I bought this absolutely beautiful Black Pink Velvet Alocasia but I've seen conflicting care instructions. I came in a small container with black beads similar to leca but smaller. The roots look great and it did well in shipping. This is my first Alocasia (and I spent hella money on it š„²) but I'm not new to plants. I have several monsters and philos. Just want to get some good care instructions. I'm in zone 9b.
I'm not sure if this would prefer high humidity or house level humidity. I plan to water approximately once a week (or week and a half) depending on how dry the soil is. Like my monsters, I assume I should water when top two inches of soil are dry. I also have aroid mix that I'm thinking of transferring it to once it acclimates. I see a lot of people use Pon. I've never used it before. Is that preferable for alocasias? Any help is appreciated.
by CookDouble9283
1 Comment
Beautiful! Expensive plant to experiment with however. It came in fluval stratum (black beads). It’s a semi-hydro medium. I would recommend leaving it or switching to another semi-hydro medium you’re comfortable with. If you have no experience with Alocasia, switching a new plant from semi-hydro to soil has the potential to be disastrous, as the roots are used to constant moisture and have a high chance of dying off in soil if not kept just right. It would need to be kept in high humidity for the switch and the soil kept moist, NOT soggy. All of my Alocasia are in pon and I can’t recommend it enough. Some people struggle with the switch, but I use Hydroguard when I water fresh transplants until roots are established and I have yet to loose a single plant or have any of the soil roots die off as it adjusts. Yours is already semi-hydro so I suspect it would be a smooth transition. Lechuza pon can be a bit hard to come by sometimes, so if you’re having trouble it’s worth knowing that all Lechuza brand self-watering pots (available on Amazon) come with a little bag of pon, enough to pot it up. Good luck!