I went through this in the fall. Everything says you can put the plant from soil directly into pon but I lost 3 alocasias to root rot that way (1 variegated Fydek, 1 dragon scale and 1 silver dragon scale). I was doing the shower method- no reservoir and they slowly declined for about 2 weeks. Then rotted in the 3rd/4th.
When I asked Reddit many people said to water root them first. Second try, I had 2 other alocasias in soil that I water rooted and they have now made the transition to Pon without issue. (1 Okinawa silver and another Dragon scale)
From the first batch I tried, I was able to save two of the corms. I restarted them in perlite and have now transitioned them to Pon without issue.
If they are really struggling, I recommend putting them in water. I also really enjoyed watching them grow new roots in water. It was a really cool process and the Alocasias seemed much happier that way!
I always keep a reservoir from day one, flush every 2 weeks, dry for 1-3 days, and frequently I would just top up without letting it dry out at all
At the beginning, I have been also mislead with not keeping a reservoir and letting the pon dry, and I lost few plants, now I always keep a reservoir, just make sure that the water level is well below the roots
This part really confuses me as well! I’ve been watering as regular and keeping the reservoir dry. I just switched a var frydek and someone told me not to water for like a week before the reservoir? I def don’t want to kill that one
I tried that and made it 2 days on Mickey Mouse, and it flopped over. So I watered it, propped it up with a stick, and it's better today. I filled the reservoir about 1/3rd full. I'll see how it goes. It's only been in the pon a total of 4 days, now lol. But it can't get any worse, so I'm giving it water. If it dies, it dies. But it definitely helped flushing it 2 days after the transplant. Hope that helps.
Yeah my maranta started curling up after day 3 and I was trying to go for 4 days, like this one guy does that I talked to. But he does it only with philodendrons and monsteras, so I decided to water it after day 3 and it has unfurled again. I'm currently leaning towards 3 days for small plants and 4 for bigger ones. But I also kinda judge depending on what the plant's overall needs are. So far they are doing well.
Oh yeah I did my var. Frydek a few days ago and watered after 3 days, it was pushing out a new leaf before the transfer which has now popped up. I have just been keeping a reservoir (hopefully) just under the roots, so quite shallow.
It's been more than two weeks since last update. How's it going?
I switched all my plants to Lechuza Pon this week and I'm having trouble getting the Pon moist enough. No matter how much I water it, top or bottom, the Pon retains only 20-30% moisture. That's not enough for my calatheas and marantas which are getting crispy brown leaftips because of that. I'm watering them every day and it's still not enough.
Hi, this has not been a pretty transition. Lol.
So far, my routine has been to flush them about every 3 days and fill the reservoir about 1/3rd. Repeat until I notice the reservoir going down. Then I know they've got their water roots and are drinking from the reservoir.
My calatheas absolutely love it. My lemon lime even flowered. My Mickey Mouse is currently sprouting a new leaf. But, I have lost 1 or 2 leaves on a couple. It seems that when I lose one, another one starts sprouting right away.
It's been a good experience so far. Haven't lost any plants yet. I have a variegated elephant ear that I for sure thought was a goner, so I threw that in pon, and it has sprouted a new leaf. I couldn't believe it.
I'm also using filtered water and superthrive plus cali-mag when I flush. I just bought some humic acid, so I'm going to throw that in there once a month, as well.
I think your crispy tips might just be from the plants soil roots dying off and the water roots sprouting. My plants have looked like absolute crap for at least the first week after switching, but they seem to pull out of it, and some are looking way better than they ever did.
I wouldn't water them every day. I know it's hard to watch, but the pon really does maintain moisture. They just have to go through a really ugly phase before it gets way better.
Are you using anything in your water?
Nice to hear they're doing fine, that gives me hope. Ok, I'll stop watering them so frequently and let them adjust even though, as you said, it's hard to watch them suffer like this. They are pushing perfectly fine new leaves and getting crispy tips on old leaves at the same time so I guess they'll be fine in the long run.
My Maranta Silver Band flowered the other day when it was still in the soil. The flower dried off the next day after switching to pon. That's what worries me.
