Some Basic Principles in Caring for Alocasia
Planting Alocasia in the house’s yard has become a familiar sight for today’s society. Maybe you start to desire to do it too after seeing the terrace of your neighbor’s house become more beautiful because of this plant. But your desire is still being held back because you don’t know how to take care of them?
Using them as an ornamental plant in the house’s yard does not require complicated maintenance methods. However, each type of plant has its own characteristics, so it still requires patience. You cannot simply apply the principles of plant A care to plant B. If the characteristics are different, the treatment method must also be different.
Especially regarding Alocasia, they might cause confusion for you at the beginning of the maintenance process. Maybe you’ll see how sensitive they are when your treatment method doesn’t suit them. When dealing with such cases, you do not need to panic. You just need to make sure the touch of care you apply matches their characteristics.
When you buy from a plant store, you may find the leaves that have fallen off. Once again, we emphasize, they are a type of plant that is quite sensitive in responding to stressful situations. As long as they are in the car in the delivery process until they arrive at your house for the first time, they are not used to the conditions of the surrounding environment and need an adaptation process.
Their way of adapting to their new environment is to drop their leaves. Believe me, this is a common symptom encountered in many plants when they are about to undergo the adaptation process. They will drop the old leaves and then emerge new leaves that look fresher. The point is, don’t be upset when you see their leaves fall at the beginning of the treatment process. It’s a common thing to happen!
Moreover, they are a type of plant that grows quite quickly in a period. After their leaves fall, they don’t take long for new leaves to emerge. The question of the leaf growth period is slightly influenced by the size of the plant. The larger the plant you maintain, the longer the growth process will take. The growth period is usually about 2 leaves per month for large species.
Another important point that needs to be considered is the characteristics that appear when their leaves become unwell and slowly walk towards death. Leaves that are less healthy and will die are usually marked by yellow spots on the leaf surface. When you find yourself in such a situation, the treatment that should be done depends on your taste.
Some people prefer to see a combination of green and yellow on the leaves because it creates a more aesthetic impression. Such people tend to allow the yellowing of the leaves to remain on the plant until it completely dies. However, people who don’t care about the aesthetic element usually immediately cut the leaves that have turned yellow.
If you want to prevent leaf death, of course, you need to provide appropriate care. You also need to ensure that they are protected from pests that usually damage their fertility. One type of pest that is generally the main enemy of Alocasia is the spider mite. You can rely on pesticides to keep your plants healthy and free from problems.
Treatment Methods To Do Routine
Reading the points about some of the basic principles of care, of course, you will get a general idea of how it will be when you make Alocasia an ornamental plant in your home. Maybe you also dare to take care of it directly or choose to make it a gift to someone else. If you want to package it as a gift, you can order it through Birthday Gift Delivery Singapore.
In addition to these basic principles, you must also pay attention to the treatment methods that must be carried out regularly. We will then describe it as completely as possible to all of you. Hopefully, our explanation will be helpful for all of you.
The first routine maintenance is regarding the selection of the placement site. This point cannot be made arbitrarily because it must be adjusted to the characteristics of Alocasia. They tend to like the environment that gets intense exposure to indirect sunlight. Conditions in their natural habitat are in the forest. They usually grow at the bottom of the tree canopy, which is intensely exposed to indirect sunlight.
You should just put them on the semi-outdoor terrace. Do not try to put them in the house because they do not like the environment that lacks sunlight. They also do not enjoy the humid climate. Make sure to place them away from air conditioners in your home. But do not also be placed in a scorching environment. This is dangerous for their sustainability.
The following routine maintenance ensures the level of soil moisture in the pot. Maybe you will be confused about measuring soil moisture level because it must be really suitable. As a workaround, there is a tool called probe that you can rely on. Probes are commonly used by plant enthusiasts to test soil moisture levels.
Regarding humidity levels, Alocasia likes an environment that is not too humid but not too dry either. So these two things must be combined carefully. Therefore, when watering, leave at least 1/4 of the top of the plant dry and use not too much water.