If you ’re looking for an eye - catching houseplant to add to your home , you may have come across Alocasia . This genus is full of outstanding plants , but a few of them really remain firm out . Alocasia zebrina is one of those : Its large size , pointer - pourboire leaves and striped stem make this coinage truly impossible to overlook .
Keep reading to find out everything you demand to have sex about Alocasia zebrina and growing this tropic houseplant indoors !
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About Alocasia zebrina
Natural habitat
This metal money , which is one of the many members of the aroid family Araceae , is course see on various islands in the Philippines . Here , it grows in wet tropical biomes , mainly tropical rain forest at low to average natural elevation .
Unfortunately , like some of its other Alocasia cousin-german ( sanderiana and micholitziana ) , Alocasia zebrina is think endangered in its lifelike home ground . idle collecting of the plant is strictly illegal in the Philippines , with punishments of up to 12 years in prison house and fines up to a humongous 1 million Philippine pesos ( which is around $ 18,000 at the time of written material ) .
Description
When the discovery of Alocasia zebrina by horticulturist J.G. Veitch was published in 1862 in Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society London , the writer write :
“ A very fine Aroid from the Philippine Islands ( … ) it was a stout growing flora of bold habit , and had blockheaded green broadly speaking saggitate erect leaves , on stout erect straw , which were mottled and banded with dismal K on a pale dark-green primer coat , so as to become Hydra - like in marking . It was both curious and bounteous ( … ) ”
Curious and handsome auditory sensation about right for this Alocasia ! Like other members of the genus ( Alocasia ‘ Polly’andAlocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ , for lesson ) , the zebra plant grows from a central corm .
Its large , arrowhead - mold leaves are glossy and obscure Green River , but of course , it ’s the zebra - strip stems that really ask attention . The idle green bag with brown to almost black patterning is what lent the plant its name .
Alocasia zebrina is not a humble flora , although it ’s by no means the biggest Alocasia .
Read more:23 Gorgeous Alocasia Varieties to Grow at Home ( With Pictures )
In the home , it tends to stay around 3.3 foot , with heights of up to 5 feet being a possibility in idealistic conditions . Your plant will usually have a utmost of around 10 leaves at a time , with older foliage dying off as new leaves appear .
Alocasia zebrina varieties
There are two hybrid and two cultivar of Alocasia zebrina that you may find in specialized plant stores and online .
These are :
Interestingly , a warm search using Google Patents make for up three more cultivars of Alocasia zebrina , all patented by Dutch growers ( the earliest in 2019 ) .
I suppose these have n’t made it to commercial level yet , because they have unassuming computer code like ‘ AARALZE001 ’ , and ‘ ESPE1904 ’ and I do n’t think they ’re offer for sale anywhere . Hopefully we ’ll see more of them shortly !
Where to buy Alocasia zebrina plants :
Caring for Alocasia zebrina
Light and temperature
When considering light requirements for Alocasia zebrina , it ’s of import to remember its hobo camp lineage . Although this plant life bang plenty of light , most of the Dominicus is blocked out by taller Tree in its natural home ground .
Your zebra plant can handle some dawn or eventide beam indoors , but it ’s a good thought to protect it from anything harsh , especially if the plant has n’t been acclimated to intense short experimental condition . you may put yours in a window that receives bright collateral visible radiation .
As for temperature , again , this is a jungle plant ! It wo n’t appreciate inhuman and can really temporarily die off if exposed to low temperatures ( see the section on Alocasia zebrina dormancy below for more selective information about this ) .
Keep it at way temperature or above for the best answer , and try not to allow things degenerate below 59 ° F to prevent issues . This also mean keep your Alocasia zebrina off from A / C units and drafty windows , as it wo n’t reply well to sudden temperature swings .
Watering
It wo n’t get as a surprisal that a tropic rainforest plant life like this one likes plenty of water !
Alocasia zebrina like being kept lightly moist , especially during the warm and smart summer months when it should be growing well and regularly putting out new leaves . you could water as soon as the top column inch or two of soil has dried out , which unremarkably comes down to once or twice a week .
In winter , you’re able to let the soil dry out a little more . After all , due to the lower temperatures and reduced light , your Alocasia probably wo n’t mature as chop-chop . As a result , the medium does n’t dry out quite as much , so watering at the same charge per unit as you did during summertime can put you at risk of overdo it .
you could give your flora a drink when the soil is about halfway dry , which will probably be every one to one - and - a - half calendar week . If you ’re not certain whether it ’s time yet , stick a finger in the grease to gauge the moisture grade .
Humidity
Another component you ’ll have to make up attending to is humidness . If you ’re a houseplant hobbyist and do n’t have a cheap humidness meter ( hygrometer ) yet , I definitely recommendgetting this one !
After all , many of our favorite houseplants come from high - wet tropic zones and wo n’t be felicitous with dry atmosphere in the home . It ’s very handy to be able to keep an eye on things , so that you could believe running a humidifier if the air is n’t quite humid enough .
Alocasia zebrina , as well as most other tropical houseplants , will require a humidity level that ’s at least 50 percent , with 70 percent or more being idealistic .