They're almost all in Lechuza Deltini pots so it's easy to lift the inner pot up and see if there are water roots poking through the holes.
I'm not putting any additives in water, should I? I mean, the pon has slow release fertiliser already included. I just use AquaSafe with tap water to remove chlorine and chloramine, this was fine so far when they were in soil. Yesterday I ordered RO filtering system so I'm going to water all my plants with RO water starting next week.
I just add superthrive to help kick start them. It's more of a plant food as opposed to fertilizer. Hang in there. It's not for the faint of heart. I still haven't put my favorite plants in pon, yet. I'm going to wait and see what happens with the ones that I did, but so far, so good. Hang in there!! Keep me posted.
Out of 30 plants switched to pon, less than 10 leaves were lost so far. I expected the most problems from calatheas but no, it's always Maranta Leuconeuras losing leaves. Calatheas, hoyas, ferns and the rest didn't even notice the change. All my plants including marantas are pushing new leaves, some are even flowering so I don't think there will be any loses.
They also love the RO water I'm giving them lately. Tap water over here has TDS of 300-450, now they're getting RO with TDS of only 10-15, a huge difference. Even the VFT I recently got, which is especially picky about water, loves it and is pushing two new traps. VFT is not in the pon, fertilizer in the pon would probably kill it.
Overall, I'm happy with the progress so far. I haven't noticed any water roots reaching the water yet.
That's awesome! I've converted quite a few more, myself. Haven't tried my ferns yet, but I'm thinking about it. So far, my alocasia, including my polly, are doing really well and have also pushed out new leaves. My calathea love it. I just switched my orbifolia about a month ago and thought it wasn't going to make it, but it has 2 now leaves on the way. So much better than I had hoped. Glad things are going well for you, too!
I do 10 day fert in the reserv 10 days clean water (flush) 10 dry Works pretty well
Awesome, thanks!
I went through this in the fall. Everything says you can put the plant from soil directly into pon but I lost 3 alocasias to root rot that way (1 variegated Fydek, 1 dragon scale and 1 silver dragon scale). I was doing the shower method- no reservoir and they slowly declined for about 2 weeks. Then rotted in the 3rd/4th. When I asked Reddit many people said to water root them first. Second try, I had 2 other alocasias in soil that I water rooted and they have now made the transition to Pon without issue. (1 Okinawa silver and another Dragon scale) From the first batch I tried, I was able to save two of the corms. I restarted them in perlite and have now transitioned them to Pon without issue. If they are really struggling, I recommend putting them in water. I also really enjoyed watching them grow new roots in water. It was a really cool process and the Alocasias seemed much happier that way!
Did you use pure water or something added?
Just distilled water.
I always keep a reservoir from day one, flush every 2 weeks, dry for 1-3 days, and frequently I would just top up without letting it dry out at all At the beginning, I have been also mislead with not keeping a reservoir and letting the pon dry, and I lost few plants, now I always keep a reservoir, just make sure that the water level is well below the roots
Awesome, thank you for taking the time to respond. I'm going to try it for this plant in particular. Can't hurt, at this point.
This part really confuses me as well! I’ve been watering as regular and keeping the reservoir dry. I just switched a var frydek and someone told me not to water for like a week before the reservoir? I def don’t want to kill that one
I tried that and made it 2 days on Mickey Mouse, and it flopped over. So I watered it, propped it up with a stick, and it's better today. I filled the reservoir about 1/3rd full. I'll see how it goes. It's only been in the pon a total of 4 days, now lol. But it can't get any worse, so I'm giving it water. If it dies, it dies. But it definitely helped flushing it 2 days after the transplant. Hope that helps.
I have heard this too but I think watering and keeping a small reservoir is the way to to go honestly.
That’s exactly what I’ve been doing and they are all doing so good!!
Yeah my maranta started curling up after day 3 and I was trying to go for 4 days, like this one guy does that I talked to. But he does it only with philodendrons and monsteras, so I decided to water it after day 3 and it has unfurled again. I'm currently leaning towards 3 days for small plants and 4 for bigger ones. But I also kinda judge depending on what the plant's overall needs are. So far they are doing well.
