Alocasia

One phrase to sum it up - Alocasia LOVES LECA. I’ve watched my Alocasia develop beautifully in LECA, one new leaf after another, growing bigger and bigger with each leaf. They are one of the easiest plants to transition into semi-hydroponics because they love to grow roots, especially kept in a humid environment. My observations within the LECA community are the same, very little complaints about alocasia in transitions or growth.

In this article, my friends Alison and Michelle contributed some of their experiences to mine.

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Potting Configuration

As with all other plant types you may experience some loss of older leaves with Alocasia. The key to preventing too much loss is the Nutrient Stagnant Wicking (NSW) setup. Michelle recently converted two Alocasia Zebrina Reticulata to semi-hydroponics. They both receive the same amount of light, humidity, and temperature to grow in her Greenhouse Cabinet. One is in NSW and the other is in a submerged setup with water level at 1/4th the container. The one in the NSW setup is doing a lot better. Read about potting configurations here.

Most of my Alocasia are in a NSW configuration. I have a few in a submerged setup to experiment.

Alison has her black velvet in a DIY pon + LECA mix, in a NSW setup.

Transition & Roots

Soil comes off of Alocasia roots very easily and it’s very enjoyable to clean for LECA. This makes Alocasia a prime candidate for one of your first transitions. The roots are thicker in nature, with many smaller root hair coming off of larger roots. When these roots grow into the reservoir, you can leave them there as they will be very happy in direct contact with water. Over time you may see some of the smaller root hairs rotting off. You can pull those off pretty easily with your hands if you have it in an NSW configuration. All of us keep a reservoir during transition because Alocasia are water lovers.

Fertilization

All of Michelle’s Alocasia (except for the recent transfers) get fed around 800-1000ppm. She start with RO water, 3mL Cal/mag, 10ml of each of the General Hydroponics trio, and 2ml Floralicious Plus. The recent transfers are kept in water with some General Hydroponics RapidStart and some of the nutrient mix since she uses reverse osmosis water. For the RapidStart, she use the dilution as indicated on the bottle - 2mL/gallon for aggressive rooting and 1mL/gallon for normal root growth.

All of my Alocasia gets around 800-1000ppm in the summer time. I switch between the GH trio and MSU fertilizer (13-3-15). I also use 1 tsp of Cal/mag (around 5mL) - remember, always add Calmag to your water first to prevent nutrient lockout. Sometimes I’ll use RapidStart, and sometimes I’ll use KelpMax. My feed is very close to Michelle’s.

Alison uses FoliagePro at 1/2 tsp per gallon.

Temperature and Humidity

Alocasia are not picky once they adapt. Michelle’s Alocasia are kept in the greenhouse cabinet until they’ve adapted to semi-hydroponics, usually a month, and then moved into a spot in her home. If you don’t have a greenhouse cabinet, you can keep yours in a large clear container (like a big clear plastic tote) for the added humidity. I don’t add extra humidity to mine when adapting, I find Alocasia to be extremely resilient and easy to transition. Both our environments range from 70-75 degrees and 20-40% ambient humidity. Plants can be grouped together for added humidity once you take them out of a high humidity area.

Long Term Maintenance

I keep a constant reservoir with my Alocasia and so does Michelle. We top off the reservoirs during our routine check. Michelle notes that the Alocasia Silver Dragon likes to dry out in her environment. With most of them, they prefer to stay consistently wet and when you let them dry out, their leaves may brown. Another interesting thing with alocasia, when they are constantly in a reservoir and doesn’t dry out, you will notice more guttation (water dew running down the leaf) more often. For smaller leaves, this will cause the tips to brown and dry up. But as your alocasia mature, you should see browning on the leaf tips less often as these new leaves are bigger and more resilient. Alison and I flush once every few months, Michelle flushes more frequently than we do.