| Houseplant
Cultural
information: "African Mask" requires a little extra care
to be successful with. They prefer a little more humidity than other plants... so keep them on a moist pebble tray. At best
each main trunk of this
plant will only produce 4 - 5 leaves at a time. Usually as a new leaf
grows you may shed an older lower leaf.
I've actually not been successful with African Mask plants in
the past but this last year I saved a nearly dead one from life in
the land fill that someone was throwing out. I attribute my new
found success to used aquarium water.
African Mask plants like bright filtered light, but not
direct sunshine. Strong sun will burn the leaves. My
Alocasia Poly sits in an east facing above ground basement window
and it loves it. Only problem is the Alocasia's beautiful leaves
face the window... but the back side of the leaves still look
pretty sharp too!
Watering can be tricky on African Mask plants. The more foliage
you have the more water it needs. For example my nearly dead
Alocasia I saved had only one leaf on it. With only one leaf it
only needed water once every two weeks. Now my plant has 7 perfect
leaves and dries down every 5 days.
City water is a known cause of leaf spotting on Alocasia
African Mask. It is best to let your city water sit out for
several days and let the chemicals dissipate before watering the
plant. Another alternative is to buy distilled water, use reverse
osmosis water, or do like I do and use aquarium water.
Fertilizers also contain chemicals which can spot the leaves of
your African Mask plant. I recommend only feeding two or three
times per year with a chemical feed. Fish emulsion is a better
alternative for sensitive plants. With fish emulsion I'd feed
every other month.
Common houseplant pests include: Aphids or Spider mites
African Mask is readily available in 6" and
8" containers.
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