Alocasia baginda, also known as Dragon Scale Alocasia or Silver Dragon for its more silver variant, is one of my absolute favorites! The leaves have a thick, slightly leathery feel, and are really fascinating. The contrast from the silver to the dark green is so amazing, photos don’t really do it justice. I find myself quite frequently petting these leaves because they just feel so awesome!
Potting: Alocasia baginda like a rich but well draining mix. I start with a high quality potting soil like Earth Mother or Happy Frog and add in some bark and pumice. It doesn’t need to be as fast draining as a Aroid or Hoya mix, but a little better than most soils right out of the bag.
Light: Alocasia in general like a lot of light! Alocasia baginda is no different. They are very happy when placed in or near a East window. I have also had them in my South and west windows and they were thriving there as well! They also seem do do really well when grown under grow lights! Mine is currently in a spot where the sun barely hits it but its under grow lights from about 7am-10pm and it has been growing like crazy!
Watering: Alocasia baginda benefits greatly from consistent deep waterings after it has had a chance to dry out some. Not all the way dry, but dried out to about two knuckles down. They also like a lot of humidity, so they are happiest when they can be near a humidifier.
Fertilizing: Just like other Alocasia, Alocasia baginda is a heavy feeder. Be sure to mix a slow release fertilizer into its soil a couple times a year. Or if your prefer a liquid fertilizer, use it at half strength every 2-4 weeks.
Propagating and Pruning: To propagate Alocasia you can wait until new plants come up and then divide them, or when repotting look for the tubers in the roots. Pot up the tubers and keep moist but not soggy until they sprout. I find using a seed starter and heat mat speeds up the process and helps with the humidity. Alocasia don’t really need pruning, but you can snip any of the lower leaves as it sheds them.
Pests: Just like all Alocasia, Alocasia baginda is prone to spider mites. So keep your eyes open and wipe your leaves down often. You may also want to treat your plants for them every so often even if you don’t see any as a preventative measure.
Toxicity: All parts of Alocasia baginda is toxic to dogs, cats, horses and humans.
Plant Brittanica 