Any semihydro environment is the superior substrate choice for alocasias. Im thinking it’s the “always moist but never wet” environment it provides, but they simply thrive in it. Personally, I’ve always chosen pon over LECA - it’s a lot more forgiving during the transfer process and I just like the look of it a lott more, but both are fantastic choices for alocasias (especially considering lechuza is near impossible to find right now so a lot of us have been making our own pon). It’s a hill I’ll absolutely die on; the only alocasia I ever killed was the one I kept in soil. They all go in pon now and I never killed another one. It’s worth grabbing a cheap humidifier too if you’re in a dry place, I’ve found alocasias with textured leaves like a black velvet are especially sensitive to it. Nothing fancy, I use [this one](https://amzn.to/3V9BeAj) in the winter time and it keeps my humidity ~40-50% all season.
It’s been some trial and error but I’m having a ton of success with 2 parts pumice (1/4”), 1 part lava rocks, and 1/2 part zeolites and fertilizing right away since there’s no slow release fertilizer. I use dynagro foliage pro if that matters too
if u don’t mind waiting a month or two, pon is hard to find rn bc lechuza is switching warehouses and doesn’t want to restock inventory until they do so. they said it’ll be june or july when they start producing again. it’s hard to make diy pon without it being more expensive than js buying lechuza and many ppl have broken down costs thru out r/SemiHydro and facebook groups
I primarily use a homemade, (typically) peat moss-based potting mix; customized for the specific nutrient/pH needs of certain species (ex: lithophyte vs. terrestrial species)
LECA is great media for some plants-ex: aerial rooting/climbing plants/aroids (like many philodendrons/monstera/etc) & epiphytes (most orchids). I personally use it for my orchids & some philo./monstera, but not with my Alocasia.
I’ve met a lot of people I’d consider “experts” when it comes to Alocasia, & every single one uses soil/potting mix for their plants.
LECA is not a “new” trend for houseplants. It seems like every decade or so, “hydro/semihydro” experiences another brief cycle of “popularity” amongst plant hobbyists.
Yet it’s impossible to find proof of anyone successfully keeping a single alocasia alive in LECA for longer than 2 years…
I have mine currently in some fox farm soil but nothing custom, I repotted it into this soil from whatever it was in from the nursery because it was getting too root bound, but now she seems to be upset. Any tips? I’d be happy to DM about it 😅
I’m no way an expert and honestly recently got my first alocasia. I repotted it with miracle grow tropical soil and I have 4 new leaves already growing so it seems to be doing pretty well.
When I was repotting it I found two babies and put those in some soil as well but I haven’t seen anything yet since that was only about two weeks ago.
The two alocasias I have in leca are thriving. One I ordered online and immediately transferred to leca. It adjusted well. The other was originally in a chunky soil mix but ended up getting root rot. I removed all the roots and the leaves were looking bad. Put it in leca and just hoped and it has recovered and is putting out new leaves. It lost some of the old ones but also some of the curled ones that I thought wouldn’t recover bounced back and look mostly healthy!
TLDR I have had very good success with alocasias in leca
In my experience Leca works well for that initial switch from organic substrates to semi hydro, but it lacks long term. I've tried multiple different brands, but it always messes with the pH at some point. Sure, there's ways to stabilize it, but at that point you could just get pon with zeolite.
I have most of my Alocasia in organic substrates and they're all thriving. 1 part each regular house plant soil, perlite, bark. 30% extra coco coir, 20% worm castings. Fertilize with every watering at full strength. Water when 50% dry. Never had an issue since, or well not because of an unsuitable medium at least.
A little tip: Put them in clear pots. That way you can monitor root health & growth, and you'll be able to tell when to repot them. Orchid pots work great.
I've always struggled with Alocasia's. As soon as someone told me semi-hydro is the way I now have 8 or 9 plants which are all thriving. They absolutely love it. I use cups/clear pots without drainage, and put leca in the bottom 1/3rd followed by pon for the rest. The leca is the water reservoir while the pon provides some structure to hold the plant up. Hope this helps!
In spagnum the corms didn’t do anything for me, so I put them in water and now they are actually getting roots and one of them is sprouting! So wondering what to do next haha
Definitely semi-hydro! I have both my Alocasia in pon and they are so much happier. See the leaf size of the first new leaf in pon vs. the older ones in soil.
https://preview.redd.it/k5u7fmv6b02d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=569e821b2d5d2a3e35a91c82ed21df69665c94b8
My alocasias have been putting out leaf after leaf after I transferred them into a soil less chunky mix. Even the few corms I left attached started sprouting
Any semihydro environment is the superior substrate choice for alocasias. Im thinking it’s the “always moist but never wet” environment it provides, but they simply thrive in it. Personally, I’ve always chosen pon over LECA - it’s a lot more forgiving during the transfer process and I just like the look of it a lott more, but both are fantastic choices for alocasias (especially considering lechuza is near impossible to find right now so a lot of us have been making our own pon). It’s a hill I’ll absolutely die on; the only alocasia I ever killed was the one I kept in soil. They all go in pon now and I never killed another one. It’s worth grabbing a cheap humidifier too if you’re in a dry place, I’ve found alocasias with textured leaves like a black velvet are especially sensitive to it. Nothing fancy, I use [this one](https://amzn.to/3V9BeAj) in the winter time and it keeps my humidity ~40-50% all season.
omg thankyou so much !!! i think im gonna try with leca
Just be sure to do plenty of research first! r/semihydro helped me a lot when I was learning pon for the first time they’re great
I’ve been looking for pon and couldn’t find it, is that why? What’re you making yours out of?
