Alocasia home. Cultivation and care

A photo

Alocasia (Alocasia) - A grassy evergreen plant from the Aroid family. Comes from Southeast Asia. It is found in nature in moist Ceylon forests, tropics of Malaysia, Indonesia. In a natural environment, where it is warm, humid and spacious, it grows up to 4 m. The height of domestic species ranges from 0.4 to 2 m, the leaves grow from 0.3 to 1 m.

Indoors, the flower lives up to 3 years, in the greenhouse - up to 15. Indoor alocasia grows slowly, in a year forms up to 5 heart-shaped or thyroid leaves with light veins. Each new sheet is larger than the previous one. Because of their unusual shape, the plant is called "elephant ears." It rarely blooms, releasing a white-pink inflorescence-cob, covered with a veil.

	In one season, the plant forms 3-5 new leaves.
	It blooms in spring, but very rarely. The plant has beautiful leaves.
	The plant is easy to grow.
	In the apartment up to 3 years.

Beneficial features

Alocasia photo

Alocasia is used in folk medicine. Tincture of leaves and stems relieves pain and inflammation, resolves infiltrates. Used for mastopathy, gout, rheumatism, tumors, pneumonia. Essential oil is part of the drops for toothache. But self-medication is dangerous: the plant is toxic. Some species that contain a lot of starch are edible. Phytoncides flower purify indoor air.

Features of growing at home. Briefly

It is still rare in apartments: a large tropical plant takes up a lot of space, needs special care. Alocasia at home will feel good if you bring the conditions of detention closer to optimal for her:

Temperature	In winter - + 18 - 20 ° C, in summer - + 23 - 29 ° C.
Air humidity	Increased, up to 80%; during the heating season they are kept on a pallet with moistened pebbles, in the summer they are sprayed once a day.
Lighting	In winter, they set the backlight, in the summer, diffused dim light is useful.
Watering	The soil should be moist, but not waterlogged; in the summer they are watered up to 4 times a week, in the winter - 1 time in 10 days.
Priming	Loose, well-drained, slightly acidic soil.
Fertilizer and fertilizer	From March to the end of September - every 2 weeks they are fed with liquid potassium fertilizer diluted 2 times.
Transfer	March to May, annually; Large bushes are simultaneously divided into parts and planted.
Breeding	Protect the flower from drafts and water on the leaves; kept indoors; in cold weather they cannot be taken outside; the dried lower leaves are removed in time.

Although care seems simple, there are some features of growing alocasia. The plant is protected from drafts and a sharp temperature drop. Timely removed dead leaves are removed so that they do not take power from the plant and do not spoil its appearance. Juice causes irritation of the skin and mucous membranes, so it is placed in places inaccessible to children and animals.

Care for alocasia at home. In detail

Alocasia flower at home will develop well if the owners take care of it.

Landing

Planting is an important step in creating optimal conditions for the plant. The well-being and development of the flower will depend on how and when it passes. Landing work is carried out in the spring. Home alocasia needs a loose, air- and moisture-permeable soil with a slightly acidic reaction (pH about 5, 5).

You can buy ready-made soil mix, or you can cook it yourself from peat, leaf soil and chopped needles, taken in equal parts, and half a part of perlite (sand). Before planting, the soil is frozen or fried. To prevent water from stagnating, expanded clay or broken bricks for drainage are poured into the pot.

Bloom

Alocasia bloom in the apartment is a rare and unattractive phenomenon. Small pink-white flowers appear on an adult plant, gathered in a small ear, wrapped in a coverlet. It can be cream, pink or pale green.

Flowering can weaken the plant, inhibit its growth and the appearance of new leaves. Therefore, the inflorescence is often removed without waiting for when the home alocasia after pollination forms fruits in the form of a berry with seeds. The cut point is dusted with crushed coal.

