How to care for a Zebrina Alocasia

The Zebrina Alocasia is a beautiful tropical plant. Its large leaves really stand out, but also its zebra-like stems are beautiful. It's not the easiest plant to take care of though and it will drop some leaves, but this is nothing to worry about. If you take good care of this plant, it'll only drop its old leaves to make space for large new leaves.

Humidity and watering

This plant needs a humid environment because it's a tropical plant. If it gets too dry, it'll be vulnerable to diseases. Luckily, there is a very simple method of keeping this plant humid enough: mist it occasionally. It doesn't matter if you do this in the morning or evening, just make sure you do this at least once per week. I personally do this every single day and so far the plant seems to like this because it looks healthy and is growing new leaves.

When do I water it?

The fact that this plant likes a humid climate doesn't mean it likes to be watered a lot. In fact, it's better to underwater this plant. Its thick stems contain a lot of moisture, so it won't need to be watered a lot. This also means, when it's in dire need of some water, it will let you know. The stems and leaves will start to hang down when they don't get enough water. This is when you water it plentifully.

How do I water it?

A simple trick I use when watering this plant is to water it until water starts to drip out of the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot. If you don't have a pot with a drainage hole, simply use a plastic pot to hold the plant and put this plastic pot inside of the “permanent” pot. This last way is exactly how I do it. I received this plant as a gift and it came with a pot that didn't have a drainage hole. So I just kept the plant in its plastic container and put this container in the pot. So now every time I water the plant, I raise the plastic pot and water the plant until it starts to drip out of the bottom. Then I let it sit for about 5 minutes (or until it no longer drips) and put it back into the pot without a drainage hole. This way, the excess water won't stay in the pot.

If this is also not an option for you, simply water it more often, but only very small quantities. The goal is to keep the soil slightly damp, but not so much that any water accumulates in the bottom of the pot.

Lift the pot to check its weight

For a lot of plants, you can simply touch the soil and if it feels dry, you can water it. This is not the case for this plant. This Alocasia is very sensitive to water. The best way to determine if it needs a drink (besides the drooping stems), is to lift the pot and if it feels light, water it. This could take some practice. So when you see your plant drooping, don't water it immediately, but lift it up first. Now you will be able to tell what its “dry” weight is for the next time.

Sunlight needs

This plant needs a lot of sunlight. I have it in a room with a south-facing window, so it gets a lot of sun during the day. Don't put it right next to the window though, this will burn its beautiful, big leaves. If your plant gets slightly yellow leaves, you know the sun was too much for the plant and you'll need to move it to a slightly more shady spot. If you don't have a room with a south-facing window, that's no problem! You can also place it next to the window in a west or east facing window. These rooms won't get as much sun, but by placing the plant right next to the window, it'll still be enough throughout the day.

Rotate the plant

This plant craves sunlight, even to such an extent that if you don't give it enough of this, it'll start to grow its stems longer and longer just to find the spot with the most sunlight. This means that this plant will grow towards the sun. If you don't pay enough attention to this, the plant will grow to one side, instead of up. A simple solution to prevent this “reaching” is to rotate this plant 90 degrees (a quarter) after every time you water it. If your plant is not reaching for the sun, you don't have to do anything, your plant is content with its place.

Thank you for reading this post! I hope it helps you to keep your plants healthy and beautiful! If you're looking for more guides on specific plants, let me know on Instagram or Twitter and I'll do my best to help you.