Alocasia Mayan Mask - Could be one of my favourites :)

[Dave Brown]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that like the look of this plants.

Was gutted when he told me I had just missed the last Colocasia Ele paio by minutes (lost mine last winter-pipped by some gloating HTUK member, no doubt )

I tried to order 2 x Ele Paio, but it wouldn't let me, as said my order was too big for stocks, so I had to content myself with one.

San, I don't let Alocasia go dormant, as they are difficult to get going again, and you lose all the previous size.

[sanatic1234]

Ok. I will be glad to see how these turn out over the winter if there is good success rates then i will get one next year but i will wait for you guys to give the feed back of the winter storage details first. Good luck with them everyone who has got one.

[GREVILLE]

Why deprive yourself of such a beauty by letting it go dormant for half the year? It deserves to become your favourite houseplant for the next six months.

My wife bans the drippers from the house but she is a fan of big leaves and last year I was allowed the Colocasia black beauty to co-habit with her Spathiphyllum in the bathroom, so wait till Sand sees this

(My wife has always banned drips from the house - that's why I spend so much time in the garden )

[sanatic1234]

Greville, some members may not have a choice to let them go dormant as there may be members with storage limits. Im not quite sure im with you when you say about non drippers being in the house as alocasia drips until it drys out, my x calidora did this last year. so i popped it on the heated prop to help dry the soil a bit quicker, then i continued to give it very very light dosage of water when needed.

[Dave Brown]

Greville, some members may not have a choice to let them go dormant as there may be members with storage limits.

San, if you are in the US, then that is fine, as once the temps get to the high 20sC in May they will wake up and grow. Then when the temps get to the mid 30sC for June, July, August and September, you will see some serious growth.

If like me, you are in the UK, then they would not be worth growing, as just too slow to come back to a decent size in one season This is why HT was formed, as the US websites tell you to do things that don't work here.

[Yorkshire Kris]

Agree. I specifically didn't do an over wintering alocasia dry video because of this.

[sanatic1234]

I don't really understand why you are relating to the US dave? my comment has nothing to do with the US or any other country for that matter. I am simply saying that there may be members that just don't have the room to have big leafed plants in there storage places as there storage could be limited. not every member has a conservatory, not every member has a greenhouse and sheds unless heated would be no good. so storage space could be limited if you depend on the storage being inside your home. this is my point.

[sanatic1234]

I will how ever say no more about it as it is now going too off topic.

[Dave Brown]

San, I'm not saying don't let it go dormant, but I would not recommend it, as it restarts with small leaves, and takes ages to get back to the size it was before dormancy.

The reason I mentioned the US, is that sort of question is frequently asked after people have read US websites.

[The Codfather]

What would be the minimum requirements Dave to keep them in the green.....say for someone like me who is planning in using my garage...partly heated and have just required a reptile matt.

[Dave Brown]

What would be the minimum requirements Dave to keep them in the green.....say for someone like me who is planning in using my garage...partly heated and have just required a reptile matt.

Generally they need to be above 3C for many, I'd say 5C to be on the safe side, but I don't know about this one specifically, yet. I'll ask Brian on Facebook to see if he knows.

[The Codfather]

cheers......I can maintain 3c to 5c but would like to be aiming for 7c to 10c....and even higher if I biuld this contraption.

[Dave Brown]

My vonservatory gets down to about 6C and the only Alocasia that has suffered was wentii Aline. All others so far have not had any problems

[flounder]

Aw Dave, no! I've been reading this thread thinking I should have bought one, longingly looking, but I'm resisting(until next year) now you've broken my train of thought!!!!!!!
vonservatory? not you as well? They won't leave it alone now
for vonservatory, see gumidity

[GREVILLE]

It seems that the 'Mask' has provoked a lot of comment.

Perhaps, San, I should clarify my remarks about keeping this alocasia as a houseplant. I've been guilty of overwatering my big leafed exotics when I brought them in the house to overwinter. My large A. mac dripped onto some wooden furniture and some young bananas left stains on our wooden sills. These now overwinter at my boys' former school.

If the Mayan mask when it arrives looks anything like as good as Daves, I'm hoping to keep this in my fully tiled bathroom for the coming winter while it's still small. The drips won't matter here. However, I particularly appreciate your suggestion, San, to dry them out first Generally, so many exotics have become real lookers by the time we have to store them that I want to bring as many into the house as possible for the winter.

I started collecting many more aroids in the past year including. A. wentii 'Aline' and A. Sarian and I will keep these along with Mayan Mask active through the winter. I'm fortunate to have plenty of storage space at home as well as using the nearby school but at least this winter, I don't want to let it out of my sight