Why Your Alocasia Only EVER Has 3 Leaves 

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So glad to see that my struggle with this plant is actually common. I have an Alocasia Polly end it keeps one beautiful healthy leaf, plus 2 small ones about 3 inches tall. I down sized the pot recently because I read they didn’t like a large pot. I’ll up the feed and see what it does in the spring. I thought about getting a couple of more plants to put with it just to make it a full pot. It looks pretty pitiful.

I have Alocasia Ivory Coast & it currently has 12 leaves. The 13th one is still a baby. 😊 I'm happy that it's still growing during winter.

In my (short) experience, I noticed that they HATE a pot that is too big. Got a baby curly bambino and a baby dragon scale in september, they had 3 leaves each and were into nursery pots (6cm). I potted DS in a 12cm pot, and gave him a sunburn (oops) so he started going into dormancy : big nope. I potted CB into a 8cm pot, he is currently 25cm tall, growing his 5th healthy leaf (4th leaf is ridiculously big, like 30cm long). They are amazing 🥰

Another great video. I followed your advice re overwatering and got a moisture meter. I soon discovered that - yes I was overwatering and causing problems for my plants. My watering has been reduced by 75% or more and I can now see big improvements in plant health. Thank you.

Im a new plant owner, and your videos have been very helpful.Your videos have also given me great advice and tips , and keep me motivated to care for my plants.🥰🥰😄😄

Mine was in a near-death-state forever and finally lost all leaves. I did put it into sphagnum moss and now it's thriving like crazy.

Hi I have two dragons tooth and are doing well so far. I will continue to keep you updated on them growth. Your info is super. Thank you for being RU-vid in

7 Awesome Tips to Stop Brown Tips on Your Calathea 👉 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cJxPbW8lk40.html

How amazing!👍 In order for Alocasia to become leafy, you can have many leaves in these ways! Thank you for sharing a variety of information🥰

My Black Velvets are flowering. Plenty of leaves. None of my Alocasia lose leaves. The Black Velvet in Dwarf form is called Ninja. It has two borders instead of one. Most problems happen because of low humidity and inadequate watering. I have never fertilized any of my Alocasia plants. Water and Humidity are key. Top soil should remain moist. Humidity target 55%. It is December and I have 4 Black Velvet plants flowering. They receive indirect direct light 12 hrs a day with lights on timers. Then afternoon light from south facing window couple of hrs around 3pm.

This video is coming out in time for me, it help a lot, thank you 😄

This is great information - first time I’ve heard/seen it on RU-vid. Thanks!

Thank you for the Texas shout out as I live here and we struggle with a lot of temperature changes. Thanks for this video I have 4 different kinds😊hopefully this will help!

Another great video ,exactly what I needed to watch I got rid of my thinking it was a goner 😢

Thank you so much Richard, I really really enjoyed listening to you talk about Alocasia Polly. I’ve just brought one of these and I hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew. It’s a stunning plant though. Please stay safe and well too xxxx Mags ❤❤❤❤

Great video. Thank you for all the wonderful information.

Thanks much for the tips. Much needed.

I have many Alocasia, Stingray, Sarian, Zebrina, Dragon Scale, Cuprea Red Secret, Lauterbachiana, 2 Black Velvet, Silver Dragon, Frydek and an Azlanii. My Cuprea has 9 leaves, Silver Dragon 6 leaves. Dragon Scale 5 leaves. I keep my leaves clean with Neem Oil, use an aroid potting mix, water when almost dry, they have bright indirect sunlight. On my velvet I only brush the leaves. Feed every week with a seaweed based fertilizer. They are grouped together to create humidity.

Found this video by chance. My tiny but beautiful Alocasia Frydek variegata only has one leaf at a time and I didn't know why. Now I do! Many thanks

Thanks so much for sharing this! I def wondered why I wasn't getting it right! Apparently it's just fine!

Yes some great tips thanks. Most retailers will totally neglect the house plant section so they often have a bad start.

Thanks for the information

Good info in this video, thank you! I'm going to try to save my alocasias.