Temperature mode

In order to feel comfortable with alocasia, it is mandatory to maintain the optimal temperature regime. A tropical flower loves warmth. In summer, the room temperature must be kept between + 18 ° C and + 27 ° C. If it is slightly above + 30 ° C, alocasia will tolerate, but it must be supported at this time by spraying. In a warm room in summer, new leaves often form.

In winter, the mercury column should not fall below + 15 ° C, otherwise the flower, resisting the cold, will slow down growth. Some species can discard leaves and form new ones only in spring. Water the plant only with warm, settled water.

The plant should be protected from draft and kept away from air conditioning, but the room is often ventilated to avoid stagnation of air.

Spraying

Alocasia loves moist air, so spraying is the procedure necessary when caring for a tropical flower. With its help, the growth and immunity of the plant is activated. It is better to spray the lower part of the leaves so that the water does not accumulate in the sinuses and does not spoil the gloss with lime spots. In the summer it is done once a day.

In winter, in cloudy, cool weather, they are sprayed and watered less often. Spray carefully, trying not to break fragile leaves. Sometimes they arrange a warm shower, wipe the leaves with a damp cloth. The plant is placed on a pallet with wet expanded clay, mulched with moss, use an air humidifier or put an open jar of water near the pot.

Lighting

Lack of light weakens: growth slows down, small leaves form. Variegated varieties are particularly difficult to tolerate: their leaves darken and can become monochrome. Alocasia loves light, but lighting should be not only full, but also scattered. The bright, direct rays of the sun can cause leaf burns.

Therefore, it is best to grow alocasia in the western or eastern part of the apartment. If the plant is located on the north side, in autumn and winter it needs lighting. Alocasia, installed in the southern part of the house, in the summer is a little shaded or set aside from the window.

Watering

Watering is a delicate matter; excess moisture can bring a flower no less harm than its lack. The lower the temperature, the less often you need to water. In winter and on cloudy, cool days, the plant is watered sparingly, once every 10 days. Excess moisture and hypothermia can cause the death of the flower.

In summer, frequent plentiful watering is needed, up to 3 times in 7 days. Use only clean water settled in the room. Before watering alocasia, you should make sure that the soil has dried out by 6 - 7 cm. To prevent moisture from evaporating quickly, the plant is mulched with moss.

Pot size

Pot for alocasia need spacious so that the roots are located freely. It is important that there are drainage holes at the bottom, then water will not stagnate, the roots will breathe. When replanting, consider the size of the pot. It is believed that the diameter of the new container should be 2.5 cm larger than the diameter of the previous dishes.

But if the root system of the flower had to be reduced by separating the part for planting or by removing damaged fragments, then the size is selected taking into account the remaining roots.

Priming

Heavy soil, like a vice, compresses the roots and blocks access to moisture, air and nutrients - to which the plant cannot exist without. therefore soil for alocasia should be loose, light, breathable. You can buy a ready-made substrate for aroid, add crushed coal and coniferous earth to it. The second option is a soil mixture for senpolia, improved perlite, crushed coal and sand.

You can prepare the soil yourself by mixing 4 parts of soil for orchids, 3 parts of garden soil, 2 parts of peat and 1 part of perlite and sphagnum. A good mixture is obtained from equal parts of peat and greenhouse land. Almost all types of alocasia need a slightly acidic soil (pH 5, 5), but Copper-red and Squat alocasia love soil with neutral acidity. For them, you can add dolomite flour or lime. As drainage, a layer of broken brick or expanded clay is poured at the bottom of the pot and moss is laid.

Fertilizer and fertilizer

So that alocasia at home does not feel a lack of useful substances, it is fed. Fertilizing and fertilizing are carried out from late March to late September, once every 14 days. After watering, any liquid fertilizer diluted in half for decorative leafy plants is applied (for Copper-red alocasia, it is diluted 3 times).

It is necessary to dilute the finished solution, so that an excessive content of salts does not inhibit the flower (excessive stimulation will lead to death). For foliar top dressing, the solution is diluted more. Spray the underside of the sheet for fear of burns.

