Poor Baby!

I saw this at HD while with Hubby today. I lifted up the pot of drooping leaves and said look honey at this poor plant...lol!
(That's how I get new plants when he thinks I have too many....SHHHHH!) He then proceeds to find me the best one of the lot and buys it for me!
Anyway, I am not sure if it is Black Marble or Midnight. I have never seen the stems of Black marble.
This one has the green blotches and velvety texture, but only a slight green edge on the stem, so I am not 100% sure if it is Midnight.

Here is closeup of leaf

Here is stem, hard to see the green on the edge

It looks to be midnight to me. It is a really slow grower. The sap is usually neon pink to maroon in color.

Thanks Brian!! I was 85% sure that's what it was. This one is new to me.
Now I have read that they like lots of water, but since it grows slowly and it's going to be "Winter" here soon,
I was wondering how much to cut back on watering during its dormancy.

All my EE's do seem to have a dormant period here even though we do not get freezing temps like up North.They keep some leaves, but just don't grow or put out new ones as much. We don't get alot of rain in the Winter and even less in the Spring. I usually just observe them in the Fall/Winter to see if they want water. I start regular watering in the Spring.
I do have a pond...would this guy like that?

lol shellabella! I am sooo gonna try that on my hubby! Oh the poor plant...I can't wait :D
It looks like you got a nice one.

Shellabella I hope this plant does well for you. I believe it maybe the darkest taro on the market for now if grown really well. I have to say that though it is beautiful it is one of the hardest to grow Colocasias I have seen. It just never seems to be very strong it's growth rate and spead remind me of some highly variegated plants that just seem to set their and not move. This maybe due to it being extremely dark or maybe just a odd mutation that is weak. I can plant on in the ground here and for the whole summer it may produce 2 to 4 leaves. It is not like most other taros. I thought I should warn you maybe with your longer warm weather it may preform a lot better. If so I would be interested in seeing photos of it.

Also I believe this exact same plant also went under the name Jet black wonder. It has sense been called midnight. Usually producing very dark velvety leaves but at times some shades of green and even blotches. Still very different form Black marble which has a lighter pink to maroon streaked stem.

This photo is my plant with dark leaves and some green blotches.

Angel.....yeah it was when I realized that DH can't stand to see a suffering plant that I got the idea. When he cuts me off I resort to that plan...works everytime. lol!

Thanks so much for your valuable input Brian. I hope it does well too.
That leaf of yours looks great and is much more varigated than the one I got today. BTW we spent 8 bucks on it and there are two in the pot. Not really a bad deal.
I know what you mean about slow...I have a Mickey Mouse that seems to have barely grown since earlier this summer. That is so strange to me as I have other EE'S that have done well ...grown alot, and I have the Xanthomas that sprout like weeds here and grow and grow to the roof...lol!

I 'll put this one in the ground tomorrow. Here at least in my yard, the EE's always do so much better in the ground than in pots. We probably have about 6weeks to 2 months or so before we get any regular "cold"....like in the high 40's-50's.
They are predicting a warm winter here this year.
I have lots of naturally occuring leaf litter in that EE bed and it drains well. I'll keep my fingers crossed and take pics if it grows...I honestly do not expect much more growth until Spring , but this one seems to have been poorly treated and the new home may perk it up. It already looks better...lol!

Michelle:)