How to acclimatise an Alocasia that just arrived by mail
August 22, 2026
An Alocasia that travels two or three days in a box arrives stressed: no light, temperature changes and its roots cramped. What you do in the first week decides whether it takes off strongly or loses leaves. This is the routine we follow with every plant that arrives home, and the one we recommend for those that leave our shop.
The same day: open, look, don't water
Unbox it as soon as you receive it, even if it's at night. Remove the paper and film carefully, especially on the new leaves, which tear easily. Look at the root ball: if it's damp, don't water. If it's completely dry (rare in shipments of less than 4 days), give it a light watering from below, letting it absorb for 10 minutes from a saucer. Never water it “just in case”: a stressed plant with a waterlogged root is the combination that kills the most plants after shipping.
First week: quarantine and soft light
- Kept apart from the others 7-10 days: any thrips or spider mites that come along on the trip show up sooner and don't spread.
- Indirect light, no direct sun or strong lamp closer than 40 cm. The plant is coming out of the darkness of the box.
- No repotting. The urge to put it in a pretty pot can wait. Changing substrate now adds a second stress.
- High humidity (60-70%): humidifier, or a transparent bag open at the top for the first 3-4 days if the environment is very dry.
- Temperature stable, 20-26 °C, away from air conditioning, radiators and draughty windows.
What's normal and what's not
It's normal for the oldest leaf to yellow and fall: the plant cuts back to save energy. Also for some leaf to arrive with a fold or a little brown tip from the trip; it doesn't affect growth. What's not normal is for the central stem to go soft or smell bad: that's root rot, and the solution is to take it out, cut off the soft parts, let it dry for a few hours and plant it in fresh, very airy substrate. If it happens with one of our plants, write to us with a photo the same day.
From the second week onwards
When you see the central bud move (a new rolled-up leaf peeking out), the plant is already acclimatised. From there you can repot if the pot is too small, start feeding at half dose and put it with the others. On the variegated ones (albo, aurea, pink or mint) that first new leaf also tells you how the variegation is going to respond to the light in your home.
If what arrived is a corm and not a plant, the process is different: we explain it in how to sprout a corm.
Texto redactado con ayuda de inteligencia artificial y publicado por el equipo de Marina’s Jungle Gems.
