I am extremely new to houseplants. I’m an herbalist who dabbles in carnivorous plants, and I probably bit off more than I could chew. I’ve never received an import before, nor have I owned or taken care of either of these species. It was my birthday and they’re pretty so I just said fuck it 😭
Now that we have covered how naive I am: I could seriously use some tips on how to rehab/pot up these sad babies. I didn’t think I needed to order a heat pack because it was hot out when I ordered 🫤 I got a Caladium candidum, and an Alocasia azlanii. The alocasia is a bit yellow but seems like it’ll be okay. The Caladium showed up very not okay. The moss ball was pretty much completely dry and the leaves feel like ancient tissue paper. I unboxed them yesterday and immediately got them in some water and light. Honestly not sure what to do next because I’m too scared to touch them. Please help I’m fucking dumb 😭
by Skrublord3000
3 Comments
Oof, I’ve imported a LOT from them and certain plants I’d just not even attempt. These would be two of them that I’d not import from ecua. Did you take a picture and send to their sales team? They’d give a refund for that level of desiccation.
The caladium looks lost but the alo could bounce back. You just need to keep it in a higher humidity environment for a bit and wait for it to start pushing out new leaves. Then you can acclimate it.
Second one is dead.
Cut the alocasia back – all the leaves, and if the roots have gone squishy, those too. Make it a rihzome (like a fresh hunk of ginger, if that helps)
Then put that on top of some spag moss, cover so it’s 100% Humidity, provide high light, and wait. It’ll come back but it’ll take a long while.
Those leaves are completely shot, nothing to save there. The root ball and rihzome are the only chance
Arent caladium available everywhere?