Thanks a lot , very amazing video, helpful and interesting

Hi Jennifer here from Trinidad I have the Amazonica aslo called the African Mask. Its really a beautiful plant especially d Vetlet one. Thanks for sharing yr tips . Stay well be safe

I am so glad I found this my baby black velvet just produced a new leaf I was so happy then to come the next day one of the older leaves was droopy and going yellow I was distraught. But so glad to know this is normal!

I've had my black velvet for a couple of months and it's currently pushing a 4th leaf. I'm glad I watched this so I will know not to panic if it drops one! My bambino has 7 leaves and a teeny two-leaf pup.

I watched soo many videos before this and none of em helped, but you cleared all my doubts within minutes. Thanks a lot for this video ❤

I recently bought a cheapo silver dragon to practice on, as well as a few corms from Etsy that I have in my perlite prop box. There are some really cool ones I'd like, but for now I'll practice with the ones I'm not too attached to 😄 It had three leaves when I got it, and it put out a new one fairly quickly, but the oldest leaf is starting to get a little crispy on the tip and worried it'll get worse and die off, will definitely try to up the fertilizer a little, thanks! I learned recently the non-variegated "frydek" is actually a micholitziana, but the variegated micholitziana is the actual frydek, in case you didn't know 😊 Houseplantygoodness has a few good videos on it.

My black velvet alocacia has only one leaf. The other 2 leaves died on me, I put the one survivor in my terrarium 4 months ego as a desperate measure. It's doing well so far 🙏 hoping I make sense, English is my second language 😊 great video, by the way 👍

Thank you for this video. This works. I was only getting 3 leaves on my Polly. Today I have 5.

Thank you for your precise directions concerning these plants .I live in Texas and I get frustrated thinking I failed as a green thumb.

I find you are spot on.

I had no idea that small leaves can't access the nutrients in their tubers! Thanks for the helpful info😳

I have the alocasia cucullata and I propagated it in Sphagnum moss during winter. It was dying outside in the freezing temperatures. It had no leaves just the roots. I had it in Sphagnum moss til the summer. It has several of green leaves & I have it growing in leca in its water reservoir. It's been a successful transition to leca and the plant is very healthy. 🌱👍🏻

THIS was so helpful. I for sure shocked the hell out of my alocasia polly. We will try to resurrect her. Get back to me about those corms. Which way they should be growing? Love and Peace. Happy planting everyone.

You’re indoor garden is inspiring. This year started growing Elephant Ears INSDE. God help US! What a challenge this has been. Before this journey, I can grow anything. When I first started out, I lost about 12 plants plus. Was losing about 8-15 leaves a day. Trust me, nothing like cutting me while I bleed. This shit broke my heart. Purchased the moisture meter as you recommended, have only lost 2 plants, and lost about 4 leaves in 1 month. NO question, I killed the others with way too much water, and love. Live in Colorado, U.S.A, climate here is very, very dry. Upward, and onward, have 52 leaves that are in 4-6.5” starter pots. All tissue cultured. Have 1 big boy that is a Borneo King, maybe 26 inches tall. When roots are forming for the Borneo King, horrible cultivar for the Colorado weather. When roots are mature, zero issues with this cultivar. In my collection Kuching Mask, Mayan Mask, and Dark star are my ultimate favorites. Ordering 35 more on December 23rd, 2022. Fertilizer I use is Photosynthesis Plus. The best of the best of the best. May go to granules in the Spring🙏🏻

I've an alocasia red secret I bought as a little baby this summer. Current has 6 leaves with one currently unfolding. Only lost one leave so far since I have her. It's one of my healthiest plants for some reason and my first alocasia as well.

My Alocasia Zebrina is absolutely huge. The leaves are bigger than an 8x10 notebook. Right now it has 4 leaves, but the largest is currently dying off. I'm very interested in propagating it. I'm in Canada and it does not go dormant in the winter, it continues to birth new leaves as the oldest biggest leaf dies off. I keep her east facing, so she gets full morning sun, and doesn't burn. I agree, they are very thirsty plants! She's so beautiful.

Best video thank you so much!

thanks, great video

My Alocasia Polly has only 2 leaves right now, previous had 4... but now has a flower spike that's emerged, but not open yet. It's been growing in water in a jar for a couple years now, it gets a lot of indirect sun, and has had several baby corms... it likes liquid fertilizer for sure.

