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Sometimes the popularity of a plant is ground on easy sustenance .
Yet , some plant , such asAlocasia Amazonica‘Polly ’ ( a - loh - KAY - see - uh am - uh - ZOH - nik - uh ) , have hit popularity despite more restrictive care requirements .
This perennial cultivar has many public figure :
Oddly enough , the blood of this cultivar and its parent plant is a mystery .
Some believe thatAlocasia Amazonicamay be a hybrid betweenAlocasia longilobaandAlocasia sanderiana .
Others believe the plant was created in the fifties at Amazon Nursery in Florida , as there are noAlocasiaspecies aboriginal to South America .
Its relatives are all native to southern Asia , the Indian subcontinent , and Australia . This only adds to this mystery .
Despite the confusion about its scientific name , ‘ Polly ’ is still considered to be part of the Araceae kin ( commonly refer to as arum ) with its many namesake species .
Alocasia Polly Care
Size & Growth
Polly is more compact than its parent plant , spring up up to 2′ foot tall and about as wide-cut . It takes several year to reach its maximum height .
Its claim to fame is the magnanimous , glossy arrowhead leaves , which sport three - dimensional Ag - green to snowy veins . These evergreen leaves may themselves reach out 1′ to 2′ feet in length .
It ’s not uncommon for only one new leaf to appear per month during the summertime when outgrowth is at a moderate rate .
Flowering & Fragrance
Polly seldom bloom indoors and produces an unremarkable display when it does .
Its flowers form a spathe around a central spike .
The spathe is light green , while the flowers themselves are a creamy snowy to yellow .
Light & Temperature
Polly prefers bright , indirect light to medium light . It ’s tender to direct sunshine and may suffer burns when expose to the midday sun .
When place near a window , ensure to protect it with a curtain or set it to the side of the window .
Also , head off low idle conditions , for which Polly has no tolerance . As with all tropic plants , this plant life jazz high humid environment .
nursery and mood - controlled rooms are idealistic . But these indoor plants will still do well in moderate household humidness .
practice a humidifier or water system tray to augment the local humidness for in force results .
When pot , Polly can be grown outdoors in USDA hardiness zones 8B to 12 . make for it inside when temperatures dip below 65 ° degrees Fahrenheit .
This flora is not at all moth-eaten - tolerant and can not treat temperature below 54 ° degrees Fahrenheit .
An ambient temperature around 86 ° degrees Fahrenheit away from drafts is idealistic .
Watering & Feeding
Polly does n’t care to sit around in urine and keeps a storage in its stem turn for juiceless periods .
As a result , overwatering can be a severe job .
Instead of maintaining a calendar watering schedule , do the digit test . When the soil is dry 2″ – 3″ inch down , your Amazon elephant pinna is ready for a drink .
Add either distilled or rainwater until it begins leak out from the drain holes . Like Calatheas , Alocasia is sensible to tap water and the chemical , salinity and chlorine it contains .
Your African masquerade industrial plant tend to be a grievous eater . Give it a timber swimming houseplant fertilizer with added iron once per calendar month .
It ’s normally best to debase the limpid fertilizer by half , as underfeeding will have fewer adverse effects than overfeed .
In autumn , reduce the alimentation down to one metre and void feeding in the wintertime .
Some terrarium - basedAlocasiaswill do good more or less from a single winter feeding . Still , unless it ’s living in double-dyed tropic conditions , your plant will be torpid during this time , and feeding will do more harm than good .
you’re able to also use fertiliser sticks , which you will only need to insert once per time of year as they last some 100 years .
Potting Soils & Transplanting
This plant ask a well - draining stain mix to avoid the risk of root putrefaction . Always plant using a pot or container with a drain hole .
A good mix is one part potting mix , one part perlite or coarse backbone , and one part peat moss orcoconut coir .
The mix not only provides excellent aeration but holds the utter amount of water for the works without create the roots too moist .
Ensure the pot you use has adequate drainage holes not to trap any excess water in the good deal .
Repot your Polly each leap , using fresh soil and upgrading the pot by one sizing as want .
springtime is also a arrant time to separate an older plant , which give you more Amazon taros and allows you to keep the size down .
Grooming & Maintenance
Alocasia Polly is very low - maintenance when placed in a good surroundings .
Pruning is more often than not define to occasionally clipping a damaged or dead folio .
As this is n’t a fast grower , it ’s ordinarily honest to divide the plant when it reaches grownup size alternatively of trim down it back .
How To Propagate Amazon Elephant Ear
While there are manyways to circularize anAlocasia , it ’s best to practice rhizome air division for a clop plant such as Polly .
Choose an adult works and aim to divide in mid - spring to give it the most develop sentence .
Kris Plant Pests or Diseases
Alocasia Polly is vulnerable to several diseases .
It is also susceptible to infestation by aphids , mealybugs , scale , andspider mites .
Regularly wipe down the leaves with neem oil will help foreclose infestation and dust buildup .
The plant is both rabbit and cervid - resistant .
As with all aroids , keep Polly away from pets and children .
The plant contains Ca oxalate crystals , which can cause kidney stones in humans and are toxic to pets .
unreasonable drooling , irritation or electrocution of the mouth , nausea , and vomiting are vulgar symptoms of ingesting calcium oxalate .
In some cases , hide irritation may also occur when handling the plant .
Suggested Alocasia Amazonica ‘Polly’ Uses
While most commonly used as a houseplant , Polly is excellent for outdoor borders and containers in warmer climates .
Polly also thrives in terrarium .
