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newgen_gw

Alocasia hypnosa: how to take care of them?

newgen
14 years ago

I got 2 of these about 1 month ago, I wanted to put them outdoors but my area sometimes gets very gusty winds, and I don't want the beautiful leaves shredded. So I'm keeping them indoor. Since this is my 1st time with these plants, I have some newbie questions:

[1] I used scissors to cut off a couple of smaller leaves at the bottom when they yellowed and wilted, is that OK?

[2] What type of fertilizer do they want, and how often?

[3] How long do these plants last and how large do they get, in environment like mine? (potted and indoor)

Thanks,

{{gwi:382467}}

Comments (8)

  • exoticrainforest
    14 years ago

    In general:

    1) bright indirect light
    2) Evenly moist soil
    3) Cutting dead leaves is fine
    4) A 14-14-14 fertilizer(Osmocote) works fine but a 10-10-10 Is also good.

    If grown in good conditions the plant can live for many years and will begin to produce offsets which will eventually fill the pot. Avoid allowing it to completely dry out but make sure the soil does not become soggy.

    In our Exotic Rainforest atrium we have to throw similar plants away each summer due to their ability to crowd out anything growing around them.

  • newgen
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks for the info.
    Do you have a website? Do you sell plants?

  • exoticrainforest
    14 years ago

    I do have a website but we don't sell plants. Primarily I maintain a large collection of aroids under glass. I serve as the secretary of the International Aroid Society and my site is solely for informational purposes.

    You can find a link with several growers on it by scrolling to the bottom of our homepage.

    Here is a link that might be useful: The Exotic Rainforest

  • lariann
    14 years ago

    That plant you have is not Alocasia hypnosa. Check the link below to see an actual specimen of A. hypnosa. Although the leaves are similar, that is where the resemblance ends. A. hypnosa does not produce offsets, as your plant has, but instead sends out runners much like some Colocasia species. At the end of the growing season, corms form at the end of the runners before the plant naturally goes dormant for the winter. The plant you have does not go dormant; it looks to be a specimen of Alocasia x calidora.

    LariAnn
    Aroidia Research

    Here is a link that might be useful: The real Alocasia hypnosa

  • shadowpaige64507
    14 years ago

    I have to agree with LariAnn. That is not a A. Hypnosa.

  • newgen
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Wow, thanks for the clarification. BTW, do you have any idea why the edge of one of the leaves is brown, I posted up a photo today in a separate post.

  • exoticrainforest
    14 years ago

    I must defer to LariAnn's opinion. She knows far more than do I about Alocasia and has a very good article about Alocasia hypnosa which you can find on the net.

    If you want to see a good drawing on Alocasia hypnosa look up this document which you can download in PDF format: Alocasia hypnosa (Araceae), a new species from Yunnan, China. The same article offers some of the distinctions of the plant's characteristics.

    Only one slight correction, no aroid grows from a corm.

    All aroids grow from a tuber according to several of the top aroid botanists in the world including Dr. Tom Croat and Pete Boyce. The distinction may be unimportant to most growers but a bulb, corm and tuber are scientifically very different. Although all store starches, onions produce bulbs, Gladiolas and bananas produce a corm, aroids only produce tubers. A bulb is layered like an onion, just cut an onion apart and you can easily divide the layers.

    I recently spent several weeks discussing this with a bunch of the top aroid minds. I would gladly post eh definition of each but it would bore everyone to tears.

  • exoticrainforest
    14 years ago

    If you would like to see good illustrations with a more complete explanation why an Alocasia and other aroids grow from a tuber, as well as the differences in corms, bulbs, tubers and more, then visit the link below.

    My only problem with their explanation is they set out to explain why these underground stems are different then in just the first few paragraphs lump them together as "bulbs".

    Still, it is very good and fairly easy to understand.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Is it a bulb? Corm? Tuber?

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