Alocasia Silver Dragon Care- Alocasia baginda silver dragon
The Alocasia Silver Dragon plant is well known for its beautiful foliage. Like other Alocasias, it also has striking foliage. The leaves are silverish to light green color, along with deep green venation. The oval arrowhead-shaped thick leaves, along with a unique texture make the plant a perfect candidate for your indoor plant collection.
The Alocasia Silver Dragon plant is a compact plant. It generally grows to a height of slightly below 1 meter. Thus it is a perfect choice for indoor plant enthusiasts who are planning to grow an indoor plant in a terrarium or inside small indoor greenhouses. Also, this plant is ideal to be grown in a compact area inside your house.
The genus alocasia contains about 79 species of perennial flowering plants. The Alocasia Silver Dragon plant is a variety of Alocasia baginda species. Almost all species of Alocasia are famous for their striking foliages.
In this blog post, you will get a complete idea about how to grow, care for, and propagate the Alocasia Silver Dragon plant.
Some important points about Alocasia Silver Dragon plant
- Botanical name- Alocasia baginda var silver dragon
- Common name- Elephant Ear Silver Dragon, The African Gray Mask.
- Family- Araceae
- Originated from- South-east Asia
- Special characters- Plant has striking foliage. The thick silver to light green colored leaves along with deep green venation makes it an adorable plant to take care of.
- Light requirement- The plant needs bright indirect sunlight.
- Soil requirement- A well-drained fertile soil is ideal for this plant.
- Temperature- It can grow well under the temperature range of 550 F to 800 F (120 C to 260 C).
- Humidity- Plant loves to grow in a humid environment.
- Water requirement- Plant loves to sit in moist soil but, the soil should not be over-saturated.
- Fertilizer- Use any house plant fertilizer, according to the dose recommended by the manufacturer. The plant never demands any special nutrients.
- Propagation- Alocasia Silver Dragon plant can be propagated by the division method.
- Toxicity- Like other Alocasias the Alocasia Silver Dragon plant is also toxic.
From where Can I get an Alocasia Silver Dragon plant
This plant is not commonly available in every garden store.
You can request the owner of your nearest garden store to get one for you, of he can arrange it. You can also google it. You can easily get the Alocasia Silver Dragon plant available in some online platforms like Etsy etc. or in some online social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook.
A complete care guide to Alocasia Silver Dragon plant
Here is a complete guide about how you can take care of your Alocasia Silver Dragon plant.
Light requirement
The Alocasia Silver Dragon plant loves to sit on a bright area with diffused sunlight. Direct sunlight for a longer period of time is harmful to the plant. Long exposure to harsh sunlight may result in the burning of the leaves, which is not really good for the plant.
Therefore, an east-facing or south-facing window is ideal for the plant. The plant will get the delicate soft morning sunlight and then for the rest of the day, it will get indirect bright sunlight.
If the plant is anyhow exposing to direct sunlight, then you can use a curtain to the window, to filter the harsh direct sunlight.
Soil for Alocasia Silver Dragon
The Alocasia Silver Dragon plant loves to sit in moist soil, but the soil should not be overwet and waterlogged. Waterlogging condition in the soil makes the roots of the plant susceptible to root rot disease. It makes the root system weak and the plant struggles to uptake water and nutrients from the soil.
Therefore a well-drained fertile soil is ideal for this plant. You can use any commercially available potting soil. Make sure that your potting soil is good at removing the extra amount of water easily. You can add some perlite to it, to increase the drainage property of the soil.
You can read our article on how to make an ideal potting soil for your indoor plants by CLICKING HERE.
Pot
Choose a pot with proper draining holes. It will help to remove the extra water from the potting soil.
Temperature requirement
The Alocasia Silver Dragon plant grows well under a temperature range of 550 F to 800 F (120 C to 260 C). However, below 100 C the plant struggles to grow. So in the winters when the temperature falls, the plant stops its growth. It doesn’t die, rather it goes into hibernation.
When the summer arises and temperature stars to increase the plant resumes its growth.
So take care of the plant in winter keeping it in a warm place so that it can grow as usual.