You can use bird droppings as root dressing, but this fertilizer is very concentrated, it is bred 25-30 times.

From October to March, the plant is not disturbed: it has a dormant period, when feeding is excluded, and watering is reduced.

Transfer

Alocasia transplantation is necessary. Any transplant is not only a change of the pot, but also a renewal of the soil, and with it alocasia receives fresh nutrients. An adult plant is transshipped every 2 years, young - as it grows (at least 3 times a year).

Take a new container. They try not to disturb the lump of earth on the roots in order to injure alocasia as little as possible. A little new soil is poured on the drainage layer, a flower is placed and sprinkled with the same fresh soil. Then they are watered, lightly sprinkled with dry soil and mulched with moss. If the plant is extended, it is slightly buried.

As a result, adventitious roots will appear. Sometimes nodules form on the roots of an adult plant. They are carefully removed and planted in a separate dish for reproduction. The transplant is carried out from March to May.

Pruning

Pruning alocasia consists in the timely removal of yellowed leaves that inhibit flower growth. They are cut with a sharp clean knife, the cut points are sprinkled with chopped coal. The procedure is carried out with gloves so that the poisonous juice of the plant does not accidentally fall on hands. After work, the hands and knife are washed thoroughly.

If on vacation

Alocasia needs systematic care. If the whole family is planning to go on vacation for more than a week, the flower must be watered. Fresh moss is put on the ground, the pot is put in a tray with wet expanded clay. Choose a place with diffused lighting. You need to ask loved ones to take care of the plant in the absence of owners. Prepare water for irrigation, explain how and when to water, spray and ventilate.

Breeding

Reproduction is possible in different ways.

Propagation of alocasia using nodules on the roots

Propagation using nodules on the roots is the most popular and easiest way to get a new plant.

• The tubers are kept in a solution that stimulates the formation of roots, dried and planted in a wet mixture of sand (perlite) and sphagnum with the beak up.
• Cover with a film, making holes on it so that the tubers breathe.
• Hold at + 24 ° C. When the roots appear, the film is removed, and when they get stronger, the tubers are planted in separate pots.

Rhizome propagation

• A fragment is separated from the mother plant.
• Place the cut sprinkled with crushed coal.
• The plant is planted in a mixture of sand and peat. Leave at + 23 ° C.
• They shade for several days so that the bush adapts to new conditions.
• Periodically watered, ventilated and sprayed.

Propagation by cuttings

• From alocasia, a shoot or part of the trunk having 1 to 2 kidneys is separated.
• It is kept in a stimulating solution, and planted in a wet mixture of sand and peat so that the kidney is above the ground.
• Put on top of polyethylene and leave at + 23 ° C.
• Holes are made on the film so that condensation does not accumulate.
• The sapling is watered, aired, sprayed.
• After a month, it will take root, then it is planted in another pot.

Growing alocasia from seeds

Reproduction by seeds is carried out immediately after their collection: they quickly lose germination.

• Seeds are washed, kept in a stimulating solution or aloe juice.
• It is grown, not buried, in a wet mixture of sand and coconut substrate at + 24 ° C under a film, which is periodically removed for ventilation.
• After 2 weeks, shoots appear. They are dived into individual pots and continued to be looked after.
• Seedlings develop slowly: the first leaf can appear only after a year.
• When the rhizome fills the pot, the plant is transplanted.

All methods of propagation of alocasia are clear and accessible. When planning to get a new bush, you need to remember that variegated varieties are not propagated by seeds: it is impossible to convey the varietal properties of a plant.

Diseases and Pests

When the house creates favorable conditions for the plant, it grows strong and hardy. But sometimes alocasia suffers from disease or pest attacks. This immediately affects the change in its appearance.

Pests

Most often, alocasia is attacked by common pests of domestic plants: aphids, scale insects, thrips, spider mites, mealybugs. The worst of them is the spider mite. The characteristic signs of defeat by this pest: the external oppressed appearance of the flower, dust and crumbs on the surface of the leaf, small light dots.