I have the Amazonica, and bought it with all 3 leaves damaged, but it hasnt popped out any new leaves yet. It does look happier now than when i got it. Thanks for the helpful info!

I bought a baby alocasia dragon , the green one not silver. The leaves are so perfect it's my favourite plant and I marvel at it a lot! So it's been with me for 3 weeks. It arrived with 4 leaves and since then has sprouted a new leaf and sure enough the oldest leaf is dying. It was due a water today so I added fertiliser. Hopefully this will encourage more.leaves. By the way it's called Rhagal. Predictable I know but it suits!

i have amazonica polly, black velvet, dragon scale, silver dragon, zebrina and giant taro. they all have at least 7 leaves but my silver dragon takes the cake with 14 leaves! and that’s after i cut off a few because it was getting too bushy for me. everyone is always impressed that my giant taro has 10 leaves going strong indoors 🥰 it hasn’t dropped any leaves since i purchased it

I find meters to give different readings depending on where you position it in the pot… I’m also concerned with damaging the roots ?? I just use mine carefully and as a guide… great video! 👍🏽

I just got a large Wentii (my 4th variety of alocasia) at 50% off for 10 euros yesterday. I noticed some fungus gnats while at the nursery, so I decided to repot it and wash the entire thing, including roots, thoroughly as soon as I got home. Fingers crossed it didn't get too mad at me! I did get three corms out of it though so even if it does get shocked, I got potentially four plants for 10 euros.

I have the exact problem you describe. I was told to water the alocasia amazonica not more than once a month, to avoid root rot. But now I'll try to water her more often and to add fertilizer. I'll try to add some leftover coffee, as one commenter suggested, because I've had excellent results with coffee on my rubber plant

I have a huge alocasia odora(almost 2 meters tall), it came with 3 leaves to my home but it gave birth to 4th and I was so happy because of it.

My black velvet has 6 leaves rn but I figured I’d give the video a check anyways so I’d know how to prevent issues if they come up

So i have an ebony, odora, jacklyn, zebrina, nigra, frydek, sarian and sinuata. Ive been trying to go soilless and i genuinely think plant maturity matters. Older alocasia(in regards to size of plants) tend to be way moee forgiving in transitions. Ive had many go dormant trying to go to pon. My ebony has about 10 leaves and its been in the same pot 2+ years now so i think its something to that. Once thry get over transplant shock they really enjoy pon. I keep them in about 40-50% humidity For light, the smaller ones ger 12 hours of grow lights/east sun. The sarian ebony and nigra gets south sun all day, right beside a window seal. The plan is to eventually get to 100% self watering only now i know to be patient with the baby alocasias and to not disturb the root ball. Soaking them vs breaking it makes a difference. Worst case they die and come back in pon Ebony-9 leaves, soil Nigra -3 soon to be 4 (no sign of leaf drop), pon Sarian-3 1 coming in and 1 going out smh itll go to pon soon Frydek-3 with 1 coming in, maybe dropping, soil Jacklyn-5 leafs, soil Zebrina-2, its finally on the come up after a transplant, shock, pon Odora-4 leaf, good candidate to transfer, soil Sinuata- we dont talk about Bruno 😅 Heteropylla-same as sinuata

The only time we've ever noticed leaves dying is when it's pushing out a new leaf or after bringing it home from a big box store, adjustments to the new environment.

I have Alocasia Frydek and Black Velvet. My black velvet mother plant is planted into soil and the offspring that I grew from the corms are grown in leca. Both plant are doing pretty good while my Frydek mother plant that is in soil is not doing as well as the babies that I grew in leca. It has so much more bigger growth and leaves vs mother.

I give mine Superthrive year round. I live in a snowy cold dry climate, but they have no idea with my grow lights. They don't even go dormant in winter anymore. Mine do sit in trays of water, not pebble trays, actual trays of water. They are huge and amazing.

