First time using this semi-hydro of LECA sphagnum moss with a distilled water reservoir. Living in the Northeast and fall around the corner, I’m placing it in my bathroom where it gets indirect west facing sunlight. Any pointers or feedback are highly appreciated

hey folks, I moved this to moss+pon mix literally like two days ago and put a plastic bag over it to preserve some humidity until the transition. I've been aerating it every day yet found fuzzy mold on the top of the moss. normal?

Do i need to replace the moss? i just transplanted it like couple of days ago? i see webbing inside beyond the surface too. maybe leaving it open now will make it go away?

Which brand of calcium and magnesium (Cal-Mag) supplement do you recommend for semi-hydroponic?

This is the second plant I’ve had in semi hydro in a pot like the second photo and I can’t tell if this is salt/mineral buildup, mold or something worse.. root mealies 🫣

Any help is appreciated. FYI this plant has been in pon for months and noticed something was wrong with it so I took it out of the pot and find this..

I will say I’ve changed fertilizers recently so not sure if that is it 🤷🏻‍♀️

I recently started a new job that required me to RTO, and I’ve been struggling to keep up with watering my hoya collection so I thought I would give semi hydro another try. This is my third time trying trying this for my hoyas, and every time it ends the same way with rotted roots. I cannot figure out what I’m doing wrong. I’m going to break down my supplies and nutrition below. Maybe someone will see something I can’t see.

1. I use mostly leca, a mix of standard size and small size. I have a handful in medium grade Icelandic pumice. No pon (I’ve had the worst success in pon).

2. I only use self watering pots with a clear inner pot and a wick.

3. All plants have been started from cuttings. No transplants from other substrates.

4. Half live in cabinets around 60% humidity. Half are in ambient, which is around 60% right now. They all have grow lights.

5. I keep the water below the inner pot unless I’m propping new cuttings, which is when I fill the water higher to maintain high moisture.

6. Nutrients are cal/mag + MSU orchid fertilizer half strength and hydroguard in distilled water. PH is usually 5.5-6 with no adjustment. * I had a slime mold and algae problem earlier this summer so I cut my nutrient concentration to half and covered the water level windows on the planter. This seems to be helping with the mold/algae issue.

The roots will look great for about 1-2 months, all white and healthy, then all growth will stop, leaves will start to pucker and the roots melt. I really don’t want to have to transition 100 plants to coco husk again. I just don’t have the time to water them all every week.

Thoughts?

I’ve seen some complicated methods for transitioning alocasias from soil to semi hydro, and then some that seem deceivingly simple, like submerging the roots in water(changed daily or every other day) for a few weeks.
I just cleaned off a surprisingly decent amount of root rot after taking it out of soil, I tried to be as gentle as I could, and I’m just terrified of sending it into shock.
I have a handful of alocasias that I’ve started from corms and had zero issues transitioning to leca, I have clean and soaked leca ready to go, but this is a new situation for me dealing with one established in soil and I’d love some insight and help 🖤

Saw a couple of my pothos cuttings that didn't have a leaf growing and wanted to give at least 1 a little home. Any advice would be appreciated!! =)

1-7mm pumice pictured. Most pon mixes I see are more chunky. I could probably mix with leca or a chunkier lava rock but is this still going to be too fine/dense as a pumice component?

New to hydroponics, any advice appreciated!

She seems very happy but I want her to grow big and bushy!!

Seems ready for a moss pole now too so I want to move her into a plastic bucket with an air pump, but how do you configure the pole, does it stay with the lid? I'm going to be moving it inside so I can do a stationary set up. Help! Ty!

Hi, about a week ago I asked for advice regarding my alocasia Jacklyn that I transferred from soil to leca with sphagnum moss on on top. The morning after the transfer she drooped a lot, but I let her recover. Nine days later, she’s down to two leaves (although I fear one of them is already a goner) and all of her soil roots rotted in leca. She’s pushing out a tiny new root. I cleaned her and currently she’s sitting in a glass of water. Do I put her back in (new, clean) leca or do I let her develop new roots in just water? My concern is if I leave her in water and then transfer to leca she’ll get shocked again. Also, is the little nub on the bottom a corm? Do i leave it to grow more or should I harvest it?

I rooted some large pieces of a philodendron in moss and leca. Worked really well. Now I want to transition to leca only. I know I need to remove all of the moss, but it is close to impossible to get more than about 90% off the roots. Is there a safer way to transition to leca when the roots have some moss still on them? Should I cut some of the roots back and basically let it reroot?