The mite attacks in very dry indoor air. To get rid of the pest, the leaves can be rubbed with shampoo from ticks and fleas; after 10 minutes, wash off, transplant the flower, spray with Irbis spray, cover with polyethylene for an hour.

The fact that the disease began, the symptoms say:

• brown spots on the leaves - sunburn (rearrange and shade the flower); the plant is cold (put heat);
• black spots with a yellowish rim - rotting of the roots from waterlogging (reduce watering, remove diseased leaves, treat with foundationazole);
• brown brown plaque on the leaves alocasia - powdery mildew (wipe leaves with a solution of laundry soap, use fungicides containing copper);
• rotting roots - waterlogging of the soil (change the soil to looser; reduce watering; remove damaged roots, rinse the rhizome with potassium permanganate, sprinkle the cut points with coal powder; plant in a new soil);
• the tips of the leaves dry alocasia - too dry air (sprayed, put a container of water next to it);
• slowly growing - lack of nitrogen (watered with urea solution, 1 gram per liter);
• leaves wither - waterlogging or overdrying of the soil, heavy earth (to correct watering, replace the earth);
• leaves turn pale - little light (put in a brighter place, gradually accustoming to light);
• the tips of the leaves turn yellow - excess nitrogen in the soil, irrigated with chlorinated or hard water (watered with settled water, to which you can add 0.2 g of citric acid per 10 l of water);
• leaves fall - Draft effect (rearrange in a protected place);
• small leaves - little light (rearrange in a bright place);
• dark spots on leaves, leaves turn black and dry - draft or hypothermia (rearrange in a protected warm place);
• dropped all the leaves - weakening of the plant after flowering (remove the peduncle and the remains of foliage, put in a bright, cool room and rarely water it - until spring so that the flower rests; then transplant and feed it).

If alocasia feels the care of a grower, she will be strong, healthy and beautiful.

Types of homemade alocasia with photos and names

It is represented by 85 species growing in natural conditions. Not everyone can take root in an apartment. Home alocasia is divided into 2 groups: tall, with a direct stem large-root alocasia, having 3 leaves (“trefoils”) and of lower height with variegated bright leaves.

Amazonian alocasia (Alocasia amazonica)

Alocasia is large-root. Stem height - up to 15 cm, petioles - 40 - 65 cm, greenish pink with dark stripes. Elongated thyroid leaves of dark green color with a bright white central stripe and white lateral veins (length - up to 0, 5 m, width - up to 0, 2 m). The ear is white-pink (0, 1 m) in a pink-green veil. Rarely bears fruit at home.

Alocasia Sander (Alocasia sanderiana)

Short tuberous root. Arrow-shaped elongated leaves have silver-green feathery lobes with notches and light veins (leaf length - up to 45 cm, width - 15 cm). The roots are brown with a green tint (length - 30 - 60 cm). On the roots forms many nodules. Grows in greenhouses, used to breed hybrids.

Alocasia Low (Alocasia lowii)

Short trunk with root underground offspring. Oval or arrow-shaped leaves on elongated petioles are monotonously green or with silver streaks (the lower part of the leaf is red-violet). They have a metallic sheen.

Alocasia napellus (Alocasia cucullata)

Height - 0, 6 - 1 m. Barrel diameter - up to 8 cm. Petioles - up to 30 cm, less often - longer. The length of the leaves is up to 1 m, the width is up to 80 cm. There is a notch at the base of dense leaves. Glossy green leaves. Only large bushes with many leaves bloom. Tall, up to 30 cm, peduncle wrapped in a fleshy veil. Subsidiaries are tightly attached to the main tuber.

Spectacular flower with luxurious leaves. Few plants can boast of such huge leaves with an interesting coloration like her. Even in an apartment with dry air, the flower reaches an impressive size, and with decent care, it strikes with rare beauty.

Watch the video: AFRICAN MASK PLANT ALOCASIA CARE & GROWING TIPSJoyUsGarden (May 2024).