I have an African mask alocasia, it was doing great last summer outside. It had about 5 huge leaves. It stayed pretty good over the winter in a west window with other plants, but it's got mealies. I keep treating it, but I am looking forward to putting it back outside, and I'm thinking it will recover and be more vigorous again.

I've experienced this with a dieffenbachia I rooted from a cutting and put in a pot a little too large.

I bought a Black Velvet and Sarian just over 2 months ago. The Black Velvet surprised me recently. I thought she was growing some kind of deformity. Turns out she's flowering. Three of them. It wasn't until about a week ago when I learned why my Sarian wasn't keeping more than one or two leaves at a time. I was very young when I bought it, it's still maturing. I hadn't been feeding it enough either. Oops. Oh well. I'm still learning. They're my first ever in the genus. Until September I'd only ever vaguely heard about them in passing. lol Likewise calathea and others in the Marantaceae family. Now I have a variegated ctenanthe prop I was given 5 wks ago and has just started producing lots of roots, and today I bought a heavily discounted and very sad looking calathea medallion. Veitchiana is the botanical species name as best I can discern from the google machine. After a drowning with distilled water she's looking better already. I've learned more than I expected to since returning to the hobby this year. I love it.

Nice sharing❤😊

Where did you get your orange and blue drip glaze plant pot from. Its ace. Thanks for the vids. They are helping me alot.

I have an alocasia zebrina. I went to my local nursery this summer and they were having a buy two get one free sale, and one of the employees managed to talk me into picking the alocasia as my free plant. I originally thought it looked kind of tall and dopey, but it's quickly become one of my favorite plants in my collection. I love how dramatic it is. I'm really glad though that I read about the plant shortly after buying it because the first time it dropped a leaf, I was nervous it was dying! I was like "how did I manage to kill it already?" 😂

I'd wanted an alocasia for the longest time but always postponed getting one because I thought it'd be too fussy and I'm not that experienced. Finally, at the beginning of this month I found a healthy looking five-leaf Pink Dragon at a great price so I went for it. Well, as soon as I received it, I noticed that while the leaves were big and lucious, they had brown spots and what seemed like tearing or holes. In the first week, the brown spot on one of the leaves turned black, the holes grew bigger and the entire leaf went reddish brown and drooped. In the following week, the same happened to another leaf and this week a third leaf is taking the same route. I think the plant has some disease but I can't notice anything visible and I can't identify it. I've already braced myself to lose all leaves and just chuck it in the bin. The worst part is I didn't quarantine it so now my calathea is starting to brown too.

We have 8 alocasia's. Every one has 3 or more leaves and stays near a bright window, but not direct sunlight so they don't scorch and burn. Some have produced flowers too. I also keep mine with other house plants. Watering is done as needed and with the same moisture meter you have. The ones we have are (Alocasia Zebrina, Cuprea, Dragon Scale, Bambino, Elephant Ear, Black Velvet, Pink Princess) to name a few in our collection.

I have an Alocasia Sarian (my first alocasia), a Pink Dragon, a Grey Dragon, a Purple Sword, a Bambino, and expecting a Zebrina and a Frydek here shortly. Most of these guys have come to me just in the past month🥰👍

2:47 Thx for the credits 🥰

My Alocasia Maharani (Gray Dragon) is one of my favorites but it always looks so awkward with only 3 big leaves and I am convinced it just does not like anything I do for it. This video is helpful to see if I need to switch things up.

I have one big and one small amazonica/polly, one frydek, one dragonscale and a jaquelyn! Theyre all happy with many leaves!

My Dragon Scale has only 3 leaves too, Happy to know why now

Great video! I bought 2 Amazonias at my grocery store yesterday. They were on sale because the leaves are all full of brown spots and wilty looking. They base of the plant appears healthy and I can see new leaves forming. Your video explains the leaf die-off very well! (It is a natural process for this plant!). I just needed basic info on care and when to re-pot. You covered everything I needed to know! Thank you!

the only way I can currently keep mine going is through hydroponics - but thanks to this vid I'm def going to up the feeds & see if I can get more than 3 leaves at long last

My Alocasia “Silver Dragon” is behaving as you say. It is growing in a passive hydroponic system and seems really happy and is producing new leaves. I haven’t had it long enough to know if this behavior will continue but now, after seeing your video, I will not worry about it. It looks healthy and happy. I just use tap water and don’t bother about chlorine or pH and I have yet to fertilize. Sometimes, when I can be bothered, I add some H2O2 for an extra oxygen boost but that’s it. I’m not even using LECA, just a pretty glass jar of water. The roots of this plant are even more beautiful than the leaves, in my opinion, 😂. Thanks for all the information about this beautiful plant!

