Description
Alocasia Polly Plant, Alocasia x amazonica ‘Polly’, Elephant Ear – Plant
Alocasia Polly plants can thrive especially well in home offices or living rooms. The white veining on dark green leaves is an iconic look that is hard to miss. The unique shape also inspired its common name, Elephant Ear plant or African Mask Plant.
Alocasia Polly is not a difficult house plant, it just likes everything to be just right. Aim for balance in your Alocasia Polly care routine, especially when it comes to light and moisture. Once you’ve established a great routine and environment for your Amazon Elephant Ear Plant, you’ll be rewarded with clean air and a happy, perky plant.
Care for Alocasia Plant
- Light for Alocasia Polly:
Alocasia Polly Plants are tropicals and are native to areas with filtered light under canopies, but they are not as happy in low light as other tropicals. These plants will be happiest in an area with balanced, filtered light. Bright indirect sunlight will work as well. Do not allow the leaves to be exposed to too much direct sun, because the leaves can scorch easily, leaving big brown spots or even holes in the leaves. Northern or eastern windows work well. If you are going to place your Alocasia Polly in an area with very low or fluorescent light, a grow light for a few hours a day will help it thrive.
- Water for Alocasia Polly:
Alocasia Polly is not a drought-tolerant plant. They need to stay evenly moist in well-draining soil, and they have more trouble bouncing back from underwatering or overwatering than other tropicals. But they certainly can bounce back! A great way to ensure that you are watering your alocasia the right amount is to wait for the top inch or half-inch of the soil to become dry to the touch. Do not wait for the soil to completely dry out, you need to keep the soil moist. Too much water is also bad and could cause root rot if the soil is soggy. If the leaves of your Alocasia Polly have turned yellow, it is probably one of these two watering issues. A humidity tray can help create the humid environment Alocasia Polly prefers. We recommend filtered water or spring water over too hard tap water.
- Soil Mix for Alocasia Polly:
Alocasia Polly likes evenly moist and well-draining soil. To improve a basic potting soil mix, you can blend it with peat moss for moisture retention and nutrients and perlite or coarse sand to create more drainage. Even though Alocasia Polly likes even moisture and cannot sit in soggy soil so it is important that your soil drains adequately. Letting the soil dry a little bit before watering should help ensure even moisture. Otherwise, they do not have any pH requirements and a well balanced potting soil should do well. We like Espoma’s Organic Potting Soil and recommend it for your Alocasia Polly plant or any other house plants.
- Fertilizer for Alocasia plant
Alocasia Polly Plants or African Mask Plants can be fertilized monthly with any well-balanced liquid fertilizer during the spring and summer. You should start to slow down the fertilizing routine somewhat in the fall, and you shouldn’t need to fertilize during the winter months when your Alocasia is dormant and not growing. Even indoor plants grow more in the spring and summer than they do in the winter, regardless of being inside. We like Jack’s Classic Water Soluble Plant Food since it is high quality and you can dilute it to a half-strength if you prefer. There are also slow-release granular fertilizers that work well – be sure to check the specific product instructions for frequency.
