Alocasia zebrina

Discussion in 'Araceae' started by Mother of Thousands, Sep 28, 2016.

  1. Mother of Thousands

    Mother of Thousands New Member

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    Hi all!

    I recently got a new place and have been busy decorating it with lots of plants. Recently, I added the beautiful Alocasia species to my living room and I absolutely love it.
    However, after 2-3 days of bringing it home a few of the leaves got small yellow dots on them.
    At this time I checked the soil and it was dry a couple inches deep, so I watered it. The leaves for the next day proceeded to 'weep' and expel water drops through the tips.
    Now, 2 weeks later, the yellow dots have not gotten bigger or shown up on any other leaves.
    However the youngest leaf turned completely yellow and died. And 2 other leaves look sort of paler green, and are softer/floppier than the others which are quite stiff and dark.
    I have the pot on a plate of wet rocks and mist the plant every now and then to keep the humidity up. The room gets a lot of bright indirect light.
    I thought because the leaves were expelling water perhaps these symptoms were of overwatering, so I let the plant dry out the past week. Could the problem also be with fertilizer or lacking some nutrients? I have checked for insects and there are none.

    Any advice is much appreciated! I really don't want this lovely plant to die! I have other Alocasia species and they are doing just fine.
     

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  2. thanrose

    thanrose Active Member 10 Years

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    The dots of water you describe are guttation. This occurs with a number of plants but quite often with aroids. It's normal and not an indication of overwatering. It's part of the normal respiration of the plant and will typically manifest with numerous drops of water in the early morning along leaf edges. Depending on local humidity, it isn't always apparent.

    The yellow dots could be fungal in nature, but could also be incidental insect damage, or spray mist from household products. If they don't get worse, I wouldn't worry about it.

    The pale leaves are likely due to lack of light. You may think you've provided enough, but Alocasia spp. live in equatorial brightness, even under forest canopy.
     
  3. Mother of Thousands

    Mother of Thousands New Member

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    Hey, thanks for the response. I moved the plant nearer to a window, and was watering once a week (soil was moist but with good drainage). However I have lost two more of the small leaves and the last is turning yellow. I thought maybe I'm not watering enough? The guttation has completely stopped. I watered now twice a week like my other Alocasia. Plus daily misting.
    This week I have moved the plant to my sunniest room so hopefully that helps. Here are some picks of what is still going on: smaller leaves turning yellow, larger leaf veins seem pale and some yellow areas on edges.
     

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  4. Jeremy99

    Jeremy99 New Member

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    One thing that might be causing yellowing, is if youre using regular tap water. Often this contains chlorine and fluorine which have damage the plant. Try sitting the water out in its container for an hour to give time for the chemicals to be brocken down. I water my alocasia all the way through when i notice the leaves are just starting to wilt.
     
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  5. Tom Hulse

    Tom Hulse Active Member 10 Years

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    Hey, nice plant! It does look like it's not getting near enough sun though. I grow a few Alocasias as houseplants here in a northern climate, and I think the the secret to success in a dry house is getting them more light and watering near perfectly.

    Those dying lower leaves sound common for greenhouse-grown Alocasia moved into a lower-light house with central heating and dry air. You might loose all but the newest leaves. The new leaves will grow out more adapted to the lower humidity. I wouldn't worry about losing the old leaves at all, just focus on growing great new leaves. You can feel proud if the newest leaf comes out larger than the last and hopefully more waxy and stiff without as much floppy back-curl. As soon as you see movement on a new leaf sheath growing out, I would start fertilizing it like an orchid at 1/4 strength every watering, then bump it up to normal fertilizer once your high light light starts powering fast growth.

    So perfect watering is necessary since they obviously need their water, but those rhizomes can easily rot in such low-light conditions. Twice a week sounds like too much to me. The big one in this picture is in a clay pot and those big new leaves are sucking water like crazy. I water it about every 6 days. Most of my Aroids as houseplants get water more like every 10 days unless they are pot-bound. Everyone's conditions are different, so only you can know how much it needs; just don't rot it out! :)

    If you really want this to do well, is there any possibility of supplemental light? The lamp in this photo has 2 ea. 100-watt equivalent LED bulbs in it, on a timer for 14 hours a day.
     

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