Garden Chronicles of James David: Colocasia "Aquatilis var paraiso"

INTRODUCTION:

Similar like Colocasia esculenta 'Milky Way' can be considered one of the most expensive Colocasia sold in the plant market. Like some types with slight difference in foliage formation in coloration of the yellow and lime green freckles and blotches Colocasia types - this one is very much fall in the same category of close similarities in coloration. I have seen this still sold for an extremely expensive premium prices - however this one was not well received from the collectors point of view.

Some did very well but some didn't - this is one of those which didn't.
Some vendors had to face setbacks as when they purchased this with premium prices - they were unable to get a good sale value to measure back their investment value. This one however are one of those which didn't make it well in the market. It is still rare in comparison to their popular kinds but due to the limited cultivated factor - no one is actually interested to purchase this premium prices knowing that trending plant prices don't stay expensive too long - hence not a good investment plant to begin with.

In their other extreme - even when some collectors may be interested to collect them but identifying that this one had not saturated yet in their plant prices - none is interested to purchase them with the existing premium prices. Hence, this one is stuck in the vendor store house - until they tend to overgrow and populate and began to mass produce - this one is stuck in the that particular zone as such as this with few others which fall in this price war category.

As for now, these had finished their trending season, hence expensive or not - it is not much sought after here in my tropical region.

CHARACTERISTICS:

I must say this can be quite confusing for beginners when looking for their difference especially when most of these types looks so similar in their coloration and type. Truth to be told, even I have found slightly irritated in considering their supposed ID should be, if their labels or in any case if this plant is not labelled - it can be anyone guess giving any fancy names which may prove futile as names and ID can just be labelled at anyone fancy.

On a serious notes - coming to facts.

The main notable difference are the splashes of soft cream tones in random appearance on the foliage surface structure. Also if does have a very strong similarities with Colocasia 'Midori Sour' or "Lemon Lime Gecko" though both look so much similar on their foliage appearance.

But then, there is another one that is been identified as "Yellow Splash" which has similar appearance.

In my opinion, Some variants may have stronger yellow tones and have almost similar appearance of the famous and popular Philodendron Paraiso Verde however I would prefer a philodendron in comparison this Colocasia - the philo is so much better worth the value for money and color in compared to this "ghost" version.

As always when coming to other feature identification are the petiole coloration - this one has a cream striped coloration. Like most trending plants - this one had finished its trending season. Like most Colocasias that had been flooded over in the plant market - this one failed to hit the market here in my region, hence this plant is still sold with it's the marked premium prices.

I must say, without the label - I would not note any strong difference or characteristics and might have misjudged this for another reverse Midori Sour or of those variants. The sad part is there aren't much research details mentioned about them or what have been published when the vendors introduced these Colocasia for sale - what you see is what you get kind of the market pitch, adding more confusion for these Colocasia types - making them more unpopular among investors and collectors alike due to the fear of plant price crash.

Somehow I can say the difference between Colocasia "Aquatilis" and "Aquatilis var paraiso" is that the the first one is fairly common green ones and very easily available - even found around the wild or abandon areas whereas the var. types are rare and this is one of those one which have been discovered and sold as ornamental plant.

The challenge - just like most variegated plants, some are fairly unstable and may revert back to it's origin colors or might disappear in the next generation increasing a higher risk factor when these coloration fades away.

Plant Care & Cultivation is very much similar like most of the Colocasia species.