Hello! I've recently bought this Alocasia Zebrina. When we first bought it I think I may have over watered it as it started dripping from the leaves. Now I'm much more careful to check the top few inches are dry before watering. I also read that this plant needs a high nitrogen fertilizer but that it doesn't want to be given too much fertilizer in the winter months. I've added the contents of a few tea bags to the top of the soil for a bit of extra nitrogen. It's in a sunny spot right next to the window. However some of the leaves are starting to go floppy. Can anyone help please?
Perhaps the soil had been too wet resulting in some root rot and thus the wilting of the leaves. An appropriate medium is likely something similar to the "jungle mix" described in the following document: Alocasia Amazonica (not a species), Alocasia x amazonica, Alocasia mortefontanensis André, Alocasia Poly, not 'Polly', Exotic Rainforest rare tropical plants. Detailed information on this plant: Alocasia zebrina K. Koch & Veitch, Alocasia zebrina reticulata, Alocasia zebrina, Alocasia reticulata, Alocasia zebrina K. Koch & Veitch, Sold as Alocasia reticulata form, Alocasia zebrina 'Reticulata' and Alocasia tigrina superba, Alocasia zebrina 'retic
The first question is always whether a plant is being drowned. You need to make sure after you water the plant that it doesn't end up sitting in water that has drained through and has collected at the bottom of the ceramic pot. With a plant that small in a plastic pot, you can easily check how heavy it is after you water it and whether it is much lighter when you water it again. It's also possible that the leaves are flopping because there isn't enough water. Usually, they would go yellow from too much water. Check even daily to see how soon the plant feels much lighter - is it sooner than you've thought it needed water?
Thank you for your responses sorry for the delay in getting back. Busy mum! Leaves are very slowly starting to go a little yellow at the tips. I'd say it dries out at about a similar rate to the other plants in the house. Last time we waited until the top few inches of soil where dry but watered it from the bottom instead of the top to see how much water it soaked up. After about an hour it drank hardly anything and it doesn't seem to have helped the leaves perk up. This makes me think it's unlikely to be a lack of water? Would you agree with that? If it's root for setting in how would I remedie this?
If you recently bought it, it likely came from a greenhouse with higher light and much higher humidity than your house. That size plant with that amount of light likely can not support that many leaves at that size with your lower light/humidity. Leaves that were originally grown in higher humidity, if they matured that way, can't easily harden off to your conditions. For a delicate plant like this, you usually have to plan to lose most of the older leaves over the first year or so, and it will be the younger and newer leaves that can harden to your conditions. These will also usually be smaller unless you were a very exceptional grower. So it may not be watering at all, just the plants natural reaction to moving into a house. I would really focus on your new leaves for the best clues to how you are doing. But like they said above please do make sure this one never sits in water at the bottom of the pot. I would do light watering from the top, then every couple months flush deeply with a heavy watering, also from the top. If you are here asking these questions, I'll bet that your soil isn't airy enough for Alocasias to have success from bottom watering, so stick to the top. It sure is a beautiful plant. :)
All the same, it should be fairly easy to ease the plant out of its container for an inspection now that the root ball is saturated. It's an opportunity to inspect the condition of the roots and at the same time make an assessment of whether the medium is suitable.
