Hi all, I’ve had this little black velvet alocasia since October and it’s very persnickety. I’ve repotted it, tried keeping it in a bag for humidity, put it under a grow light, and nothing seems to help. It grows one leaf then drops another. I water it approximately every 2 weeks and have fertilized it maybe 1-2 times since I got it. It’s in a 2” pot in an east-facing window. Thanks!
What kind of soil are you using? I also think the bag may need to be opened a bit instead of sealed shut to let a little O2 in :)
0 Mi piaceHey! So it’s in a mix of soil, perlite, and orchid bark. I took it out of the bag because I was worried it was killing it. Should I leave it in a bag but partially open? I don’t want it to die, it’s so cute.
0 Mi piaceI’ve had my little one since November. It’s been a rough road lol. Started with one small leaf and now has two but it took forever! I mist her every two to three days instead of using the bag method and she seems to like that.
1 mi piaceI’ll try that thanks!
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No bag, no misting. You need a humidifier… if money isn’t a concern and you truly want to grow her into a large plant, I’ll tell you how it’s done. I have 6 black velvet alocasias and they’re all doing well. One thing to keep in mind, sometimes they will drop a leaf to produce another… isn’t always the case but if the conditions aren’t exactly what they want they will do that to produce energy. But anyway, the way I grow mine goes like this: once it’s acclimated to my home, usually 1-2 weeks, I’ll take it out of the pot, rinse all the soil off the roots in warm water (not hot or cold). I’ll then place it in a clear glass cup or container of water, I like to use the ones you get on amazon that have cork holders that you put the roots through, this holds the stems out if the water so that only the roots are submerged. If you don’t have one just keep the water level lower than the stems. You’ll probably need to check on it and fill back up often. But you should change the water out weekly anyway. I only keep it in the water for about 2-3 weeks, letting it grow a few water roots. I then place them in lechuza pon with a self watering pot. There’s many good YouTube videos on the entire process! You can even keep them in the clear jars with lechuza pon, but in that instance you fill it with water to cover the roots. If you use a self watering pot you need to only water when placing in the pot and then don’t water again for 2-3 weeks and definitely don’t use the reservoir. I use the reservoir once I know for sure the plant has started growing water roots in the pot. You can tell by how easy the plant moves, if it’s grown into it the plant won’t move super easy. They do need a minute to transition their soil roots to water roots, and you may lose a few smaller leaves in the process… however the pay off once established is amazing! Such growth! The lechuza pon even has fertilizer so you won’t have to worry about feeding for 6 whole months. I found placing in a cup of water helps the transition to smoother. I truly hope this helps you. Just keep in mind you need a grow light, a humidifier where you can keep the room at 70 minimum (mine stays around 75-85 though) and I turn on my ceiling fan but a tiny little fan will do, just to keep any fungus away. Misting will cause fungus or bacterial infections, trust me. It may not happen right away but eventually it will. All the pros are against misting and use humidifiers & fan combos. I have a few of mine in a greenhouse cabinet but they don’t absolutely have to have that, and that’s a conversation for another day anyway.
1 mi piaceThanks for all this amazing information! I only misted it once - on the soil not the plant - so I won’t do it anymore. I will put it under my grow light for now but I don’t have the other stuff you recommended at the moment. I do have setups with little test tubes that I could put it in with a small amount of water to let the roots grow if you think that would help but can’t afford to buy the lechuza pon and everything else just yet. Hopefully it’ll help and when I have more cash flow I can get all the other stuff you recommended. Thanks again!
1 mi piace Of course! To start out then I wouldn’t place in water until you can get the pon but definitely continue the grow light and for the next plant investment get your humidifier and fan
1 mi piaceHey, I just ordered the pon you recommended and have the plant under a grow light. Do you have a humidifier recommendation? I had one in the past but I couldn’t keep it clean no matter what. I did the weekly washes with vinegar and bleach (separately, per instructions) but it always had a lot of bacteria growing in it and I didn’t feel comfortable pumping that crap into the air so I got rid of it. Otherwise k was thinking of a pebble tray or something instead. 😕 The sole leaf on my plant has died back but I’m hoping a new one will grow like it did after this happened in the fall. Should I still water it? Thanks!
0 Mi piace So if you’ve ordered the pon, did you get a self watering pot? One that has the thing on the side that shows you how much water is in it? If so… go ahead and take the plant out of soil, carefully remove all of the soil off the roots. Use warm-ish water. Then place it in a jar of water for about a month-maybe two until it grows water roots (change water weekly and remove the dead mushy soil roots as you go along). Then you’ll be ready to pot it up in the pon and self watering pot. Now if there’s zero leaves left on the plant at all… this will change it a bit. If there’s no leaves, I would then instead put the pon in a clear container (I wouldn’t use a jar, instead you need something wider at the top… more like a clear cup.) Put pon in the cup mixed with perlite if you have any. Then I would take the bare corm, trimming down the soil roots where they’re only like half an inch if that. And stick it in the cup with the top tip sticking out. Put enough water in the bottom so you can see water sitting in the first inch of the cup. That will act as a water reservoir and keep the pon moist. If you have a heat pad you can place on that and blow a humidifier on it… or you can put a clear dome over it or place in a cabinet. Or use the bag you had. It will sprout again soon, as long as it has warmth & humidity. Light too if possible but that less important until there’s a leaf. Hope this helps!
0 Mi piace Oh and for humidifier, mine is like a big stand up one… it holds like over a gallon of water at a time. But you don’t need one like that unless you have multiple plants
0 Mi piaceHi, I just thought I’d update you that when I went to put it in pon in a clear glass it was all dead. Like no corm or anything left 😕 but I tried. Thanks for all your input, I still appreciate it!
0 Mi piace Oh no! Was it in water? I have had a few rot in water before, like the stems and corm…it doesn’t happen that often though. If you google it, it says alocasias won’t rot in water…. However I’ve had it happen to two of mine (both were Jacklyn’s, which is supposed to be one of the more hardy types ironically). The corm rotted on both of them but not all the way through, so right now I’m drying them out. Once they’ve calloused I’ll put super glue over the rotten part and then stick it in a clear nursery cup of perlite, pon, & stratum. I just found out about super glue trick so I’m hoping it works. But obviously if the corm is rotted way too much that’s not an option anymore.
0 Mi piace Also if you end up getting another black velvet, I recommend purchasing one that has 3 healthy leaves. All the black velvets I’ve had have done so well transitioning the soil roots to water roots… but they’ve all had 3 healthy leaves when I started. Since yours was droopy already maybe that’s why it didn’t recover. Also don’t forget to only cover the roots with water, don’t take it up on the stem if you can help it.
0 Mi piaceI haven’t gotten a self-watering pot yet, it’s hard to find a small enough one. My plant is in a 2” pot at the moment and I don’t see any that small. I do have small glasses that are about 2” at the opening and 3” tall so I could put the corm in there to start and put it in a plastic bag. Thanks again!
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