If the level in your menage regularly send away below 40 ° fluorine , it ’s probably a good idea to take some cadence to preclude your works from developing ironic leaf tips , spider mite infestation , and other distinctive job associated with dry air .
Soil and planting
As discussed above , Alocasia zebrina loves wet . However , it does n’t have a go at it soggy soil and standing body of water : fuddled metrical unit can quickly chair to root and corm rot in this plant .
This is why it ’s significant to always utilize a planter with a drainage hollow that permit excess H2O to drain . you’re able to place a dish under the pot and drain this around an 60 minutes after lacrimation , or you’re able to opt to water smaller specimens in the sink to quash jam .
The stain mixture you use for your Alocasia should reflect its need for both moisture and drain . Sounds complicated , but fortuitously it ’s not ! You just ask to desegregate materials that keep back some water with other materials that make it potential for the excess to enfeeble .
Here ’s an representative of a basic soil concoction that would work well for a zebra industrial plant , as well as for many of the other tropical houseplants we love to grow :
you may also try out with other soil amendments and amounts for finetune the soil mix to your lacrimation habit . Is the dirt drying out too quickly for your liking ? Toss in some sphagnum moss . Is it rest moist for too long ? adjudicate adding some more orchid barque , or a coarser variety .
Recommended merchandise for Alocasia zebrina plant care :
Dormancy
Yep , you register that right : Alocasias can go into quiescency . This is a mechanism mean to protect the works from depleted winter temperatures . The leaves will go bad off as energy is store in the underground corm , ready to spud again when things warm up a scrap .
Do n’t panic if your Alocasia zebrina suddenly start out dying off in fall , and sure do n’t throw it away !
Although dormancy does n’t always occur in the home because the temperature does n’t tend to deteriorate like it would outside , it ’s still potential for your Alocasia to reply to the lower scant tier .
If you ’re handle with a dormant industrial plant , just prove to mostly go out it alone . Keep the land just dampish , do n’t fertilize , and place the planter with the corms in a cool and benighted spot until you ’re ready to wake it back up in spring .
Once things are set off to warm back up outside , you may go coax your zebra works out of hibernation . site the plantation owner in a warm and bright positioning , maybe even on a heat mat if you have one useable .
Give it a proficient drink and then waitress . The corm should realize it ’s time to come out of its sleep and start putting out new leave-taking presently enough .
Fertilizing
During the active outflow and summertime arise months , your Alocasia zebrina will flourish with veritable program of a dilute liquid houseplant fertilizer . Feeding every other calendar week should work well , or even every hebdomad if your plant is really taking off .
Do n’t fecundate during the inactive wintertime calendar month , especially if your Alocasia is partially dormant . You ’ll just end up damaging the root word by doing so .
Recommended fertilizers for Alocasia zebrina :
Pruning
Because Alocasias like this one will continually shed their bottom leaves while putting out young ones at the top , steady pruning is recommended to keep them looking their best .
Just do n’t crop too early : allow parting go crispy before removing them , so your Alocasia zebrina can reabsorb all the nutrients from them . This also applies to specimen that are live on into dormancy .
Dividing or repotting
Like most other Aroids , Alocasia zebrina can grow side shoots that pop out up from the ground next to the female parent industrial plant . I personally like to keep the mom and her babies in the same plantation owner to make for a big and spectacular - looking works , even if that does mean I have to repot a bit to begin with to make space for everyone .
However , division is really the only way to propagate Alocasia zebrina , so if you want to produce more plant , you ’ll have to break up the offshoots ( I ’ll get into this below ) .
Propagating Alocasia zebrina
alas , Alocasias ca n’t be propagated by means of prow cuttings like many other houseplants . The chief reason for this is that they do n’t actually have stems ! The leaves grow directly from the corm , and what we tend to call the “ stem ” is actually the leaf petiole .
you may still procreate your Alocasia zebrina , but it will require segmentation , which means the works has to have side offshoots , unless you feel confident enough to cut flat through the mother clump .
you could take the whole matter out of the planter and lay it down to see what you ’re go with ; in many cases , the shoots will sort out almost by themselves . If they do n’t , you’re able to use a keen and clean tongue to make a vertical snub , ensuring each section has a few roots of its own .
Once you ’ve incur your zebra plant life section , you could plant each one into your standard Alocasia soil . Because they already have their own rootage systems , no spare care is needed . They should keep uprise on their own just o.k. .
Is Alocasia zebrina toxic to cats and dogs?
Although it ’s not explicitly toxic , Alocasia zebrina contain calcium oxalate crystallization , which can cause temper and swelling . It ’s well to keep this plant life aside from your pets if you suppose they ’ll be tempted to take a bite .
Sources :
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77177187-1/general-information
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1114863
Hay , A. ( 1999 ) . the genus Alocasia ( Araceae - Colocasieae ) in the Philippines . US Government Printing Office .
Horticultural Society of London , & Royal Horticultural Society ( Great Britain ) . ( 1862 ) . Proceedings of the Horticultural Society of London ( Vol . 2 ) .
