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July 5, 2011

Plant Review: Alocasia macrorrhizos 'Shock Treatment'

I bought Alocasia macrorrhizos 'Shock Treatment' from Plant Delights Nursery at one of their open houses in 2009.  It's slowly gotten bigger, and this year it has started to pup!



I'm guessing it started to pup because I repotted it this year, and it may have been planted a bit deeper than it has in the past.  I suspect a couple of these nodes dropped below ground.  Thoughts?


The plant is very easy to grow from my experience and doesn't require as much water and fertilizer as I would have thought which is fine by me since I'm terrible about fertilizing things, and I generally don't like to water all that much.  The leaves are majestic and interesting, and it would make for a great "thriller" in a small mixed pot although I keep mine solo in its pot cos that's just how I roll...

Surprisingly, I've been able to put it in full sun in the yard which I haven't attempted till this year, and while a few of the leaves are burned, it's more than likely because they were older leaves which got a bit too comfy with some shade - the new leaves are nice and green.  I'm only surprised because the sun and heat can be torture for a lot of plants, and while some plants can take full sun further north, they can't 'round these parts.


While the plant is hardy to roughly 5F, I've brought it in the garage for the winter, and I suspect it would make a wonderful house plant in a bright room although I can't confirm this.  Since I'm running out of real estate in the garage, this one's going to have to make it outside this winter.

Unfortunately, I just discovered that Plant Delights is no longer offering this plant, and I'm guessing it's due to a lack in popularity which is a bit unfortunate.  The leaves are asymmetrically curly which is quite wonderful, and they're a beautiful glossy green.  Granted, the plant doesn't get super huge, but it's still lovely in my opinion.  Of course, I think all my plants are/would be lovely if it weren't for my poor gardening skills.




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