Alocasia Cuprea Red Secret drooping
Quick answer
If your Alocasia Cuprea Red Secret is drooping, the most likely cause is: Alocasia cuprea red secret, the burnished-copper foliage form of Alocasia cuprea native to Borneo, keeps its arrowhead-shaped leaves held upright only when the substrate is held evenly moist; Jack Kramer's Easy-care guide to houseplants profiles the species and warns that if the soil is allowed to swing from too dry to too wet, the foliage loses its turgor and the leaves become limp, which reads to a grower as sudden drooping on a plant whose copper leaves normally sit held above the short stem.
Start here:
- 1. Pot Alocasia cuprea red secret in a mix of equal parts fine-grade fir bark and all-purpose houseplant soil, then water only when the surface begins to dry so the substrate never goes fully dry and never stays soggy, keeping moisture even around the corm.
- 2. Grow Alocasia cuprea red secret at a low-light northern-window exposure so transpiration is slow and the substrate dries gradually, and feed once a month with 10-10-10 fertilizer so the corm has steady nutrition to push out firm, turgid leaves.
Why Alocasia Cuprea Red Secret is drooping
alocasia cuprea red secret
Alocasia cuprea red secret, the burnished-copper foliage form of Alocasia cuprea native to Borneo, keeps its arrowhead-shaped leaves held upright only when the substrate is held evenly moist; Jack Kramer's Easy-care guide to houseplants profiles the species and warns that if the soil is allowed to swing from too dry to too wet, the foliage loses its turgor and the leaves become limp, which reads to a grower as sudden drooping on a plant whose copper leaves normally sit held above the short stem.
How to help Alocasia Cuprea Red Secret that is drooping
- 1
Pot Alocasia cuprea red secret in a mix of equal parts fine-grade fir bark and all-purpose houseplant soil, then water only when the surface begins to dry so the substrate never goes fully dry and never stays soggy, keeping moisture even around the corm.
- 2
Grow Alocasia cuprea red secret at a low-light northern-window exposure so transpiration is slow and the substrate dries gradually, and feed once a month with 10-10-10 fertilizer so the corm has steady nutrition to push out firm, turgid leaves.
- 3
If the leaves have already gone limp, lift the pot to feel its weight, correct the watering rhythm back to evenly moist, and trim only fully collapsed blades once new turgid growth resumes from the corm.
Keep this Alocasia Cuprea Red Secret from ending up drooping again
Match watering to the bark-based, free-draining mix the book recommends, keep Alocasia cuprea red secret out of cold draughts and away from heating vents so moisture loss is even across the day, and choose a stable low-light northern-window spot so the substrate dries at a rate the roots can keep up with; the species will also tolerate temperatures down to about 55F, lower than most alocasias can handle.