Alocasia Hilo Beauty Care Guide! Caladium Praetermissum

Often grown in greenhouses, the Alocasia Hilo Beauty is a stunning foliage plant with long, arrow- or heart-shaped leaves. It lives for many years and never dies. Thanks to the yellow and white spots all over the leaves, they have beautiful designs that look like camouflage.

The plant can get as tall as (two to four) feet, and its leaves can get as long as (two to three) meters. A bluish-black hue characterizes the stalk or stem. The Alocasia Hilo Beauty is a great choice if you want to grow a beautiful leafy plant in a container indoors. A low-maintenance plant that helps us grow beautiful vignettes at home can be grown with little effort.

The tropical Alocasia Hilo Beauty is a member of the Philodendron family. This plant is a hybrid. The plant has been considered an Alocasia since the 1980s, but its ancestry has lately been called into question because of its similarities to the Caladium family. The scientific community has named it caladium praetermissum.

Alocasia Hilo Beauty Care Guide

This plant does not need extensive care to grow. To grow it successfully, you must provide the right conditions, including well-drained soil, temperature and humidity, and adequate water and sunshine.

Light

Caladium praetermissum There is a correlation between these beauties’ light requirements and their place of origin. You would be wrong if you believed that a plant native to the tropics would survive in full sun. Tropical plants require a less strong degree of light, so their leaves do not become scorched. In their native habitat in the jungle, they would be exposed to sunshine that has been filtered.

On the other hand, they may shed their leaves if they do not receive enough light. Your goal should be somewhere in the range of 15,000 to 35,000 lux. It can be positioned within a few feet of a window facing south or west while keeping it out of the direct path of the sun’s rays. When growing alocasia Hilo beauty in an area with less direct sunlight, you need to supplement the natural sunlight with light from a grow light.

Soil

Rich and loose soil is best for growing alocasia Hilo beauty since it can hold some water without becoming waterlogged. Excessively damp soil can cause the tubers to rot, but this prevents that from happening. PH levels between 5.5 and 6.5 are ideal for the alocasia Hilo beauty plant, suggesting a somewhat acidic setting.

Using a combination of peat moss, perlite, and potting soil in the right proportions will provide a soil mix that is both well-drained and moist. You can use this to achieve the ideal pH level. Success with Caladium praetermissum can be expected whether you make your soil from scratch or use a commercial product based on peat.

Watering

Caladium praetermissum has simple watering requirements. Since the tropical jungle is their native habitat, they require soil that drains well but remains humid year-round. You can best meet its watering needs by giving it light, regular watering several times weekly, if not daily.

When the soil appears dry on the surface, water it thoroughly to hydrate it; however, once the soil has thoroughly wetted, do not allow it to remain in water otherwise, the tuber will rot. If it becomes dormant over the winter, you should reduce how often and how much water it gets. If you keep watering your alocasia Hilo’s beauty water, it will continue to thrive.

Temperature and Humidity for the Alocasia Hilo

Because this plant is native to a warm tropical climate, it thrives best when cultivated in a warm and humid atmosphere, like its native habitat. This Alocasia does best in temperatures that are consistently above 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Maintaining a warm environment for the plant is one of the most critical success aspects that contribute to the cultivation of this plant.

This plant has a propensity for going into a state of near dormancy when temperatures drop below 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures lower than 60 degrees Fahrenheit might harm this plant and cause it to suffer damage. However, some types have the ability to go dormant in colder weather and then start growing again after a period of cold weather.

In addition, this plant needs a humid climate and higher-than-average humidity levels in the home. Therefore, increasing the humidity in your home is essential to developing this plant. It is recommended that a humidifier or a pebble tray be installed. However, spraying this plant with a mist is not a good idea. Keeping this plant away from drafty windows, air conditioning, heating systems, and drafts is important.

Fertilizer

It is definitely worth the effort to make sure that the Alocasia Hilo Beauty plant has adequate nutrition because the fertilizer will hasten the growth of leaves that are both larger and more vibrant in color. You do not need to search for a fertilizer designed specifically for caladium praetermissum.

When you first report the plant, give it a boost with some fertilizer that has a prolonged effect. Then, follow up with applying a water-soluble balanced fertilizer (a 1-1-1 N-P-K fertilizer ratio is ideal). During the warm months, it should be applied once every few weeks after diluting to half the prescribed concentration. When winter comes, and the plant enters its dormant phase, you should stop fertilizing it.

