Looking to tote up one of the many beautiful Alocasia houseplant species to your collection , but not sure if you ’re ready for the Brobdingnagian size of it that some of these tropicals can pass on ?
Let me introduce you to Alocasia reginula , common name Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ . It has all the beauty of an Alocasia , but in a tiny package !
Keep reading for everything you need to know about Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ care and growing this coveted aroid indoors .
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About Alocasia ‘Black Velvet’
Description
Scientifically known as Alocasia reginula , this pop houseplant is unremarkably referred to as Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ . A pretty appropriate name sacrifice its drear green to black , velvety foliage , but not entirely accurate : The way it ’s write suggests that this is a selectively bred cultivar , but it ’s in reality not . It ’s a right metal money that occurs in the wilderness .
This confusion likely stems from the fact that the plant was available commercially before it was actually described scientifically . Nurseries literally did n’t have a name to go off , so they just made one up !
Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ has latterly put on monumental popularity in the houseplant sideline , much like another Alocasia stunner,‘Polly ’ .
In fact , the same goes for many of the other lowly members of the genus , including Alocasia ‘ Dragon Scale ’ , Alocasia cuprea , andAlocasia zebrina .
As a whole , these plant are often referred to as thejewel Alocasias , since they ’re all small in size but sport stunningly colourful and rough-textured foliage .
Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ can be told asunder from its other gem Alocasia first cousin by its ellipse , slimly muzzy leaves . The leafage is a mysterious green to almost blackish when viewed from the front , with fall upon silvery - gullible folio vein . The back of the leaf are a lighter reddish cat valium .
Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ is improbable to flower indoors , but on the off chance yours does , the flower is rather unassuming : a mere white spadix encased by a pale yellow spathe . This is similar to other arum ( such asPothos , Philodendrons , andChinese evergreen ) , which are grown for their leafage rather than their flowers .
The species grows to a maximal size of only around 1.6 feet , making it much small than some of its humongous full cousin , like the giant Taro ( Alocasia macrorrhizos ) .
Natural habitat
As I remark earlier , Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ was offered for sale commercially before it was scientifically described . This presented a bit of an issue in terms of figuring out its natural home ground : botanist cognize they were allot with a young , undescribed mintage , but they did n’t know exactly where it was from .
The 1998 publication in the Singapore Gardens ’ Bulletin , which first described the metal money based on specimen ascertain for sales event in the US , name its statistical distribution as “ ? Borneo ” and its home ground as “ Unknown . ”
In 2021 , a subject area was print which explains that Alocasia reginula has since been attain to be endemic to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve , on the Malayan side of the island of Borneo ( in the state of Sabah ) . Here , it ’s mention to get on “ heavily shaded karst [ limestone ] cliffs ” .
Alocasia ‘Black Velvet’ varieties
Cultivars
Although you probably wo n’t find them for cut-rate sale in any old flora store and their prices will scare away any but the most consecrate Alocasia aficionados , there are in reality a few cultivar of Alocasia ‘ smuggled Velvet’/reginula out there .
Two of the most common cultivar are :
I ’ve also seen other industrial plant with ‘ Ninja ’ in their name , but it ’s not entirely exonerated to me if these are all actually different . Since these cultivar are comparatively new , after all , they ’re not show yet and may go by dissimilar gens . Examples of names I ’ve see to it are ‘ Monster Ninja ’ , ‘ Mythic ™ Ninja ’ and even just ‘ Ninja ’ .
Hybrids
There are at least two relatively common cross out there that have Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ in their stemma . One was produced in 2007 by cross ‘ Black Velvet ’ with the monolithic Alocasia odora . This resulted in a plant patent as Alocasia ‘ Regal Shields ’ ( or sometimes as Alocasia x reginora ) , which look moderately much exactly how you ’d require . It has odora ’s sizing and smooth leaves , but reginula ’s beautiful dark color and loose leaf veins .
Another reasonably mutual hybrid is Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ x Alocasia melo , the resultant of which carry the name of Alocasia ‘ Maharani ’ or sometimes ‘ Grey Dragon ’ . This really is averynice little jewel Alocasia . The rough-textured leaves are almost grey ( gray ) in color .
Aroid partizan are always experiment with traverse different Alocasias , so we ’re sure to see more Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ hybrids popping up in the future tense .
Where to buy
Caring for Alocasia ‘Black Velvet’
Light and temperature
Like most hobo camp flora , Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ have sex light , but it ’s not a big devotee of receive enceinte amount of money of direct Sunday . After all , in the species ’ natural home ground , taller trees would block out the harshest igniter !
you could place yours on a windowsill , but try out to avoid daub where its leaves might cauterize . you’re able to also go for artificial ignition , which Alocasias are known to grow well under .
Temperature - wise , you ’ll have to keep these plants strong . elbow room temperature mould well , so if you ’re comfy , then the same goes for your Alocasia . Warmer is n’t a problem either , but cold is not tolerate at all and will trigger sleeping , which I ’ll discuss more in - astuteness below . In any fount , test not to let temporary drop below 55 ° F .
Be sure to also keep your Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ away from A / atomic number 6 units , bullet and the like . The works ’s a bit fussy about its surround and does n’t answer well to drastic changes in temperature .
Water and humidity
Jewel Alocasias like ‘ Black Velvet ’ are n’t make out for being the easiest houseplant to grow , and much of that has to do with their watering need . With this specie in particular , rot is always a danger . It make out water , but it ’s sluttish to overdo it and end up with a cumulation of cornmeal mush !
think of , this Alocasia course grows on limestone , which drains quickly . This has forced the plants to adapt to draw do with a little less . That ’s also why their leaves are thicker and more leathery than those of many of their cousins that hail from wetter region : it help them store piddle more efficiently .
