>> The water is drawn up to the roots via two pieces of cloth.
Maybe a long-term solution would be to remove one of the wicks, and/or prop the pot up 6" higher than it was so that water would have to CLIMB to reach the soil. That might humidify the air, also!
Or wrap some waxed twine around the remaining wick and pull it tight to "choke" most of the wick's water-carrying capacity.
Or only lower the wicks into the water overnight, not all day.
>> it was saturated.
>> There are no where near as many roots on the plants as when I first received them.
Glub-glub! Drowned or rotted roots.
>> The excess water could not have come from the reservoir. It had to have come from the 1/2 cup or so that I gave them when I repotted them.
Are you positive? A wick might start out the right size, but then as sizing washed out, it could start wicking faster.
If some roots drowned, then the balance between root uptake and wick transport would change, water would have more chance to build up, and more roots would drown. Then positive feedback would give you water-logged peat.
>> My plan is to dry out the pots with some paper towels.
>> I will gently pat the roots to remove any excess moisture.
Great, but, since you already have wicks in place, you could instead back-wards-wick the pot dry by setting it on a Tee shirt (or paper towel) that drapes over the edge of the shelf and hangs down. Then capillary attraction PLUS gravity will pull perched water out of the pot, DESPITE the peat moss and potting mix.
>> That mixture really hangs on to moisture.
This, I totally believe. it sounds like 70% peat plus a little coarse stuff. I would have thought it better to have 10-15% peat or fine bark, a little coarse stuff, and the rest grit-sized bark or very-fine-gravel-sized bark.
>> Then I will repot the plants with the same medium.
How about much less peat and potting mix? Replace with more screened bark mostly in the range 1/4" down to 1/10" (or 5 mm down to 2 mm?) Chips & shreds are better than square nuggets.
Why use any more peat than needed to establish wicking inside the pot? And you could do that with 10% peat plus 90% bark (mostly grit and fine gravel sizes, plus some bark fibers or shreds).
If you don't like paying for orchid bark, there is a product that my local Lowe's sells named "Medium Bark Nuggets" that are almost as clean as orchid bark I've bought, but it's around $4 for 2 cubic feet. As long as it doesn't smell fermented, you don't even have to flush it first (but I'm not familiar with Colocasia).
(I never buy "bark mulch" anymore, especially from Home Depot, because I've gotten such nasty logyard trash there in the past, full of wood, stones and muddy dirt.)
I screen my bark nuggets with 1/2" and 1/4" hardware cloth (galvanized, woven, welded steel mesh). I wish I had 1/8" mesh. For me, the stuff that is briefly held back by the 1/4" mesh is good, but I also use some that passes slowly through 1/4". I avoid dusty bark powder like death, because it holds almost as much water as peat (well, half as much).
Good luck!