I just repotted my Alocasia Pink Dragon after it outgrew it's pot in the 3 months I had her. It is now growing a new stem/leaf after just sprouting one! It currently sits at 5 leaves.

My black velvet has five leaves at the moment-On top of that the oldest leaf still is upright and looks good. It is in aroid soil and about two feet away from an east window. This is my first alocasia...I purchased it in the fall and it has continued to produce leaves throughout the winter. On the other hand....my silver dragon is in the same soil, window, etc and has continually dropped leaves since I got it. It's down to three and the oldest is yellow :(

New plant owner-- just got a drydek. Two big leaves and four small new leaves. Hoping I can maintain it, but I'm new to all of this lol.

I went through 3 small stingrays before I learned that they go dormant. I kept the last one and it now has five leaves. I started using the aquarium water conditioner a few months ago and that has made a huge difference in all my plants. I made changes in the nutrients as well. Even the very small stingrays are very expensive here so I was glad that I was able to save one. I may increase the nutrients just a bit on this plant to see if the leaf size will increase. The original leaves were about the size of my palm. The new leaves are only 1-2”. It will probably never get to the dinner plate size leaves though. I only have one south facing window that is always covered. (I live in the desert and it is hot🥵) I have grow lights on timers for all my plants. It’s very arid so I have humidifiers as well.

I have the frydek and the green shield one. Both are struggling. I live in Zambia and right now it's summer and very hot.

Interesting. Gotta add in some more feed to the water. My Alocasias are in pon. Easy access nutrients. But I'll add some crumbs of calciumnitrate and see what happens. Actually, I could put them on my Vanda feed regiment. In case you'd like to know: 1L of distilled water, enough orchid fertilizer (from rotten substances, not the blue stuff) for 1L, add in a 4-5 crumbs of calciumnitrate, add in 2-3 crumbs of Epsom salts and a pinch of potassium phosphate. Vandas might be an interesting addition to your collection. They look funky and can be kept in a vase without substrate. Available in garden centers from time to time.

Me estaba volviendo loca pensando ¿qué pasa con estas plantas? busqué información en español y no encontré nada. Gracias al fin aclaró mi duda.

Thanks for the useful video. I got yesterday a Jacklyn, Frydek, Silver Dragon and Nebula as well as good perlite and some French bark for repot my Low Rider and Williams. Does the NPK solution works for Alocasia? I have a two part one which I can choose to have more potassium or nitrogen etc.

I love Alocasia and have a few. My zebrina has been putting out bigger leaves but only has 3 at a time. Same with the black velvet. Recently got some dragon scale, pink dragon and they seem similar with 2-3 leaves. However, my cuprea was my first Alocasia and it has a lot of leaves and growing well. However, the leaves seem flat instead of the way i see other cuprea so can’t figure out why it’s all wonky 😮. But it’s doing very well at holding the leaves. :). Thanks for your wonderful videos.

i believe the size of the bulbs matters as well

Thank you for sharing your video beautiful and amazing pants have a blessed day

My Silver Dragon is outside thinking about its life. I've about had it. And it was gorgeous. 😢

Alocasia are fast growing and don't lose leaves when a new one grows. It's all about trying to grow a tropical plant in a much cooler environment. This is why so many people think Alocasia are difficult plants to grow.

Amazonica and it has started to bloom. But it has lost a lot of leaves since I got it.

Only alocasia I have that's doing really well is the cuprea, it has about 7 leaves on the main plant but it also pushed out 2 babies too.

