopping 60cm in size. These leaves are initially green, then in time they darken to a deep purple-black colour.

Black magic 2
Colocasia Black Magic

Colocasia Black Magic plant is a perennial plant, which means it continues growing for many years.

This is originally a tropical plant. Even so, it can do remarkably well outside in UK gardens when the weather is warm. It will not cope with cold weather and frosts - see below for overwintering advice.

What makes this plant slightly different to most colocasias is it loves to be in wet soil. It can even be planted 15 cm (6 inches) beneath water level, in a pond for example. It loves wet, boggy conditions although is not fussy about soil type.

You can also grow your Colocasia Black Magic in a container. Choose a large container and your plant will reward you with big leaves! You could also grow black grass (black mondo grass) in the container to add a bit of ground cover.

This kind of plant will grow well on a balcony. Its dark foliage can absorb a lot of direct heat without any detrimental effect – especially during the hot summer months.

If you take a look at Jason’s video (see link above), after 3 weeks the leaves of the plant became larger and produced a new leaf. By the end of summer, the stem had got thicker and the leaves had become really big.

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Colocasia Black Magic needs to be well-watered and fed throughout the growing season.

To help support the growth of its lustrous leaves, feed it with fish fertiliser from time to time. If you have a pond, you can use water from it.

Make it easier

Colocasia Black Magic is a strikingly beautiful plant. It does require some care and attention, though. If you are looking for easier options you may like our guide to low maintenance plants.

Colocasia Black Magic is extremely frost tender and does not do well in cold weather.

If your plant is growing in a container, it's a good idea to bring it inside during winter.

You may notice the leaves start to turn green once your Colocasia Black Magic is moved indoors. This is because its getting less direct sunlight compared to being outside. You could invest in some grow lights to make sure the plant is getting plenty of light during winter.

The root system of the plant can become very big. Think about how to manage watering, including water running out of the bottom of the container. You could place a tray underneath the container to capture this excess water.

You may not want to bring your plant indoors for winter, or it may not be practical. In this case, you could chop off everything at the top of the plant. Dig out the corm (similar to a bulb or tuber) and store it somewhere dry, ready to replant next spring.

Make it easier

Trying to move a big container plant indoors can be quite a physical task. You could use a pot mover trolley to reduce strain. Or, you could ask for some help.

See more of Jason's accessible and fun video guides by following his social media channels.

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