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alocasia poly leaf problem

petrushka (7b)
10 years ago

these are young plants just about 5 months from sprouting bulbils. were healthy, grown sep from other plants, no pests of any kind. recently I noticed strange leaf mottling - it is visible only on the underside when in good light.
it is only on some plants and not on others. I potted up sev largest plants from small 7 oz cups to 6" pots - 3 in a pot one week ago. I am not sure, but I think that it's showing on more leaves. I transferred them on a heat mat - to warm up the soil in case it got cooler and wetter due to a larger pot.
they are in bright light, with some weak dappled sun in western window.
the tops of the leaves look normal.
however on one plant there is some yellowing showing - might be the leaves are getting old? no mites on them, I feed with liq. fert , so should have no nute deficiency.
should I be concerned? should I cut off affected leaves?
what could be causing this?
2 newly xplanted plants are shooting new large healthy leaves, while older leaves show the symptoms.
all plants have 3 leaves and are growing.
I also noticed the same mottling on a 1 leaf very young spout too.

Comments (9)

  • grabmebymyhandle
    10 years ago

    How have things progressed?

    The pic is kind of hard to make out...can you provide anymore pics?

    Do the affected areas look wet or damaged?

    I see spots on my alocasias that look like soaked thru spots on construction paper, but they are dry to the touch, I looks alot like the leaf has been smashed and damaged, but it hasn't...they come and go too so I know it's not damage...

    Does this sound familiar or not?

  • petrushka (7b)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    yep, it sounds a lot like you describe it.
    I've been reading up on chloroplasts (=green cells). it appears they can move ... when there's too much light they can migrate ... that's the only thing coming close to what I see.
    after potting up 3 small plants to a pot I put them in some partial indoor sunlight (before was dappled). and in a larger pot soil was damper - so then when I saw this strange symptoms, I put them back on a heating mat and back into dappled sunlight. and within 3-4 days I saw that the leaves started greening back up! in those 'wet looking, but totally dry', semi-transparent areas. and now they are back to normal looking in all pots, but one.
    I have 3 new leaves going and more shooting in the same pots - so plants are OK and growing. but I was peeved for a while there.
    so did you notice if your plants were reacting to strong light/more moisture/ less heat or anything like that?

  • grabmebymyhandle
    10 years ago

    I haven't made a definate connection with what causes it, no, but I can say that, I have noticed it mostly in the morning, about the time direct light hits them and burns off the dew.

    So the plants are wet all night and then when first they are first exposed to direct sun...is when I've noticed it most.
    That's not at all to say that either one is to blame, or that they aren't!

    I can't say Ive ever noticed on poly, I see it on my big alocasias, portora, boa, Mac and odora...
    I have say and studied it, poked and prodded, and made mental images... What I have noticed is these spots appear early, by 1 or 2pm they are gone, the next day they reappear, sometimes in the same exactly spot and pattern, sometimes in entirely different spots, often both...

    It's been quite the mystery to me for some years now...

    I'm not at all sure that it's anything wrong with the plant, certainly unattractive, but not obviously detrimental...

    I'd like to know more, and speculate less about it!

    Lets see what I can come up with!

  • petrushka (7b)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    so i've been watching ..it seems to increase when i give them ample water and soil gets cooler. and they are on a water-wick, but not on a heating mat directly, so the soil is somewhat wetter and cooler.
    i put them back directly on the heating mat - and off the wick. removed the tent. so the soil got drier and warmer and symptoms reduced visibly overnight.
    what i don't like is there seems to be slight yellowing appearing on the edges. not on all affected leaves, but on some. it's not healthy.
    so for now i'll hand water them and keep them toasty to get soil warm and slightly drier. but it's only persisting in 1 pot, the other 2 greened back up and are OK. i'll be keeping next transplants on a heating mat until they grow in to avoid this.

  • grabmebymyhandle
    10 years ago

    As long as the suns not roasting them, I usually let my African masks dry out pretty good between watering a, maybe that's got something to do with it, I almost never let my big alocasias get that dry.

    Maybe too much water while its cool or when the plants can't use it cuased this...

  • Ariel Camp
    2 years ago

    hi all. i know this is an old post but did anyone ever figure out the cause? my alocasia maharani is doing the weird spot thing with a bit of yellowing. just repotted and now this. maybe stress?

  • petrushka (7b)
    Original Author
    2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    i figured it out allright! been growing them all these years..

    it’s too much water when temps are not high enough. they need to be grown in very small pots with roots totally filling the soil in fast draining mix, otherwise they absorb too much water and it results in yellowing of leaves. starts slow, but eventually the leaf will go. u need to check the roots: likely they have rotted or there is not enough of them in too much wet soil.

    u need to place it someplace very warm 75F min to dry out the medium. even even better on heat mat. if it’s too damp and cool for some time it can rot the corm.

  • petrushka (7b)
    Original Author
    2 years ago

    i am glad that you found my posts useful, it took me awhile to figure things out by trial and error.

    Older larger plants cope better then very young ones with small corms. when it is cooler (below 75F) they need to be much drier, like in dry season. so below 70f even with good light by the window they need to watered very little until the temps can be raised.

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