Alocasia Nairobi Night: 7 Care Tips for a Thriving Plant

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With so many Alocasias out there, Alocasia Nairobi Night is pretty unique with its pink petioles which contrast beautifully with the large, shiny green leaves and white veins. Over time this will form an impressive clump! Keep reading to learn more about the care of Alocasia Nairobi Night.

HOW TO CARE FOR ALOCASIA NAIROBI NIGHT

1. LIGHT

Like most Alocasias, this one will thrive in an Eastern or Western facing window indoors. If you place your plant in too dark of a location, it will shed its oldest leaves one by one.

Windows with no direct sun at all are acceptable too, especially if your window is large, but you must place it immediately in front of the window.

In the wintertime, when light is at a premium indoors, it will benefit your plant if you place it in front of a sunny window.

Many Alocasias will start to go semi-dormant in the wintertime if there is not enough light. You can also supplement with a grow light if you don’t have any suitable windows at home.

2.WATERING

Always water your plant thoroughly and allow excess water to escape the drainage holes. Alocasias do not like to go completely dry, but at the same time they don’t like to sit in water either.

Always discard any excess water that accumulates either in the saucer below the plant or in its cachepot otherwise you can risk root rot.

Allow the top inch or two of your potting mix to dry out before watering thoroughly again.

Remember that like any Alocasia, if you let your potting mix go bone dry, your plant still start to go dormant. It doesn’t mean that it’s dying, but you must take action and water if your potting mix has gone bone dry.

Even if your plant has lost many leaves, it WILL come back with consistent care and watering practices. I’ve been growing Alocasias for years and they’ve had ups and downs, but they will come back when you give them the conditions that they like!

3. FERTILIZER

Fertilize regularly while your plant is actively growing. There are many fertilizers that you can use, but my personal fertilizer of choice for Alocasias, as well as all of my tropical plants, is Dyna-Gro Grow.

I’ve been using this fertilizer for many years, and you will see a wonderful difference with regular use. It contains all the major and micro nutrients that plants need to grow, so you won’t have to worry about any nutrient deficiencies.

It is also urea-free, so the risk of fertilizer burn is greatly diminished. Try Dyna-Gro Grow for yourself and experience the difference it can make with your indoor jungle!

4. TEMPERATURE

Alocasia Nairobi Night loves consistent, warm temperatures. Aim for 65°-85°F (18°-29°C) as an ideal temperature range for your plant.

Alocasias are freeze babies, so keep your plant away from cold temperatures, as well as cold drafts from vents, windows and doors.

5. HUMIDITY

Although Alocasias can tolerate lower humidity, they really thrive if you can increase humidity.

Misting will NOT increase humidity. All it does is gets your leaves wet. The best way to increase humidity indoors is by investing is a good humidifier.

Aim for a range of 50-60% relative humidity indoors if you can. It will benefit both your plants, as well as your skin and nasal passages!

6. POTTING MIX

A potting mix with additional coarse material is important in the home environment. Don’t use potting mixes like Miracle Gro or Espoma straight out of the bag. They don’t contain the needed porosity for the indoor environment.

One option for a good Alocasia potting mix is equal parts potting mix, perlite and orchid bark.

If you want to take your potting mixes to the next level, try out the Pray For Us blend from Oh Happy Plants.

The blend will allow your potting mix to stay moist without staying too wet, and is very porous and allows good airflow to your plant’s roots.

I’ve used Pray For Us on many types of plants including Alocasias, Prayer Plants and more. Read up more on the Pray For Us blend, and you will get 10% off automatically at checkout if you use my link!

7. PROPAGATION

Alocasias make it easy to propagate, because they will form nice clumps over time, and you can simply take them out of their pots and divide them.

Alocasias grow from corms, and over time, they will form new plantlets at the base.

You can either allow your plant to develop into a specimen and leave it alone, or if you want more plants, when your plant is root bound and has pups that have grown about half the size of the main plant, you can take your plant out of its pot and divide it into multiple plants.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Alocasia Nairobi Night vs Pink Dragon

There are some distinguishing features between Nairobi Night vs Pink Dragon.

Although both have pink petioles, here is the main difference:

• Nairobi Night has a pointier tip at the bottom of the foliage, as well as pointer lobes near the top of the leaf, while Pink Dragon’s foliage has much rounder edges.

Check out the photo below so you can visually see this difference.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post on Alocasia Nairobi Night! Check out my blog post on many other Alocasia varieties out there. There are so many gorgeous ones to add to your collection!