So what does all this mean for you if you ’d like to get an Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ ?
Well , first off , be trusted to also take a spirit at the department on dirt below . If you do n’t have that part down , even the best watering habits wo n’t aid .
If you ’re using a suitable , well - draining Alocasia soil , you may water whenever the top of the stain ( up to halfway down ) has gone dry . This dot will usually take importantly longer to reach in wintertime than during the warm and light summer calendar month , when your plant is hopefully farm and using plenty of water system .
If you ’re not indisputable whether it ’s time yet , stick a finger into the soil to gauge the moisture tier .
Quick Tip
I ’ve view oneindoor gardenerrecommend companion planting jewel Alocasias like this one with modest ferns , like those from the genus Nephrolepis . This seems like it may be worth a shot . The fern can help take up excess water , generate you a number more wiggle elbow room in term of moisture horizontal surface .
You should also keep humidness in idea . These guys despise dry air , which makes them a attraction forspider mitesand other problems ! It ’s best to keep them at 65 percent or above at all times , which may mean that you need to consider something like a humidness cabinet if your dwelling house is on the juiceless side . A humidifier can also aid .
Soil and planting
Okay , so what ’s all this fuss about the correct soil for Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ ? Well , the basic gist of it is that this flora does like peck of moisture , but suffer weewee can cause root buncombe . This mutual houseplant ailment is often a death judgment of conviction .
To verify your Alocasia wo n’t moulder — but does n’t go thirsty either — you’ll involve to mix a soil that retains some pee , but allows the excess to enfeeble freely . Luckily , this is not too difficult to do . The resulting mixed bag is worthy for a wide range of houseplants , especially fellow member of the Aroid family .
This is the basic recipe I use for plants like Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ :
With this formula , the soil and moss will help to keep back the right amount of weewee , while gritty perlite and orchid barque lease the residual drain and prevent your plant from overwhelm .
As for a plantation owner for Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ , like with most houseplants , it does n’t really count what you go for . The of import thing is just to make certain it has a drainage hole , or drill one yourself .
recommend products for Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ plant care :
Alocasia hibernation
Did you let the temperatures in your habitation drop curtain too much ? Do n’t be surprised if you discover your Alocasia all of a sudden pour forth its leave and appearing to conk out . ( This pass off more often than you mean , peculiarly in the winter calendar month when citizenry incline to be traveling for long stretches over the vacation . )
These plants do n’t wish the cold and can go into dormancy if thing get too parky . They ingest all the nutrient from their folio , store them in their bulb and string up out in a leafless state until thing start to warm back up . This is not problematic , but it ’s not exactly the prettiest matter to look at either !
Here ’s what you’re able to do :
Fertilizing
Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ is not a quick grower , so it does n’t postulate a lot of fertiliser . Still , it will gain from a little plant intellectual nourishment during the spring and summer growing time of year . you’re able to employ a diluted liquid houseplant fertilizer around once a month if your Alocasia is doing well .
Do n’t apply fertiliser on plants that are unhappy or are n’t growing , particularly during wintertime andespeciallyif they ’re dormant . You ’ll just damage the rootage .
recommend fertilizer for Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ :
Pruning
You wo n’t have to prune your Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ much at all , except to remove the episodic dead leaf . Alocasias tend to countenance their bottom leaves decease off as newfangled ace sprout .
Dividing or repotting
you’re able to repot your Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ every two to three years or whenever the plant outgrow its current plantation owner ( which can take a good while given its small sizing and slow development rate ) .
However , if it happens to have produced offshoots , you could also opt to divide ! This way you get an extra plant and can keep the original in its current planter . I ’ll go over how to do this in the next section .
Propagating Alocasia ‘Black Velvet’
One downside of Alocasias is that they ’re not as easy to spread as many other houseplant . Because the members of this genus sprout leaves from a primal corm , they do n’t have stems , which means that speedy and simple-minded stem cutting are not an selection .
you may still multiply your Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ , but only if it has produced offshoots and/or redundant bulbs . This is intimately done if you were plump to repot anyway , since you ’ll have to bump off the works from its pot .
Here ’s how you do it :
Did you know?
Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ is have it off for normally being micropropagated commercially by means of tissue acculturation . This is a proficiency that we ca n’t really use in our homes since it ’s a trivial too complicated , but it allows growers to easily mass - produce the industrial plant .
Is Alocasia ‘Black Velvet’ toxic to cats and dogs?
Like other members of the genus Araceae ( the aroids ) , all parts of Alocasia ‘ Black Velvet ’ contain calcium oxalate watch crystal . These microscopical crystals are not toxic , but they can acquire pique and excrescence , so it ’s best to keep this plant life out of range of favourite and child .
Sources :
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/1006568-1
https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP27050P2/
https://aroidiaresearch.org/areginor.htm
https://www.aroidpedia.com/journal/category/Cultivar
Hay A ( 1998 ) Alocasia ( Araceae - Colocasieae ) in West Malesia & Sulawesi . Gardens ’ Bulletin Singapore 50 : 221–334 .
Wong , S. Y. , & Joling , J. ( 2021 ) . Checklist of aroid ( Alismatales , Araceae ) from Sabah ( Malayan Borneo ) . check over List , 17 , 931 .