Yeah. I found alocasias to be quite a challenge (My black velvet is struggling. Though mostly because it got scorched in the sun during the summer heat wave here so it basically resetted its growth. It even had those bulbils around it). I always take note that the most important for these guys are the light it receives. If anything, I consider this plant to be a "High Light Plant". They want bright indirect light. For humidity, well 50% is fine though 70% minimum is ideal for them (Currently, its 94% humidity here. No humidifier) I only had 2 so far and I wanna add more but the sun would only scorch it so I can only keep 2 (black velvet outside and my polly inside being grown under growlights). I killed a polly and a pseudo sanderiana before so I bought another polly. So far so good, its producing 4 leaves. Never lost a leaf so far 🤞

I have the polly, which looks very similar to the amazónica

The same happend to my alocasia black velvet. It has 3 leaves and the oldest one turned yellow

I have a Silver Dragon and I've gotten lucky it has a lot of leaves I've actually abused the poor thing for the last year but now I have it in a grow tent and try to water it on a regular schedule - it is doing great I think I just got lucky with a really strong little plant. I have previously killed an Amazonia.

My frydek is doing this right now. But the new leaf is a tad smaller than the older leaves. And yes it only has 3 leaves right now 😂

Lauterbachiana will only support four leaves at a time- got a fourth coming now and the oldest one is yellowing and fixing to go- I've been feeding every week and moved to brighter light- hoping this helps. I may have to repot into smaller pot though as I have read they like to be root bound and do NOT like pots too large.

I've got two Alocasia wentii that are both thriving. The large one currently has 5 leaves, the smaller one even 6. And both are pushing out a new one at the moment. My Dragon Scale and Black Velvet both have three leaves. Weirdly, they grow best in my west facing window where they get a lot of direct sun in the summer time and the heat from the radiator in the winter. And for whatever reason, they don't seem to mind. Not that I'm complaining but placing them there really made no sense to me, I simply ran out of other options because I've tried them all. Now I'm just happy that I didn't have to get rid of them.

Oke, here we go A.Wentii A. Micholitziana A.Gageana albo A.Purple prince A.Nebula A.Silver dragon A.Scalprum A.Black velvet A.Dragon scale A.Azlanii A.Sinuata A.Melo A.Zebrina aurea A.Zebrina black stem A.Cuprea A.Longiloba A.Pink dragon A.Bambino arrow A.Amazonica A.Stingray A.Antoro velvet A.Jacklyn A.Infernalis black magic Most of them are down to two or three leaves at the moment. I love Alocasia’s so much! I just love the different leaf form, patterning and textures. But just like everyone else, I’ve found that I can’t keep up with watering. I noticed that they drink a lot-a lot-a lot at the moment they are putting out new leaves. You should give them a little extra water at this time or else they’ll suck all the water out of the oldest leaf in order to sustain the newest one. But I can’t really keep up with watering so I decided to transfer them to LECA. That’s why they are down to 2-4 leaves now. To be honest, I’ve never had Alocasia go dormant or lose leaves during the winter. I don’t provide any extra lighting or humidity. I’m looking forward to catching them all.

My black velvet currently has 7 leaves and only 1 has ever died off. It baffles me. I’ve also got a silver dragon that has 5 leaves and a new one on the way.

My amazonica has been a trooper. I had to kill off a horrible infestation of mealy bugs, which drove me crazy. I have followed the tips on feeding and it's going crazy and didn't go dormant in winter. I've been weakly feeding my baby Silver dragon and A. azlanii. Both have 5 leaves and another on the way. Sadly my A. melo was temperamental and dropped its last leaf in winter and I wasn't able to get the rhizome to reroot. Just rotted. Ha! Thanks for your vid.

I have Lauterbachiana and Zebrina reticulata and both have more than 3 hopefully more on the way but I kept a Colocasia Mojito in a pot last year (sadly dead now) it would lose a leaf as soon as numero Quatro popped up! I think I froze it over winter.😢

Good thoughts on this issue about 3 leaves. Can you do a video on what to do when your alocasia Amazonia goes dormant over winter. Do I just keep it in the pot and wait for warmer weather

Thanks 😪

Thanks for this. I have a Dragon scale in very free draining fibrous compost it is dry most of the time because if I give it even a small amount of water the plant sucks it all up and the leaves appear waterlogged and drip from the tips! Any advice please?