What to do?
I brought this alocasia home last week. The big leaf now turned yellow. What should I do? It is under a grow light and near humidifier now. The soil is damp to touch but not too wet. I have watered once with #HappyHappyHouseplantFood #AlocasiaAddicts @DreamMachine
2ft to light, indirect
5” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 month ago
15
Best Answer
@StableKale82 Dont cut the leaf off just yet. Your alocasia appears to be trying to take back all the water and nutrients from it. She will let you know it’s time to remove the leaf if it’s easy to remove by hand with a gentle tug.
I’m learning that alocasias can be quite dramatic when their environment changes. They turn yellow right before they die off, but hopefully your new growth will be healthy! It might have even been too wet at the roots before it even came home to you. Might be worth dumping it out and checking the roots. Let us know!
@StableKale82 whoa, interesting. 🧐 Let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this! Are there only the two leaves? One big leaf with the veinal chlorosis (veins turning yellow) and it looks like an either a new leaf or is it a little pup?
When you got it, did it have any yellowing at all? Does the baby leaf have any discoloration? Where did you get it from? (Nursery, big box store, friend?) Is it in the same pot you brought it home in? When you watered, how much water did you use roughly, and how much fertilizer did you use? Also, if you smell the soil, does it smell like normal damp earth or does it have a funky ick smell by chance?
When you got it, did it have any yellowing at all? Does the baby leaf have any discoloration? Where did you get it from? (Nursery, big box store, friend?) Is it in the same pot you brought it home in? When you watered, how much water did you use roughly, and how much fertilizer did you use? Also, if you smell the soil, does it smell like normal damp earth or does it have a funky ick smell by chance?
@DreamMachine it is only the big leaf that got brown. I saturated it with water and water soluble fertilizer, the happy happy houseplant one. It was super dry when I got from my friend who had just repotted it after purchasing it from the plant store. I may have overwatered it, but have t watered in 8 days and the soil feels good, fresh , no funky smells. And she had added perlite when repotting.
@StableKale82 okay, fertilizer amount seems good! Based on what you told me, it’s possible that her roots might have gotten a wee bit damaged during the repot. (Easy to do, and no blame attaches! They’re extra sensitive plants 🌱) I just don’t often see the veinal chlorosis (and technically it’s “intraveinal or intraveinous” but any basic google search will not know what you mean and give you results for “interveinal chlorosis” which is the more common occurrence of the areas between the veins yellowing first with the veins remaining green, or white in your case), and that is slightly concerning, so I’m going to keep poking around for you, and perhaps reach out to a university extension office.
I would just leave her be for now, and keep monitoring. Her baby leaf looks good, so hopefully this is just caused by the stress of changing environments and repotting. But please reach out to me again with any updates ok? I’m very interested in this one! 🩶🌿
I would just leave her be for now, and keep monitoring. Her baby leaf looks good, so hopefully this is just caused by the stress of changing environments and repotting. But please reach out to me again with any updates ok? I’m very interested in this one! 🩶🌿
@DreamMachine will do! I got this from a friend who was going to get rid of it because the leaves kept getting yellow, one at a time. So, I fostered it to learn and experiment to save it. Thank you so much for all your responses! 💚
@StableKale82 my pleasure, keep me posted! 🫶🏼🩶
That is honestly a great way to learn, and exactly like something I would do 👍🏼 You only stop learning if you stop trying! Just know that if it’s the oldest leaf that goes yellow and dies every time, then that is classic underwatering. Alocasias are NUTS 🤪, and won’t stop or slow their growth when in drought… they will literally just keep going, by sucking all the water out of their oldest leaf so that they can push out a new leaf. Lots of people underwater their alocasias, and then try to feel better about it by saying it’s just something that alocasias do, or that they’re in the “2 (or 3) leaf club.” Absolutely no shade to them at *all,* but it just means their alocasias are thirsty and didn’t have enough water when they’d already started on their new leaf.
Sharing plant knowledge is my happy place, so please don’t hesitate to reach out any time! 🌿
That is honestly a great way to learn, and exactly like something I would do 👍🏼 You only stop learning if you stop trying! Just know that if it’s the oldest leaf that goes yellow and dies every time, then that is classic underwatering. Alocasias are NUTS 🤪, and won’t stop or slow their growth when in drought… they will literally just keep going, by sucking all the water out of their oldest leaf so that they can push out a new leaf. Lots of people underwater their alocasias, and then try to feel better about it by saying it’s just something that alocasias do, or that they’re in the “2 (or 3) leaf club.” Absolutely no shade to them at *all,* but it just means their alocasias are thirsty and didn’t have enough water when they’d already started on their new leaf.
Sharing plant knowledge is my happy place, so please don’t hesitate to reach out any time! 🌿
@DreamMachine update: the leaf if fully dried out but still holding on to the stem. However, there is a new growth at the bottom of the same stem! I hope I am not wrong. I will try taking a picture during the day for better lighting.
@StableKale82 Excellent!! 🙌🏼 Please do when you can. I hope it turns out to have just been a little acclimating hissy fit 👍🏼
@DreamMachine here is a picture of alocasia new growth. Very tiny, you may need to zoom in more. But looks promising. Fingers crossed 🤞
@StableKale82 yay!! Thats still growth!! How exciting 🤞🏼