Alocasia Dripping Water – 14 Things You Must Know!

Alocasia is a popular houseplant that will produce large leaves and perhaps even flowers with good care. It does, however, have some strange-looking characteristics. Often, when you see your beloved Alocasia dripping water, you wonder why. It’s usually harmless to the plant, but we’ll go over the reasons why it drips in this article.

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Why Is My Alocasia Dripping Water?

Alocasia owners often suspect a pest infestation or injury at the first sign of water dripping from their plant. But don’t worry! Alocasia dripping water can be attributed to two reasons: guttation drops at night and transpiration drops during the day at high temperatures.

As the Alocasia transpires, it is a process that takes place during the day to facilitate photosynthesis, as well as to acclimatize. Whereas guttation drips are the discharge of excess nutrients from the leaf tips. It is a process that takes place at night and early morning.

Let’s learn about the two processes in more detail below.

1. Alocasia Dripping Water by Guttation

Guttation is a process by which a plant excretes excess water and nutrients through the hydathodes located at the tips of the leaves. The droplets that are excreted are not normal droplets, but xylem sap.

The xylem sap is a mixture of salts, minerals and water. It’s thicker than water. The Alocasia excretes the xylem sap when it has an excess of nutrients, the root pressure is too high and the excess is excreted. This happens primarily at night.

This phenomenon is perfectly normal with tropical indoor plants and occurs when you have overdone it with watering. Put simply, the plant releases excess moisture through the leaves. Normally it would evaporate them, but this is not possible in high humidity and instead water droplets roll off the tip of the leaf.

2. Alocasia Dripping Water by Transpiration

Transpiration is part of photosynthesis. When the water is excreted through the leaf pores, a suction is created, which transports new water from the roots into the leaves. This is essential for photosynthesis because, without enough water in the leaves, no photosynthesis can take place.

Transpiration also occurs on warm summer days. With the help of transpiration, the Alocasia plant can regulate its temperature and cool it down if necessary. This protects the plant from overheating.

Does The Fluid Damage the Plant?

On the contrary! In fact, guttation is a very healthy behavior of the plant, as it gets rid of excess water and can continue to provide itself with sufficient nutrients. A balanced water balance is immensely important for the optimal supply of nutrients, similar to the blood circulation in our body.

However, after drying, the water droplets can leave unsightly stains on the leaves. These consist mainly of lime, but can be easily wiped off. Unfortunately, room walls or the floor can also be affected by dripping water, which is why you should not necessarily place Alocasia on a wooden floor or directly against a wall.

When Is Alocasia Dripping Water A Concern?

There are times when Alocasia’s dripping water can indicate a serious problem. The dripping water can indicate that a plant is stressed if it is also wilting, yellowing, or browning. Dripping water is not unusual if the leaves are healthy and green, and isn’t anything to worry about.

If your Alocasia’s leaves are drooping or curling, it may be an indication that your plant has been overwatered. Allow the soil to completely dry before watering again.

Is Alocasia Dripping Water Poisonous?

In principle, the Alocasia, also known as elephant ear, is actually poisonous, although the milky sap in particular contains the relevant toxins. Milky sap only occurs with injuries such as those caused by pruning, which is why gloves should be worn when cutting the plant.

The dripping water resulting from the guttation or transpiration, on the other hand, does not contain any toxins.

How Do You Stop Alocasia From Dripping?

Unfortunately, there is no way to completely prevent the Alocasia from dripping water. After all, this is perfectly normal behavior. However, you can reduce the liquid output by adjusting the amount of water and frequency of watering.

So make sure that the substrate is not permanently damp and let it dry out a bit before the next watering. Instead, ensure a high level of humidity by spraying the plant and a balanced supply of nutrients by fertilizing as needed.

In general, you should absolutely avoid waterlogging! If the soil in the pot is permanently wet, this not only affects root growth. The roots can rot and, paradoxically, the plant dries up. Drying out happens because the roots cannot transfer water or nutrients to the leaves. So ensure good drainage in the pot and don’t water too much!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do Alocasia cry?

When Alocasia plants cry, this is nothing more than a natural form of perspiration called guttation. Plants like Alocasia absorb water with their roots and evaporate it again through the leaf. At night, the pores of the leaf are closed, and a plant does not evaporate water. But the roots still absorb water, causing an overpressure of moisture in the plant. To lose that excess moisture, there are special water glands in the tip of the leaf (hydathodes), where you can see the water droplets forming.