Humidity
The Alocasia Silver Dragon plant is originated from the tropical areas of Asia. So it loves a humid environment like all the other tropical plants. Humidity levels higher than 70% is good for the plant.
If you are living in a dry area, then don’t worry. You can manually increase the humidity of the area where your plants are kept. Here are the following methods that you can use to increase the humidity levels.
- Group all your plants that love a humid environment. The cumulative effect of transpiration of all the plants makes the surrounding humid.
- You can use a pebble tray filled with water to make your place humid. This is the most common method used by gardeners.
- Spray the plant every now and then to keep the atmosphere humid. It is a tedious job to do, but it is effective.
- You can also buy a humidifier to automatically increase the humidity of the place.
Water requirement of Alocasia Silver Dragon plant
As discussed earlier, the Alocasia Silver Dragon plant loves to sit on moist soil, but it should not be overwet. The waterlogging condition may cause the root to rot. Therefore, you have to be regular in watering the plant but never apply too much.
The plant demands frequent watering, but the amount of water should be low so that the soil will remain moist without having any waterlogging condition.
You can manually check the water requirement of the plant by checking the top two-inch layer of the soil. If it is dry, then go for watering, otherwise not.
During the winters the plant slows down its growth. So during these days, you have to apply less water.
Fertilizer
The Alocasia Silver Dragon plant loves to get a regular dose of fertilizer during its growing days. You can use good quality general purpose balanced fertilizer, available to you. Apply the dose recommended by the manufacturer.
No need of applying fertilizer during the winters as the plant growth during these days is stopped.
Make sure that the fertilizer you are applying is not coming in direct contact with the plant. It is harmful to the plant. Place the fertilizer a few cms away from the plant.
Alocasia Silver Dragon plant propagation method
The best method to propagate the Alocasia Silver Dragon plant is the division method. You have to divide the rhizome and plant it in a new pot.
The ideal time for propagating this plant is the summer or the springs, during which the plant grows actively. But never propagate in the winters.
Propagation method
- Uproot the plant from the soil.
- Clean the roots by removing the soil adhering to it.
- Check if there is any symptom of root rot. If found, simply remove that portion of the root. It will stop the infection there.
- Then cut the rhizome into two parts using a sterilized knife or cutter. Make sure to use a sterilized knife to prevent the chance of infection.
- Then keep the new portion of rhizome in a new pot filled with an ideal potting soil.
- Keep it in a warm humid place, where it can get bright indirect sunlight.
- Take proper care of this new plant, it will show some symptom of growth quickly.
The plant will start developing new leaves after a period of two months.
Some common problems with the Alocasia Silver Dragon plant
Here are some common problems you can face.
Diseases
The plant is susceptible to diseases like leaf yellowing, root rot, and leaf drooping.
Leaf yellowing
Leaf yellowing in the Alocasia Silver Dragon plant is due to overwatering. Overwatering creates a waterlogging condition, which hampers the root activity. This leads to the leaf yellowing.
To control it you can adjust the watering schedule or change the potting soil with a well-draining potting soil whichever is necessary.
Root rot
It is also due to overwatering. The waterlogging condition causes the roots to rot easily and resulting in improper root activities.
The solution to this problem is to check your water scheduling or change the potting soil as discussed above.
Leaf drooping
Drooping and drying of leaves are due to underwatering. The plant when doesn’t get enough amount of water to keep its leaves fresh, the leaves start drying and then start drooping.
To control the leaf drooping, you have to increase the frequency of watering so that the potting soil will be moist most of the time.
Pests
Some common pests like the aphids, whiteflies, thrips can attack this plant.
To control these pests, the best method is to spray neem oil.
Toxicity
Like other Alocasias, the Alocasia Silver Dragon plant is also toxic. If it is consumed accidentally it may lead to problems like irritation and ulceration in the digestive tract. Therefore, keep this plant away from the children and pets.
Conclusion
The Alocasia Silver Dragon plant is easy to grow and maintain, compact indoor plant. It will always put a smile on your face, whenever you are going to look and experience the mesmerizing beauty of this.
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