Alocasia Frydek Variegated Tissue Culture

The Alocasia Frydek Variegated Tissue Culture is one of those plants that makes you understand why people become Alocasia obsessed. Those velvety leaves, bright white veining, and white variegation? Yes please.

This rare Alocasia can develop beautiful cream, white, and green variegation as it matures, and each plant can look a little different. That’s part of what makes growing a variegated Frydek so exciting — every new leaf gets its own little inspection moment.

This plant comes as a tissue culture plant, grown in a sterile lab environment and ready for acclimation after arrival. Tissue cultures need a gentle transition, especially Alocasias, because they can be a little dramatic if they’re not given the right humidity and stability at first.

Once acclimated, Alocasia Frydek Variegated does best in bright indirect light, warm temperatures, high humidity, and a well-draining mix. Keep it cozy, keep it humid, and give it time to settle in.

A little note from us: Alocasias like consistency. If you are new to tissue cultures, make sure you have your acclimation setup ready for this one's arrival and check out our Acclimation Guide in the Knowledge Hub.

Acclimation Steps We Follow (THIS IS NOT THE ONLY WAY…THIS IS JUST WHAT WE DO):

1) DON'T TOUCH IT. 👀 Let it acclimate for 2-3 days to the temperature of its new environment. Try to keep it out of direct sunlight to avoid browning of leaves 

2) RINSE IT.💦 (We wear gloves 🤷♀️) Get three bowls out, bowl 1 = distilled water for first rinse…use a small paint brush and your fingers to get all of the agar off the plant (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT), bowl 2 = distilled water with 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide…after clean throw TCs in this bowl for 15-20 seconds (ish) to sterilize, bowl 3 = distilled water for final rinse…one last rinse to remove the peroxide and ensure all agar is off the plant.

3) DRY IT. 🧻 Lay the rinsed TCs on a paper towel to try and get some of the excess water off the plants. 

4) DIP IT. 🍄🟫 We dip our TC roots in a 50/50 mixture of Rooting Powder and Mycorrhizal Fungi. This helps accelerate root growth and promote faster rooting.

5) PLUG IT. 🤎🔌We use grow plugs (brownie plugs). It’s fast and easy and we have had consistent success with this method. Split in half, slap your plant in there and you’re all done. 

(STEPS 4 AND 5 ARE PERSONAL PREFERENCE AND WHAT WE HAVE HAD SUCCESS WITH, THERE ARE OTHER METHODS AND MEDIAS THAT CAN BE USED)

6) DOME IT. 😶🌫️For best results place your TC in some form of humidity dome to produce 100% humidity for the first two weeks of acclimation, slowly reduce humidity and introduce air flow for the next two weeks before you leave your new plant at ambient humidity. 

7) WATER IT. 💦 We water our plugs in with our general houseplant fertilizer with tap water out of the facet. If you want to play it safe use distilled water..we want the extra nutrients and don’t like to wait to get our plants used to tap water. Try to keep water off the plants leaves as much as possible 

8) LIGHT IT. 💡Make sure your new plant is getting 12-16 hours of sufficient light.