Hi.
I just recently brought home a small giant taro plant (I believe it's Alocasia macrorrhizos). I repotted it and watered it really well, and ever since it's been sweating a good deal of water from it's leaves, enough to form large droplets that eventually fall off the plant.
The only other plant I've had that sweat like this is the monstera deliciosa, and it only does it when the soil is too moist. The giant taro supposedly can survive in a water garden though, so I feel that too much water can't be the problem. Not to mention I only put enough water in the pot after planting it to settle the soil and drain shortly from the bottom of the pot. Perhaps it's sweating so much bc I aggravated the roots of the plant when potting it?
Anyone ever seen this happen? It's an indoor plant (for now).
Here's a photo since I can't upload images at work. http://www.pro-networks.org/main/images/blurb/gianttaro.jpg
Giant Taro leaves are sweating
You know, the more I look into it, the less I believe this plant to be Alocasia macrorrhizos. Anyone have any idea what it really is?
Keonikale, post on the Aroid forum, they'll probably know.
Thanks, I put a post in over there as well :)
John
Completely natural,nice looking plant..
Root.
My Amorphophallus bulbifer gets droplets on its leaf tips when I bring it in. Have seen this happen on all kinds of plants. Nothing to woryy about, at all. Just water spots on the furniture. :-)
Robert.
Sorry I can't help you w/your ID.
The water droplets are part of a process within the plant called guttation.
Some feel that it's due to overwatering, but I'm not so sure that's always true.
I got this from Dummies.com, adapted from 'Biology for Dummies' and had posted it once before (not sure which forum, though) when this question came up.
"Do you know what guttation is? Hint: It's not dew
Inside the cells of the root, there is a higher concentration of minerals than there is in the soil surrounding the plant, which makes sense because the root comprises a much smaller area, whereas the soil is a much larger area. This creates osmotic pressure, also called root pressure, which forces water up out of the root through the xylem as more water and minerals are "pulled" into the root from the soil and enter the root cells via osmosis. This force results in guttation, which is the formation of tiny droplets on the ends of leaves or grass early in the morning.
The reason the droplets are seen in the morning is because transpiration — the loss of water from leaves — doesn't occur at night, so the pressure builds until morning. Those droplets are not just water, they're sap. And, those sap droplets are proof that water and minerals get pulled up from the soil and transported through the entire plant.
Guttation may work well for small plants, through which water and minerals do not have far to travel, but what about tall plants? Gravity works against the upward movement through the plant, so more active processes are involved."
Thanks Nan for the explanation. I only knew it as transpiration and hadn't realized that transpiration didn't occur at night.
Ditto, thanks for that. :)