Potting & Repotting

If you purchased the Caladium praetermissum currently potted, it would be allowed to remain in the container until it has outgrown the pot. Roots will begin to emerge from the drainage holes once every two years after the plant has outgrown its initial container.

The alocasia Hilo beauty needs to have its pot changed at this point. You don’t want to use a too huge pot, so just be sure to bump up the diameter by a few inches instead. In addition to this, check to see that the container has sufficient drainage holes. The tubers cannot survive in constantly wet soil. Also, use potting soil in the manner described earlier. Repotting your Caladium praetermissum with these new pots ought to be successful.

Pruning

Caladium praetermissum takes nothing in the way of pruning because it matures into an appealing form on its own. For a Caladium praetermissum, the only pruning that may be necessary is the removal of any leaves that have turned yellow and are on their way out.

Moreover, you may clip a few leaves to incorporate into a bouquet you’re putting together. The best technique to cut alocasia Hilo beauty is to use a sharp knife to remove the entire stem from the plant at the soil level. That’s the best way to do it. This is always the case, no matter what specific circumstances are. The central bud should be cut off where it emerges from the tuber if you want your plant to be bushier and have numerous stems. The plant will then be able to send out more lateral branches as a result. As a result, more auxiliary stems will develop.

Alocasia Hilo Beauty Propagation 

The propagation of caladium praetermissum is simple, and it can offer you more of these gorgeous tropical plants that you can use for yourself or give away to others. The division of tubers is the most popular and straightforward approach for propagating the alocasia Hilo beauty variety.

After carefully removing the clump of tubers from the soil, cut them apart using a clean, sharp knife, ensuring that each piece has at least one bud or growing point on it. Place them in individual pots filled with moist potting soil. Ensure that the buds are facing upward and that they are covered by at least two inches of soil. If you keep the temperature around 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit), you should notice fresh sprouts appearing quickly.

Common Problems of Alocasia Hilo Beauty

Diseases

Several diseases can affect Caladium praetermissum, the most common of which are fungal in nature. Because of this, stopping the disease from developing in the first place is preferable rather than attempting to treat it once it has taken hold. Brown spots on the foliage or, in more severe situations, rotten tubers are indicators that the plant is suffering from a fungal infection.

Before storing or planting tubers, kill any fungi that could cause problems by soaking them in water heated to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) for half an hour. This will prevent any problems from occurring. Maintain the soil in the container where your Alocasia Hilo Beauty is growing once it has started to grow.

Pests

There are very few bugs that can be a problem for showy plants like alocasia Hilo beauty, which is one of the many reasons why it is a good idea to cultivate these plants in your house or garden. Mealybugs are responsible for the appearance of tiny fluffy spots on your plants; on the other hand, aphids are likely to cause sticky substances or black mold.

Spider mites can be identified by their characteristic clusters of teeny-tiny holes and yellow spots, whereas scale insects are recognized by their characteristic humps. Spraying the plant’s leaves with insecticidal soap every couple of weeks should be enough to control these Caladium praetermissum pests. To eradicate all of the bugs, it is essential to ensure that the entire plant, including the backs of the leaves, is covered.

Alocasia Hilo Beauty Leaves Turning Yellow

This plant’s leaves may become yellow if it is overwatered or does not get enough sun.

Alocasia Hilo Beauty Leaves Turning Brown

When the leaf of an Alocasia Hilo Beauty plant turns brown, it is almost always the result of either underwatering or a lack of enough humidity.

Alocasia Hilo Beauty Drooping

The Alocasia Hilo Beauty may droop if its temperature drops, its position is moved, it is repotted, its lighting is changed, or it is not watered enough. This plant goes dormant in cold weather, so it may droop and appear lifeless. The optimal conditions for its temperature are warm temperatures.

Alocasia Hilo Toxic

Sap may be found in every part of the plant, and it contains crystals of calcium oxalate and a protein known as asparagine. Both of these components are harmful to both humans and animals.

How to Grow Caladium Praetermissum Indoors?

Tubers should be planted in peat-based soil in a container and then placed in an area that receives indirect light but is not in direct sunlight. If the soil’s top two inches are dry, it is time to water.

Is Alocasia Hilo Beauty Rare?

There is no doubt that the Alocasia Hilo Beauty (Caladium Praetermissum) is a rare and exotic plant; nonetheless, many people today keep it as an indoor plant.