My Story

Hi! I’m Norah, the owner and founder of The Alo Greenhouse. I’m 21 years old and work full-time as an accountant. Keeping plants is one of several hobbies I enjoy, along with sewing, making art, and gaming.

My obsession with plants started about three years ago when I got my first Monstera deliciosa. Ever since, I’ve collected all sorts of houseplants and kept them in my bedroom.

At the beginning of my plant-keeping journey, lots of my plants died, either from a lack of water, humidity, or fertilizer. And to be honest, sometimes they still do. I don’t have a green thumb, and I’m frankly just lazy. I don’t stick to watering or fertilizing routines, and sometimes I just forget about a plant. At first, it was super frustrating to keep losing them, but one day, by chance, I discovered a plant that I could keep reviving.

I had this big Alocasia Polly in a large pot. It had beautiful leaves, but as it happens, I postponed watering one too many times and almost all the leaves died off. Out of frustration, I started digging around to find any leftover stems or leaves that might still be healthy enough to repot. That’s when I discovered something incredible about the Alocasia genus. They grow from rhizomes, which are thick, bulb-like stems that store nutrients and energy. They kind of work like tulip bulbs. When conditions get bad, they can lose all their leaves and still survive underground, waiting for the right time to grow again.

That was a revelation for me. This ability to die back and come back to life, paired with their beautiful leaf shapes and variety, made me fall in love with them. Despite their reputation as high-maintenance and unforgiving, I honestly think they’re great for beginners or for people like me who regularly kill their plants.

Personally, I prefer non-variegated Alocasias with interesting leaf shapes. Think Alocasia Teletubbies, Rudus, Loco, Venom, and others like that. Unfortunately, the market for rare Alocasias in Switzerland is really small. You can find lots of variegated plants and the usual types, maybe the occasional rare one, but most of the Alocasias I’ve wanted, especially those native to Indonesia, the Philippines, or other parts of Southeast Asia, are nearly impossible to get here.

That’s why I decided to change that and bring some of these rarer cultivars to Switzerland. That’s how The Alo Greenhouse started, out of curiosity, frustration, and a lot of trial and error. My goal is to make it easier for other plant lovers here to find and grow Alocasias that are normally out of reach.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I love talking about plants, and if you’re in the area, I might even drop by to take a look at your Alocasias. c: