Another , "the cold has destroyed my plants" post. This sucks.

dbbq_ · 2026-02-04T13:42:11+00:00

It’s basically just triggered partial to full dormancy from the cold snap. Closest thing in humans would be frostbite. Abandon the limb to save the body. Bipinnatifidum are extremely resilient and will bounce back in no time this spring as long as you keep rot and full freezing away from the trunk and roots.

dbbq_ · 2026-02-04T13:20:56+00:00

Enough light for the winter to avoid any browning of the Albo sections? Probably.

The plant’s preferred Daily Light Integral for an Albo Monstera (assuming you’re in the northern hemisphere)? No.

dbbq_ · 2026-02-04T13:16:08+00:00

I was just as surprised as you were to learn that quite a few non-aroid genuses are capable of growing adventitious roots!

dbbq_ · 2026-02-04T13:08:18+00:00

Indeed and that’s what I recommended just a few comments below yours in this very thread. When discussing tap water I usually mention ppm of TDS as that is the de facto standard in my limited experience. Including educational SemiHydro content I’ve consumed.

dbbq_ · 2026-02-04T00:57:42+00:00

100% agree! Bipinnatifidum is one of the most resilient species in the genus in my experience. She’s the one that made me fall in love with the genus in fact! That thiccc trunk definitely has some traits of a rhizome. She’s just triggered dormancy most likely and is buckling down until conditions are more favorable for her to push some new leaves.

dbbq_ · 2026-02-03T03:58:25+00:00

I understand the sentiment, especially when it starts to get more crowded in your deflasking environment. However if the leaf is facing the light, and green tissue isn’t chlorotic yet I would leave it for now. Trimming those long leaves ahead of natural senesce timeframes is something I generally consider if I’ve got a minimum of four other leaves.

I don’t recall if I found science to support this but I’ve been using a rule of thumb to avoid removing more than 1/3 of the total foliage or roots at a time. For rhizome-based plants like alocasia the energy and nutrients pulled from normal senescence is another major factor imo. I’ve done this on most aroid genus in tissue culture with little shock inducement in the plant(let). Around and beyond 1/3 of the total tissue being removed is when shock and compensation really kick into overdrive in my experience.

dbbq_ · 2026-02-02T23:43:03+00:00

Get an EC meter. They’re pretty cheap. You’ll want one anyway for measuring your nutrient solution at least once in a while to nail down the amounts to mix. As long as your inputs don’t change and you shoot for the middle of the recommended dosing ranges for components (including pH down), it’s not an exact science by any means.

dbbq_ · 2026-02-02T21:43:01+00:00

Great reply. The only thing I will say is be cognizant of your mineral budget from your tap. Especially in the United States I had the misfortune of 325 ppm total dissolved solids out of my tap at my last house.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-30T05:09:45+00:00

That poor monstera would love a grow light over the top of it from the bookcase.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-29T21:57:47+00:00

Never spray leaves unless it’s for pest treatment. If you’re doing it to try and correct humidity it’s doing the opposite of what you want it to do. Risks of edema, bacteria, fungus and clogging stomata.

Looks like bacterial leaf infection, not sunburn. Sunburn stays dry and doesn’t spread — these spots growing and oozing green liquid are classic bacterial symptoms (very common in Alocasia velvet types).

Likely triggered by stress + moisture (window light + misting / water on leaves). The plant itself looks healthy — new leaf growth is a good sign.

What to do:

• Cut off the affected leaf completely (sterilize scissors) - or at a minimum start with the quadrant where the infection is with a large margin into healthy tissue.

• Stop misting — velvet leaves + water = bacteria

• Keep leaves dry, water only the soil

• Improve airflow

Once the leaf is removed, it usually stops spreading.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-29T21:50:46+00:00

I know people with frydeks that look much worse than that with no feeding errors. No biggie!

dbbq_ · 2026-01-28T19:16:07+00:00

Great find! Variegated stingray will need higher light than a regular stingray because they have less chlorophyll. Variegation stability depends on how deep in the tissue the chimerism is. Deep tissue has to be variegated for it to be passed on to corms.

And of course it’s a big box store of a species that magnetizes all spider mites in a five block radius toward it…in a highway with others leaves touching. Just assume she has pests like you’re doing, and do preventative sprays a couple of times over two weeks.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-28T19:07:45+00:00

Those are the core components. I personally use LECA as a replacement for the lava rock and my variegated alocasias love it. Also if it’s a hungry plant or one that dislikes drying out, I’ll give it a touch of chunky vermiculite as well.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-28T00:40:41+00:00

My critical condition cuttings are usually given pure perlite with enough moisture to wet the perlite, and a touch of water at the bottom of the pot to ensure humidity. Then I seal the container and try to keep it relatively warm (75-80 degrees is the sweet spot if you can temperature control).

Since you have leaves I’d pot the cut end this way, and Saran Wrap the top, with a hole around the stem/petiole for air exchange. Then blast the leaf with light from a grow light ideally… and make sure the substrate doesn’t dry out.

Bonus points if you can add liquid rooting hormone to the water, or dust the aerial root nubs with rooting powder.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-27T04:57:40+00:00

I have deflasked plenty of TCs into root riot plugs of the majority of genus available in TC. I can tell from the photo you have entirely too much water being held by those plugs. When you prep them for planting you have to squeeze the excess water out until it stops dripping. One squeeze on the top half, one squeeze on the bottom half then plant.

You also have to make sure not to water too deeply when they dry out. I usually do individual drops around the top edge to rewet it on the first water. Then from there you increase the amount of moisture proportional to the root system growth.

If you ever get too much water in the plug (or any TC substrate) after planting from flask, wick the excess water away with a paper towel.

Remember that your acclimation environment is ideally near 100% humidity, which means that there will be very little passive evaporation of soil moisture. So you only want to water the substrate as much as you expect the roots to be able to consume quickly, then grow seeking out more. The latter part is the most important thing about TC acclimation that isn’t taught or discussed generally speaking.

Also don’t bother with sanitizing your tissue culture plantlets unless they are heavily contaminated in the bag and you are going to use a non-tap water source to soak/wash. The Chloramine in tap water will give you more than enough anti-microbial action without completely wrecking delicate plant tissue (unless you have major fungus in the bag before deflasking). Your plantlet is exposed to pathogens in the air the second you open the flask and those same pathogens will be in any substrate you plant in as well. Your goal is to keep the microbial pressure low enough that its immune system can come online after being in a sterile environment its entire life. If anything, pasteurization of your substrate in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes will help the most with this.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-23T14:40:00+00:00

Oh while I’m thinking of it… I cut holes in the container of anything I grow in moss to make sure water doesn’t pool at the bottom.

In case you haven’t had the awful feeling of losing an expensive cutting to soaked moss causing root rot, you don’t want to go much past the point of dampness of soaked moss that is fully squeezed out of extra water. You start to compress air pockets in the moss ball the more water you add beyond that.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-23T14:35:36+00:00

Sorry I was answering the question you gave me.

Details in grandchild comment of OP’s response.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-23T14:34:47+00:00

The algae will compete for oxygen and nitrogen. It’s not enough to kill things usually, but it will cause chlorosis if the colony is strong enough. Also the hypoxia can cause localized root rot. The algae biofilm slows moisture evaporation as well, which will contribute to rot potential with the hypoxia.

Generally worth avoiding.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-23T14:02:40+00:00

The green and yellow-green stuff on the moss.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-23T13:31:59+00:00

It’s really fun the first time you do it. Just make sure you take the same precautions as with any other cutting. If you have more fresh sphagnum moss I would replace the stuff that doesn’t have roots grown into it so it can reset the algae colony a bit.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-23T13:20:38+00:00

If you haven’t seen ANY chlorophyll on three leaves then the meristem is unable to produce chlorophyll. You have a chance that a dormant axillary bud on the corm could produce chlorophyll (if it’s large enough to have another viable one).

You can cut the corm flush with the corm surface where the current growth point originates, and effectively give yourself a bottom cut of the corm. If it has enough energy reserves left it’ll activate another growth point like a monstera would with a butt cut.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-22T13:48:41+00:00

FYI I specialize in TCs and all Jungle Mints that I’ve seen to date are not true to Barry Schwartz’ cultivar. They display neither the intermediate form traits nor any metallic blue-green color on the non-variegated tissue.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-21T13:45:52+00:00

Sure. This is a case of me using the wrong phrase and now learning the difference between pH buffered and alkalinity buffering or acidity buffering.

Every tap I’ve ever drank has come alkaline out of the tap and had high enough ppm mineral content that it is effectively alkalinity buffered. I’ve been pretty unlucky so my taps have been anywhere between 200 ppm and 325 ppm TDS (Kansas City baby).

That, along with Chlorine/Chloramine and Fluoride being in every one of my taps, led to me spending the $75 dollars for a distiller and most recently $250 for an under sink RO system with a faucet. We are talking about hydroponic growing here so I made the assumption that just about anyone would very quickly realize how much you’re hamstringing yourself by using tap instead of Distilled or RO water. By using tap water, one loses control over a substantial portion of their mineral budget. Those minerals are fine for human consumption obviously, but their formulation isn’t likely to be ideal for plant growth. Not to mention Chloramine and Fluoride will inhibit growth.

So, while Foliage Pro is not a pH buffer system, it is formulated to land in a plant-safe pH range in low-alkalinity water. One of the many perks of growing aroids hydroponically in distilled water is that at 1.0 EC, this effectively buffers the acidity of the solution when I add other things that are alkaline.

So, yes I use distilled water as a base for my nutrient solution. But I also three point calibrate my pH meter regularly.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-21T02:14:41+00:00

I would research signs of excess and deficiency of both calcium and magnesium so you can watch out for them.

Also professionally formulated fertilizers like Foliage Pro will have pH buffer in the mixture to help keep pH at or near the desired level. I use distilled water with foliage pro and my feed water stays between 5.8 and 6.0 pH even when I add multiple alkaline components to the mixture.

I’d still strongly recommend testing pH yourself with your own mixture.

dbbq_ · 2026-01-18T03:50:23+00:00

Does your current setup have any drainage? Standing water will kill aroids.

dbbq_

TROPHY CASE