From: plantnut at macconnect.com (Dewey Fisk) on 1999.02.02 at 03:57:19(2990)
Mind if I stick my nose in with a little advice?
When you receive a plant in the mail, I suggest that you wash all of the
media from the roots. Dip or soak the plant for a short period of time in
a fungicide... What ever is in your arsenal. Then, repot in the media you
use for similar genera... Keep as much water from touching the foliage and
the petioles... Water runs down the petiole and lodges next to the stem.
It is only a drop of water to you and I but it is the Atlantic Ocean to a
single spore of fungii... Water by putting the water on the media surface
or water by sitting the pot in a saucer for a bit. Be sure to remove it
when the media is moist and let dry almost bone dry before giving it
another drink.... It will become acclimated to your conditions and will
develope resistance as it ages in your environment.
Alocasias are mostly all grown from Tissue Culture. I know that Alocasia
reversa was. I put it into culture. They are normally grown in
greenhouses where *all* conditions are optimum. Not one speck of fungii
is allowed to exist because of the spray program that commercial growers
maintain. So, the plant that you receive is very vulnerable to anything
that you may have in your area.
The above advice actually goes for all plants that you bring into your
collection... They need special care until they adapt to your
conditions...
Dewey
|