How do I stop guttation?

Plants that often show guttation include plants from the Alocasia family. With these plants, you better immediately accept that they do this. Other plants, however, you can easily prevent, such as Monstera or Epipremnum. Guttation on these plants usually stops when you give them less water.

Guttation is not harmful to your plants and with plants like Alocasia, it is inevitable. And it’s good for everyone to shed a tear, isn’t it?!

Do Alocasia like misting?

Alocasia is a plant that likes humid environments so it is important to regularly mist the leaves and place the plant on a pebble-filled pot filled with water, making sure the bottom of the pot is not in contact with water. This method will allow the water in the pot holder to evaporate and consequently humidify the air surrounding the plant. Remember to fill the dish every time the water has evaporated.

Do Alocasia like a lot of water?

The Alocasia likes a moist substrate, but it does not tolerate wetness in the long run. Keep the potting soil slightly moist at all times by giving it small amounts of water on a regular basis. As long as you don’t give too much water at once, you prevent a pool of water from forming at the bottom part of the pot. Having too much water can lead to root rot in plants.

In winter you can reduce the watering a little more, but pay attention to the plant here as well. Prevent ball dryness, this is also very harmful to the plant.

How often should you water Alocasia?

Water your Alocasia regularly, but don’t overdo it. The common advice is once a week, but the frequency depends on your location and the season. In winter, there is generally a little less watering than in summer, since the plant is no longer in its main growth phase. This is between spring and autumn. During this time, water the Alocasia plant once or twice a week, of course, this also depends on the location.

Before watering, test whether the upper layer of the substrate has dried well. If this is the case, give the Alocasia a good sip of water, otherwise, wait a little longer.

What does an overwatered Alocasia look like?

There are some signs that you may have overwatered your Alocasia, including constantly wet soil, yellowing leaves, foul smell, moldy potting soil, and drooping leaves.

It is best to stop watering the Alocasia for a few days if it has already been overwatered. Once the soil has dried out, the Alocasia will be able to recover from the hardships. Take out the plant from its container and check for root rot.

If the roots of the Alocasia already smell bad, look brown, and are rotten, carefully remove them and replace the remaining soil. The soil around the roots should be allowed to rest as much as possible. The remaining moisture will disperse relatively quickly in the new soil, and the plant should be placed in a warm, dry place.

How do you know if Alocasia has root rot?

Root rot in Alocasia is typically characterized by individual leaves wilting within a short period of time, yellowing leaves, plants that are wobbly in the pot or soil and brown, mushy roots.

Both fungi and bacteria can cause root rot. Damaged roots quickly cause the entire plant to die or weaken it to such an extent that other pathogens or pests have an easy time.

Systemic fungicides – the only ones that kill fungi inside plants – are either ineffective against root rot or work only in the early stages of infestation. After the fungi have spread, things get tight because they are completely ineffective against soil-borne fungi.

As treatment is often not possible, it is best to remove infested plants as soon as possible in order to avoid spreading the disease to neighboring plants. Therefore, be on the lookout for symptoms of root rot and react as soon as possible.

Why do Alocasia leaves drop?

The dropping of Alocasia leaves is usually due to overwatering or lack of water. Other common reasons are lighting problems, temperature stress, pests, inactivity and low humidity. Correcting the underlying problem will often cause your Alocasia to recover.

In Alocasias, it is quite normal for the oldest and outermost leaf to drop. This is a normal process in the growth and life cycle of this plant. While the outermost leaf falls off, a new leaf grows from the stem of the innermost leaf.

Is it normal for Alocasia leaves to droop?

Normally when Alocasia leaves start to droop, it indicates care issues.

Drooping leaves on Alocasia are most often due to overwatering or underwatering of the plant. The former can result in the Alocasia dying because waterlogging suffocates the roots and the plant can no longer absorb water and nutrients.

Given an underwatering condition, the Alocasia’s vital structures are still intact and the plant has a significantly better chance of surviving.

In addition to these two causes, the leaves of Alocasia may also droop when the humidity is too low, the amount of light is too dim, the temperature is too warm, or the plant is infested with pests.