Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small plant?

cordyman

Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small plant?

Post by cordyman »

Since getting these small specimens on Saturday, i've dipped them in a water tray twice when I got home and kept them on the radiator for a few hours at night, and on a bright windowsill in the day.



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At this size..


Should I be watering daily? is the soil best kept saturated or allowed to dry out?

Should I feed every 2 weeks yet?

Radiator / windowsill method ok?

and how soon to put into bigger pot?


Sorry for being such an Alocasia noob :oops:
stephenprudence

Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by stephenprudence »

My understanding is its best to keep them moist, dont let them dry out, and they're pretty tough in that situation! Better drowned than dry.
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Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by The Codfather »

Nope...water them but let them dry out in between.
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pdid

Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by pdid »

Hmmmm, I thought these were keep fairly dry below 15c and moist to wet above 15c icon_scratch
stephenprudence

Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by stephenprudence »

well they grow in boggy areas in their natural habitat and can grow in standing water. Of course when it's colder they should be left to dry out, however we are growing them massively out of their natural climate range so normally in the growing season they should be flooded or wet.
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Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Almost treat like cacti in winter( keep very dry if lower than 15 degrees) In summer can be watered well (sort of above 20 degrees) Only water in winter when the leaves start to wilt.
stephenprudence

Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by stephenprudence »

I reckon 15C is a bit overkill to be honest, Ive had these stand in pots all winter in sopping wet soil, and it wasn't until say 5C they started to look detrimental, they actually keep growing above 7C albeit slowly.
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Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

stephenprudence wrote:I reckon 15C is a bit overkill to be honest, Ive had these stand in pots all winter in sopping wet soil, and it wasn't until say 5C they started to look detrimental, they actually keep growing above 7C albeit slowly.

True but at lower than 12-15 I would keep them nearly bone dry in winter. Keep above 5 degrees at the very least.
stephenprudence

Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by stephenprudence »

Well it can't hurt I suppose, especially if you want a pristine looking, large specimen.. If the worst comes to the worst, they'll grow back from the roots, and can acheive a fairly decent size, even in a season (normal weather), in a more mature tuber/bulb
cordyman

Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by cordyman »

I won't be putting these out for a while yet, and I guess the temp in my house is between 16-23*c depending if the heating is on, so as they look right now, what should I be doing to coach them into monsters? icon_scratch
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Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by Dave Brown »

2013-05-03-18-39-46 Alocasia x calidora.jpg
My Alocasia x calidora went outside on 3rd May and has had temps as low as 4.8C since then.

Keeping Alocasia ( x calidora) going involves careful management of water in relation to temperature, but the most important thing is the compost it is planted it. Alocasia like plenty of water while in good growth (warm to hot), but slow down rapidly when temperatures cool off. Once growth has stopped there is nothing to use any water in the compost so it remains wet.

Peat based compost even when mixed with good drainage materials such as perlite and grit, remain too wet for Alocasia and Ensete when not in growth. A pot full of peat compost that is damp in October, can still be damp in the middle in March with no water added for 5 months :ahhh!:

The worst time for gauging water needs are in spring when a warm spell may see growth accelerate, so water is applied, then we suddenly get a cold spell, the Alocasia stops dead, and is sitting in cold, wet compost. :roll:

Best compost for Alocasia is loam based with plenty of coarse sand and grit added. This drains well, but doesn't hold too much water. It will need watering more often in warm weather, but you stand a chance of drying it out when the weather takes a dive.

Summary
Watering
Hot = in tray of water
Warm = moist
Cool = don't water
Cold = dry

Compost Loam, coarse sand, grit/perlite Avoid Peat or ground bark (too moisture retentive)
Best regards
Dave
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cordyman

Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by cordyman »

Dave Brown wrote:
2013-05-03-18-39-46 Alocasia x calidora.jpg
My Alocasia x calidora went outside on 3rd May and has had temps as low as 4.8C since then.