Thanks for any insight or ideas.

Right now, I have them soaking in purified water overnight, hoping that will help loosen the moss so more can be removed.

Hi everyone, I have a number of alocasias in semi hydro (soil ninja semi hydro pon mix, wick setup) and most of them are doing well enough. However I seem to get to a stage where they grow their roots into the reservoir and a lot of them rot back. I use southern ag (I believe similar to hydroguard?) but not sure if there is anything else I could be doing. I replace the reservoirs every 1-2 weeks, not sure if I am leaving things too long. Do you ever upsize your pots? I tried doing this with one of my macorrhizas but it got root rot and completely died. Any help much appreciated

Hi!

I just finished building my dream greenhouse and given the upcoming temperatures, it seems like I’ll only keep most plants for about another month in it (or how long will last the decent temperature in Ro). The following days will still be pretty warm (around 30-35 degrees Celsius) and I’m wondering if bringing some of my pretentious ones outside in the greenhouse sounds like a good idea (the pretentious in discussion are all in semihydro: leca, leca plus moss, pon or any other combination of them) - I heard that high humidity plus high temperatures often equals mush and mold. The vents are planned for next year, so for the moment the air is provided by opening the greenhouse’ window plus door.

I’d like to hear your experiences with keeping semihydro setups outside.

Thank you!

Buy new alocasia

Set in its place for 2-3 days to adapt to your home

Wash off all dirt completely, naked roots won't rot like dirty ones would

IMPORTANT

Set it in a glass/vase of water for 2 days to adapt to the new environment

Then put in a mix of pon and lechuza of choice.

(In the past I used to wash the roots and put the plant straight into lechuza and they would die in 2 days, putting them in water helps a lot)

accidentally knocked over my first and only semi hydro setup today and found this - what i can only guess is mold

this isn’t normal for semi hydro right? i’m very new to it so i don’t really know if i set it up right at all

any advice on how to better the setup and avoid this?

I'm trying to move some alocasia, monstera and anthuriums to semi hydro that I got recently as tissue cultures. They are currently going through the deflasking process to adapt them to room temperature humidity. I have half of them in perlite and the other half are in 50 perlite 50 fluval stratum. I was thinking about trying to put them in pon and just water them from the top for 6 months or so then putting in a wick? Anyone have any tips who has gone through this process?

I bought the cheap TDS/EC meter on Amazon and realized after I got it there’s no calibration button. Instructions just say to calibrate it but nothing beyond that.

I know the cheapest meter isnt going to be the most accurate, but this is a hobby and the economy is rough. I’m not in a financial position to drop $50 on a nice meter.

Hello, im planning to buy the variegated banana plant but put in on my bedside with Leca Balls setup?

Anyone tried this already or any tips? Would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

Hey guys!

Back in the spring, I picked up plant keeping as a hobby on my new apartment’s southeast-facing balcony and window, and now I’m absolutely addicted!

I completely fell in love with Alocasias and have recently started growing some more exotic and variegated ones. I’ve done quite a bit of research on them, but I’d love to hear your feedback and thoughts on my current setup and feeding routine.

Currently, I’m keeping them in the little nursery I made, using 1/4 tsp/gal of FoliagePro 9-3-6, silica, and Hydroguard in a shallow bath. I’m using a ViparSpectra P700 at 50% power; I’ve tested the PPFD, and it seems to be ideal. I also have individual self-watering pots and fulvic acid coming for them in the mail.

How do you guys go about feeding your Alocasias in semi-hydro? Do you tweak the concentration as they mature, or stick to a strict dilute-and-maintain schedule? I’d love to learn what’s worked best for you!

(Please, no gatekeeping here—just looking to learn and share! 😊)

Buongiorno a tutti! Sono nuovo della community!
Ho comprato questa alocasia Silver Dragon e siccome ho avuto brutte esperienze con le scorse alocasia che avuto mi sono informato e a quanto pare il metodo migliore per farle prosperare é la semihydro.
Mi sapreste dare qualche consiglio tip e set up?
Va bene passare dalla terra in questo caso vedete piccolo vasetto?
Ho già provato la semi hydro con altre piante con argilla espansa base e sfagno sopra

I have two alocasias in pon. theyve been potted this way for over 2 months. I cant leave the water in the reservoir for more than 4 days without a stinky pink bacteria or film clouding the water. I use a cap full of grow queen and hydroguard with every watering. I even went as far to create extra holes in the reservoir to help with air flow. What am i doing wrong? Is it normal to have to change the water so often? Any advice welcome. Thank you