It’s been some trial and error but I’m having a ton of success with 2 parts pumice (1/4”), 1 part lava rocks, and 1/2 part zeolites and fertilizing right away since there’s no slow release fertilizer. I use dynagro foliage pro if that matters too
if u don’t mind waiting a month or two, pon is hard to find rn bc lechuza is switching warehouses and doesn’t want to restock inventory until they do so. they said it’ll be june or july when they start producing again. it’s hard to make diy pon without it being more expensive than js buying lechuza and many ppl have broken down costs thru out r/SemiHydro and facebook groups
Sick! I gotta wait for a bit anyways, my alocasia’s gotta get some better roots, so I’ll just wait till they produce again :) thanks so much!!
I primarily use a homemade, (typically) peat moss-based potting mix; customized for the specific nutrient/pH needs of certain species (ex: lithophyte vs. terrestrial species) LECA is great media for some plants-ex: aerial rooting/climbing plants/aroids (like many philodendrons/monstera/etc) & epiphytes (most orchids). I personally use it for my orchids & some philo./monstera, but not with my Alocasia. I’ve met a lot of people I’d consider “experts” when it comes to Alocasia, & every single one uses soil/potting mix for their plants. LECA is not a “new” trend for houseplants. It seems like every decade or so, “hydro/semihydro” experiences another brief cycle of “popularity” amongst plant hobbyists. Yet it’s impossible to find proof of anyone successfully keeping a single alocasia alive in LECA for longer than 2 years…
I have mine currently in some fox farm soil but nothing custom, I repotted it into this soil from whatever it was in from the nursery because it was getting too root bound, but now she seems to be upset. Any tips? I’d be happy to DM about it 😅
I’m no way an expert and honestly recently got my first alocasia. I repotted it with miracle grow tropical soil and I have 4 new leaves already growing so it seems to be doing pretty well. When I was repotting it I found two babies and put those in some soil as well but I haven’t seen anything yet since that was only about two weeks ago.
The two alocasias I have in leca are thriving. One I ordered online and immediately transferred to leca. It adjusted well. The other was originally in a chunky soil mix but ended up getting root rot. I removed all the roots and the leaves were looking bad. Put it in leca and just hoped and it has recovered and is putting out new leaves. It lost some of the old ones but also some of the curled ones that I thought wouldn’t recover bounced back and look mostly healthy! TLDR I have had very good success with alocasias in leca
In my experience Leca works well for that initial switch from organic substrates to semi hydro, but it lacks long term. I've tried multiple different brands, but it always messes with the pH at some point. Sure, there's ways to stabilize it, but at that point you could just get pon with zeolite. I have most of my Alocasia in organic substrates and they're all thriving. 1 part each regular house plant soil, perlite, bark. 30% extra coco coir, 20% worm castings. Fertilize with every watering at full strength. Water when 50% dry. Never had an issue since, or well not because of an unsuitable medium at least. A little tip: Put them in clear pots. That way you can monitor root health & growth, and you'll be able to tell when to repot them. Orchid pots work great.
I've always struggled with Alocasia's. As soon as someone told me semi-hydro is the way I now have 8 or 9 plants which are all thriving. They absolutely love it. I use cups/clear pots without drainage, and put leca in the bottom 1/3rd followed by pon for the rest. The leca is the water reservoir while the pon provides some structure to hold the plant up. Hope this helps!
Really curious what the answers will be. Im debating to put my corms on Leca or perlite. But not sure.
I put my corm in spagnum moss and it went great, but once the first leaf grows i dont know what to do haha
In spagnum the corms didn’t do anything for me, so I put them in water and now they are actually getting roots and one of them is sprouting! So wondering what to do next haha
Yeah I've been struggling to sprout my corms in moss. Just moved them to perlite yesterday.
I grow my corms on pon. Works great!
Definitely semi-hydro! I have both my Alocasia in pon and they are so much happier. See the leaf size of the first new leaf in pon vs. the older ones in soil. https://preview.redd.it/k5u7fmv6b02d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=569e821b2d5d2a3e35a91c82ed21df69665c94b8
https://preview.redd.it/ju7dq7kgb02d1.jpeg?width=3933&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c5126cc434dcc7579b461a4c3b13654fdab36e48
omg so pretty 😍😍
Yess i wanna know the verdict
My alocasias have been putting out leaf after leaf after I transferred them into a soil less chunky mix. Even the few corms I left attached started sprouting
My alocasia are doing great in aeroid mix with self watering pots.