Alocasia 'Black Velvet'

From: GeoffAroid at aol.com on 1998.07.04 at 03:10:04(2409) Dear All, I just purchased a plant of a beautiful Alocasia (if you only knew how difficult it is to find things like this in Britain!) labelled as Black Velvet. It is quite small with lovely velvety, almost quilted dark green leaves and silvery veins but flowering profusely even though it looks quite young. Can anyone tell me anything about this cultivar? What is its parentage, how large can it grow, any tips on growing etc? Any information will be gratefully received. +More Best wishes, Geoffrey Kibby http://members.aol.com/dgiscience

From: Lester Kallus <lkallus at earthlink.net> on 1998.07.04 at 14:29:36(2410) Geoff, I purchased one of those black velvet alocasias about two years ago. I knew virtually nothing about alocasias at the time. Looking at them, I convinced myself that they needed loads of water and kept the soil soaking all the time. The plants did horribly so I watered them even more. They came close to dropping dead before it was pointed out that alocasias need to keep their roots somewhat dry and their air somewhat moist. Once I started doing that, they thrived and did great. Of course, taking them outside this spring into cold nights and rainy days didn't help; they're just beginning to recover now. Regardless, keeping their roots in an airy soil and keeping them warm and keeping the air moist would be my recommendation. Les +More 0 At 10:11 PM 7/3/98 -0500, you wrote: >Dear All, > >I just purchased a plant of a beautiful Alocasia (if you only knew how >difficult it is to find things like this in Britain!) labelled as Black >Velvet. It is quite small with lovely velvety, almost quilted dark green >leaves and silvery veins but flowering profusely even though it looks quite >young. Can anyone tell me anything about this cultivar? What is its parentage, >how large can it grow, any tips on growing etc? Any information will be >gratefully received. > >Best wishes, > >Geoffrey Kibby >http://members.aol.com/dgiscience >

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