Keeping Alocasia ( x calidora) going involves careful management of water in relation to temperature, but the most important thing is the compost it is planted it. Alocasia like plenty of water while in good growth (warm to hot), but slow down rapidly when temperatures cool off. Once growth has stopped there is nothing to use any water in the compost so it remains wet.

Peat based compost even when mixed with good drainage materials such as perlite and grit, remain too wet for Alocasia and Ensete when not in growth. A pot full of peat compost that is damp in October, can still be damp in the middle in March with no water added for 5 months :ahhh!:

The worst time for gauging water needs are in spring when a warm spell may see growth accelerate, so water is applied, then we suddenly get a cold spell, the Alocasia stops dead, and is sitting in cold, wet compost. :roll:

Best compost for Alocasia is loam based with plenty of coarse sand and grit added. This drains well, but doesn't hold too much water. It will need watering more often in warm weather, but you stand a chance of drying it out when the weather takes a dive.

Summary
Watering
Hot = in tray of water
Warm = moist
Cool = don't water
Cold = dry

Compost Loam, coarse sand, grit/perlite Avoid Peat or ground bark (too moisture retentive)

Printing this out and sticking it on the fridge icon_thumleft icon_thumleft icon_thumleft icon_thumleft
cordyman

Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by cordyman »

Dave Brown wrote:
2013-05-03-18-39-46 Alocasia x calidora.jpg
My Alocasia x calidora went outside on 3rd May and has had temps as low as 4.8C since then.

Keeping Alocasia ( x calidora) going involves careful management of water in relation to temperature, but the most important thing is the compost it is planted it. Alocasia like plenty of water while in good growth (warm to hot), but slow down rapidly when temperatures cool off. Once growth has stopped there is nothing to use any water in the compost so it remains wet.

Peat based compost even when mixed with good drainage materials such as perlite and grit, remain too wet for Alocasia and Ensete when not in growth. A pot full of peat compost that is damp in October, can still be damp in the middle in March with no water added for 5 months :ahhh!:

The worst time for gauging water needs are in spring when a warm spell may see growth accelerate, so water is applied, then we suddenly get a cold spell, the Alocasia stops dead, and is sitting in cold, wet compost. :roll:

Best compost for Alocasia is loam based with plenty of coarse sand and grit added. This drains well, but doesn't hold too much water. It will need watering more often in warm weather, but you stand a chance of drying it out when the weather takes a dive.

Summary
Watering
Hot = in tray of water
Warm = moist
Cool = don't water
Cold = dry

Compost Loam, coarse sand, grit/perlite Avoid Peat or ground bark (too moisture retentive)
Do you plant it out each year, or just sink the pot/hide the pot?

I'm impressed so far with the speed the new leaf is growing each day ! I kept this one moist as its warm in the house...

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May start using up the last of my miracle grow and give it a bit of fert to soak up in tray tomorrow icon_scratch
Mr List

Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by Mr List »

Dave Brown wrote: loads of stuff
sounds like they go from hungry aquatics to Siberian alpines on the flip of a hat or the turn of a coin.

what about planting them in a mixture of 50-50 perlite and water retaining crystals?
(with a layer of gravel on the bottom and on the top)
cordyman

Re: Talk to me about Alocasia Calidora, caring for small pla

Post by cordyman »

Sounds a good idea Mr L, I may try it when I pot one of mine on.


Heres what i've been doing so far, and no signs of wilt yet (which happened to my dark purple and white alocasia I bought from aldi, it died in the end too :( )

Everymorning they have droplets on the ends of the leaves too icon_thumleft

Stick on the radiator at night for a 1-2 hour blast, and move back to bright windowsill in day, i'm letting the compost dry out for 3 days between waterings, and sitting them in a tray of water to soak through on every third day.

Gave them their first miracle grow dose yesterday.

The leaf on this one is nearly bigger than pot now

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