Planting alocasia - instructions and tips on location and soil

The alocasia is an exotic beauty that makes a lot of demands on location and soil when planting. Still, the plant is worth cultivating.

If you follow the instructions for planting and caring for the arrow leaf, you will experience how the exotic plant quickly becomes an eye-catcher on the flower window. It is not without reason that the alocasia is one of the most popular houseplants in our latitudes. So feel free to take up the challenge and plant the alocasia yourself.

Find the right location

The tropical plants prefer a bright location. However, the plant does not tolerate the blazing sun. But the morning and evening sun. A spot in the semi-shade is therefore best for the alocasia. The plants also cope well with the winter sun that prevails between November and March. Once they have settled in, you can also cultivate the plant in a shady spot.

Considering the origin of the plant, a place in a warmed up greenhouse would be the best place for it. But she is also satisfied with a south-facing flower window. In any case, temperatures of around 22 degrees should prevail. At night, the temperature can drop to just under 20 degrees. In winter, however, temperatures should never drop below 15 degrees.

Alocasia love high humidity. Therefore, the plant should receive a daily shower with the plant sprayer. You can also increase the humidity by placing the plants on a tray filled with water and filled with pebbles. But be careful: If you set up additional air humidifiers in your apartment, for example, the primary humidity is probably more than 50 percent. Then there is a risk of mold forming.

Selecting the ideal substrate

Alocasia can be planted in normal potting soil. It is only important that the substrate is loose and slightly acidic. In addition, it should contain as little lime as possible. To shift the soil to the acidic environment, you can incorporate acidic compost into the soil,administer appropriate special fertilizer or add vinegar to the irrigation water.

You can easily make your own substrate that meets the needs of the plant. Simply mix potting or garden soil with leaf soil, gravel and clay granules. The soil should also be moist. However, the plants do not tolerate waterlogging. You can counteract this with a drainage made of potsherds or gravel.

Planting alocasia - explained step by step

When planting, you must ensure that the planter is large enough. It is also particularly important that the plant pot has sufficient drainage holes. In order to avoid waterlogging, it is also advisable to create a drainage made of potsherds and gravel on the bottom of the container. The best way to plant is as follows:

Select a suitable planter.
Create drainage from potsherds or gravel.
Place plant.
Pour in the substrate carefully.
Press the base lightly.
Water the plant well.
Position the planter in a suitable location.

How to properly transplant Alocasia

Alocasias don't grow particularly fast, but after a while it makes sense to transfer the plants to a larger planter. For example, if the roots protrude through the bottom of the planter or become visible on the surface, it is time to repot the plant. So that the plant can develop optimally, it is advisable to transplant at two to three year intervals. The plant is then supplied with new substrate in good time and the roots are given more space to spread out by replacing the planter.

Prefer spring for repotting. The planter should then be a lot larger than the previous plant pot. There should be about a hand’s breadth of space from the root ball to the edge of the planter. This ensures that the plant can spread well and that you have two to three years until the repotting is another anniversary. Proceed as follows when repotting: