Alocasia Baginda – Dragon Scale

Posted: October 24th, 2020 - In: Care guides

If you like a little drama in your plant collection the Alocasia Baginda or Dragon Scale is the plant for you. The texture found on the leaves is quite unique, its the first plant visitors are drawn to in my home especially the children. Despite its exotic appearance I have found this to be one of the easiest plants to care for in my collection.

Alocasia Baginda – Dragon Scale

Alocasia Origin and Distribution.

In the wild the Alocasia group is found across Southeast Asia and into subtropical areas of Australia. As well as being planted for ornamental purposes the Alocasia group is also widely cultivated for the edible rhizome often referred to as Taro.

Dragon Scale abaxial surface

Dragon Scale Care

This is without doubt a true foliage plant, the arrow shaped leaves are supported by pale green petioles that can grow to 50cm in length. The underside has deep red veins that run from the tip of the petiole to the outer edge of the leaf.

 

Size

My particular plant appears to have stopped growing at about 50cm tall with a spread of 60cm, the largest leaf is 22cm. Reportedly this plant can grow to 100cm tall with a spread of 70-120cm.

 

Watering

Watering your Dragon Scale is a learning process, they can be quite particular about how much water they require. In my experience this is directly dependent upon the amount of light the plant receives. As a general rule a good water once the top inch dries out works for me but don’t let it sit in water for any more than fifteen minutes or let the soil dry out completely. Fortunately this plant will tell you very quickly if it needs watering as the leaves will start to look down. As soon as you see this give it a thorough drenching allowing water to run through the base of the pot and you will see those leaves looking up again in no time.

 

Depending on which part of the growing season it is, the requirements for water will change. I have found that in winter the plants tend to slow down their growth even indoors and will therefore require less water during this time.

 

Lighting

Dragon Scales are quite partial to the morning or late afternoon sun, ideally place your plant in an East or West facing window and you can’t really go wrong. If you have the climate and decide to grow yours outside in the warmer months then this plant is best placed in dappled shade. Exposure to full sun for any extended period of time will result in scorched leaves and probably the swift demise of your plant. This is a tender plant and won’t tolerate temperatures below 15 Celsius so make sure to bring it inside as soon as the nights start to get cooler.

 

Humidity

Humidity for this plant is easy, you can’t get enough of it! They love it as humid as possible. If you have a humidifier then great but if not then placing the plant on a tray of wet pebbles will help keep the air around the plant moist as it evaporates. Never ever place this plant near to a radiator, even in its dormant period during the winter as this will dry it up completely.

 

Soil mix

I use my standard aroid mix for all of my Alocasia plants with the addition of worm castings. I don’t use any additional fertilizer but I do use aquarium water which has plenty of nutrients for watering.