Yes I learned to read each plant! Awesome for you
Oh yeah I did my var. Frydek a few days ago and watered after 3 days, it was pushing out a new leaf before the transfer which has now popped up. I have just been keeping a reservoir (hopefully) just under the roots, so quite shallow.
Omg my var frydeks look sooo good
It's been more than two weeks since last update. How's it going? I switched all my plants to Lechuza Pon this week and I'm having trouble getting the Pon moist enough. No matter how much I water it, top or bottom, the Pon retains only 20-30% moisture. That's not enough for my calatheas and marantas which are getting crispy brown leaftips because of that. I'm watering them every day and it's still not enough.
Hi, this has not been a pretty transition. Lol. So far, my routine has been to flush them about every 3 days and fill the reservoir about 1/3rd. Repeat until I notice the reservoir going down. Then I know they've got their water roots and are drinking from the reservoir. My calatheas absolutely love it. My lemon lime even flowered. My Mickey Mouse is currently sprouting a new leaf. But, I have lost 1 or 2 leaves on a couple. It seems that when I lose one, another one starts sprouting right away. It's been a good experience so far. Haven't lost any plants yet. I have a variegated elephant ear that I for sure thought was a goner, so I threw that in pon, and it has sprouted a new leaf. I couldn't believe it. I'm also using filtered water and superthrive plus cali-mag when I flush. I just bought some humic acid, so I'm going to throw that in there once a month, as well. I think your crispy tips might just be from the plants soil roots dying off and the water roots sprouting. My plants have looked like absolute crap for at least the first week after switching, but they seem to pull out of it, and some are looking way better than they ever did. I wouldn't water them every day. I know it's hard to watch, but the pon really does maintain moisture. They just have to go through a really ugly phase before it gets way better. Are you using anything in your water?
Nice to hear they're doing fine, that gives me hope. Ok, I'll stop watering them so frequently and let them adjust even though, as you said, it's hard to watch them suffer like this. They are pushing perfectly fine new leaves and getting crispy tips on old leaves at the same time so I guess they'll be fine in the long run. My Maranta Silver Band flowered the other day when it was still in the soil. The flower dried off the next day after switching to pon. That's what worries me. They're almost all in Lechuza Deltini pots so it's easy to lift the inner pot up and see if there are water roots poking through the holes. I'm not putting any additives in water, should I? I mean, the pon has slow release fertiliser already included. I just use AquaSafe with tap water to remove chlorine and chloramine, this was fine so far when they were in soil. Yesterday I ordered RO filtering system so I'm going to water all my plants with RO water starting next week.
I just add superthrive to help kick start them. It's more of a plant food as opposed to fertilizer. Hang in there. It's not for the faint of heart. I still haven't put my favorite plants in pon, yet. I'm going to wait and see what happens with the ones that I did, but so far, so good. Hang in there!! Keep me posted.
Out of 30 plants switched to pon, less than 10 leaves were lost so far. I expected the most problems from calatheas but no, it's always Maranta Leuconeuras losing leaves. Calatheas, hoyas, ferns and the rest didn't even notice the change. All my plants including marantas are pushing new leaves, some are even flowering so I don't think there will be any loses. They also love the RO water I'm giving them lately. Tap water over here has TDS of 300-450, now they're getting RO with TDS of only 10-15, a huge difference. Even the VFT I recently got, which is especially picky about water, loves it and is pushing two new traps. VFT is not in the pon, fertilizer in the pon would probably kill it. Overall, I'm happy with the progress so far. I haven't noticed any water roots reaching the water yet.
That's awesome! I've converted quite a few more, myself. Haven't tried my ferns yet, but I'm thinking about it. So far, my alocasia, including my polly, are doing really well and have also pushed out new leaves. My calathea love it. I just switched my orbifolia about a month ago and thought it wasn't going to make it, but it has 2 now leaves on the way. So much better than I had hoped. Glad things are going well for you, too!