It is often difficult to find and tricky to grow since it is rather picky about its growing conditions.
The plant has large, distinctly heart-shaped leaves that grow at the tip of the white-and-green striped stems.
Alocasia is toxic to humans and pets.
The Spruce / Cori Sears
The trick is understanding how it grows in its natural environment and trying to mimic those conditions.
Light
This tropical plant appreciates several hours of bright,indirect sunlight.
Or, filter direct light with a sheer curtain or window film.
The Spruce / Cori Sears
This means yoursoil mixshould be rich in organic materials and well-draining.
A mixture of equal parts potting soil,perliteor pumice, and coco peat is ideal.
Ideally, the soil should stay consistently moist.
The Spruce / Cori Sears
If your plant exhibits curling leaves, crispy edges, or dropping leaves, it may require morehumidity.
All alocasia produce flowers, although most are unremarkable, and they rarely flower indoors.
Both methods require a mature and healthy plant and are best done during regular repotting.
The Spruce / Cori Sears
To propagate by division, go through this:
To propagate bygrowing corms, go through this.
Repotting stresses out most plants, so a day or two before repotting, water adequately.
When dividing, remove most of the old soil surrounding the root system.
Separate the plant carefully by untangling the roots and keeping them intact if possible.
This plant is also susceptible to root rot, usually due to improper watering and soil drainage.
Signs of root rot include yellowing leaves, dropping leaves, and brown mushy stems.
Curling Leaves
Curling leaves usually indicate that yourAlocasia zebrinais experiencing a lack of moisture or humidity.
Drooping or Stem Bending
Droopy stems may indicate that the plant’s stems are overladen with water.
To fix this, allow the soil to almost completely dry out (about 2/3 of the pot).
Also, check the drainage holes and check that the soil drains properly.
Occasionally, drooping or bending stems signify the opposite: the plant lacks water, nutrients, or light.
Unlike other tropical aroids such as pothos and some philodendrons, alocasias cannot be propagated by leaf cuttings.
Are Plants in the Alocasia Genus Poisonous?National Capital Poison Center.
