āļøAlocasia expertsāļø: anyone know the trick to not get one leave to die off as a new one grows? I have these in 80% humidity and it still seems to be happeningš„¹ Iām using pon as a substrate so they only get watered every 9 days or soā¦maybe thatās the problem?
Do u add a liquid fertiliser for hydroponics?
2 Likes Yes I do use liquid fertilizer, every other watering right now (try to flush them every watering too!) Iām still not an expert on hydro substratesā¦š
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Maybe you are fertilizing it too much, because you should be only fertilizing it once a month, even for hydroponics.
1 Like Hm, I mean dropping leaves is very normal for them, could also be too much light
1 Like Oh sorry, also inconsistent watering is also a problem that can cause damaged leaves and too frequent watering is also an issue. Also it should be producing more leaves than it is losing. Not lose one and then gain one.
2 Likes I donāt think inconsistent watering would affect this guy, as itās in pon and looks like it has a reservoir, also like I said itās pretty normal for them to drop a leaf when growing a new one, that doesnāt mean they should, but they generally do most of the time ^^
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Not an expert, but my alocasias seem to continue to add leaves so I'll chime in. My plants are about 4-6' away from south facing windows. Humidity is usually only around 40-50% on a good day, worse during winter (although I work to keep everything around 40% minimum). I think they just want a place to sit still and get accustomed to their surroundings. Mine used to do the leaf exchange as yours seems to be doing, but after a year or so of leaf swaps, they stopped dropping the older ones. I think just being patient and letting them do their thing may let them work out their own quirks. š
3 Likes Hmm š¤ good to know! Yeah thatās almost why Iām afraid to try taking them out of my greenhouse cause Iām afraid that will cause way too much shock
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Check for pests. My Odora dropped a leaf every time it grew a new one and turns out it had spider mites for a while. I couldnāt tell because it had a lot of white variegation making them blend in
2 Likes Yes these guys both got spider mites š¤¦āāļø but I caught it relatively early and Iāve been treating them every week. Wondering if maybe thatās part of the issue
1 Like Good luck to you!
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They do look nice and healthy. My velvet would do the new leaf for and old leaf situation when I first got it. I had it in a south window. Then slowly the old leaf would last a bit longer. I have since repotted into pon and moved to about a foot away from the window. And the exchange no longer happens. I think it has more to do with age, than the lighting though. Alocasia just really love any excuse to drop a š š thou. My Baginda, pink dragon, frydek, and var stingray, all do it for seemingly no reason. Most are under bright light, fertilized every 2-3 weeks, misted 1x day
3 Likes Gotcha! Good to know!! Yes they seem healthy and theyāre still growing. Sounds like what Iām getting is to just be patient, keep them on a consistent schedule and perhaps slow down on the fertilizer a bit for now (I might be fertilizing too much from what Iām gathering)š¤
0 Likes Yea, it might be pushing up more leaves than it can sustain. Especially if it's like a 20-20-20 fertilizer. For tropicals I'm using at most a 4-3-6 and that's slightly diluted.
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I started watering my var. Frydek in semi hydro with 1/2 the normal amount of fertilizer every time I water and the oldest of 3 leaves is staying while the new leaf is currently coming in. Iāve learned theyāre heavy feeders especially when a new leaf is coming in and heavy drinkers with a new leaf. I also use silica, superthrive, ph balancer and water conditioner (api stress coat) along with my fertilizer (foliagepro). And Iāve had this alocasia about 6 months with spider mite and too strong pest spay problems along the way. Good luck! The 3 leaf problem is annoying š
1 Like Oh wow sounds like you got it down! I do have silica, I could try that! & maybe Iāll switch to that fertilizer, Iāve heard great things about it! Iād love to see a pic of yours š¤©
0 Likes The leaf with the spots on it is one that got damaged from the pest spray doing good now though āŗļø
