Moving More Alocasia Over to Lechuza Pon | Water Prepping Soil Transfers 🪴

[@katiewilliams9273]

Heart shaped leaves, another you tuber, had a great way to get rid of spider mites. She combines alcohol, neem oil,and dish shop, i use Dr bronners. I have used this for years and it works great. I only have to do it once and they are gone for good. Use a old makeup brush with it and get every leaf, top and bottom ,stem and anything else connected to the plant. Its a life saver

[@dora9368]

I use alcohol, peroxide, Dr. Woods Peppermint Castile soap, and Dr. Woods Tea Tree Castile soap and it works great. Dr Woods is much thicker than Dr. Bronners so it acts as the oil I guess. I found this on the Liqui-Dirt website...they did a KZbin video on it.😊

[@safuwanfauzi5014]

alcohol+neem oil is very good combination, my colocasia always attacked by spider mite, i hate that red bug. and they also love big caladium like my hilo and red beret.a

[@kathleenhall3868]

Yay ... answer to a maiden's prayers! Top of my To Do list this week = Alos to Pon. Lots of YT videos show the process as part of the day's plant care but having this is perfect, esp knowing how successful you've been, Melissa. Thanx a bunch!

[@plantsbymelissa]

Of course! Good luck with your transitions! I'll be filming another one soonish!

[@aloplantcasia]

I love Alocasia videos the most. I recently bought an Alocasia Dragon Scale and I'm rooting it in water before I transfer into Pon. Thanks for the advice!

[@planttherapy1860]

I love that cute glass container you put the corms in.

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you! They are so cute! 🥰 I got a new set of 3 off amazon I can link them if you are interested! www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZSQHMTD?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzmeli0992-20&creativeASIN=B09ZSQHMTD&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.1OODWALE01UEU&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_asin&th=1

[@mayraramirez.]

Hellloo💖💖 was waiting for you to upload 💖💖😊 ! Love watching! First again lol !

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you!! haha I appreciate you for watching right away! 🥰💗

[@ThatGirlShelbyy]

I didn’t get the notification for this video 😭😭 I just saw your story and came over to watch!

[@plantsbymelissa]

oh no :( I feel like KZbin is weird lately! It took me 5 tries to try and upload a video today 😭

[@richardr5878]

Great tip with the water transition. I’ve been debating a Pon move. Doing good in soil but some could probably do better. Have to Ponder my media change a bit more. 😂

[@plantsbymelissa]

haha do ittt lol. I am so happy with it so far and I had no idea what I was doing initially. Still just sorta winging it lol but it's been such a nice change and the plants I have in it so far seem to be doing really well minus the heterophylla which was a soil transfer.

[@kimberleyfriesenhahn2515]

This is a fantastic video! I have a lauterbachiana that keeps trying to die on me. I just ordered pon and self watering pots. Here's hoping she will be happy with the new setup. ❤

[@tracyquartermansellsGAandSC]

I always look forward to your uploads!

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you so much!! I appreciate you! 🥰

[@Horsewoman-pt2ku]

I found just spraying w water is not enough to rid of spider mites and flat mites so after water spray I spray with alcohol/water and that has been working best for me over any other pest spray

[@sylviagutierrez7676]

Another chill video,your Alocasias are lovely, all so cute ...spider mites ? Noo go away....😅 💚🌱🌵☘️💚

[@plantsbymelissa]

They’re so evil lol

[@regi985]

I also don´t pre rinse my lechuza pon, I just top water into the reservoir and after doing that a few times I rinse the reservoir and all the sediment and I repeat cleaning the reservoir when ever I notice it´s dirty, probably not as often as I should but my plant´s don´t mind and grow roots into the reservoir like grazy. I sometimes just dump it into one of my big pots with soil when I water them anyway :D I ordered stratum after seeing you and a few other yourtubers using it, so far I´m not a big fan as the little pepples are way smaller than I thought. It feels like it´s already 50% mush, not sure if I got a bag that was handled too ruff or if that´s normal. I mixed in a little bit of perlite, that was a tip of a riend that said it helps give the stratum some structure as it breaks down. I´m very curious to see how the corms do I put in it, it´s only been 2 weeks now.

[@lilqueeniescraftingismypassion]

Great vid, I am not sure what is best and with so many other YT channel its confusion 😂, what is the biggest issues with pon or super chucky mix, what plants prefer pon and which ones prefer chunky? Do you already have a vid on this? If so pls share

[@snarkyseverus]

Thanks for taking time to making these vidoes. I really look to your videos for learning. For the water in the self watering pots with PON - do you just use your regular watering mix or do you do something extra or special?

[@dora9368]

They do all look cute together 😊 I like 💕

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you! Baby alocasia plants are so cute!

[@lisaanglim9588]

You’re going to mix the dragons ale plants with the cuprea plants in the same pot?

[@plantsbymelissa]

Sorry I must not have been that clear. I will do all the cupreas in a pot together and the dragon scales in a pot together. I have multiples of each so will just combine them but keep the plant species separate.

[@amylokers4942]

So do you reuse your stratum even if the plant that was planted in it had spider mites? How do you clean it?

[@dora9368]

That's my question too, and what if the plant you used the stratum with had a fungus or something, is there a way to reuse it, and how? 😊

[@plantsbymelissa]

I actually didn't think about that :/ Hopefully no more pop up then 😂 I've always try to salvage and reuse what stratum I can and have't had any issues before!

[@carolgraham7691]

When moving from soil to pon, do you need to root in stratum as intermediate step, or is that just coincidental? Do you know if you need the zeolite for what reason? I have the two other components, already, the pumice and lava rock...I could get Ecotraction, but the😢y dye that stuff to green and wonder how good that is for plants...

[@plantsbymelissa]

you probably don't need the zeolite but it does act as a PH buffer so you'll want to be checking your PH and adjusting. I am starting to use water for ones that are in soil just so that I don't waste stratum but you could do either before transferring to pon!

[@florlynnmarcelo6824]

Hi Mellisa. Im also considering moving my alocasia to pon. Your video was really perfect timing for me. When you’re transitioning to pon, how long do you keep the plants in water before putting them into pon?

[@allthelittlerebornshansen5448]

Use bonded systemic granules no more spider mites its what I use

[@plantsbymelissa]

bonide is NOT effective against spider mites :) The imidacloprid can actually make them grow more rapidly

[@allthelittlerebornshansen5448]

@@plantsbymelissa I use it and I have no spider mites at all when spider mite bites the leaf it dies

[@louisejohnson3843]

Hi loving your videos on pon, I have looked for the self watering planters which you are using on your amazon page but I can’t see them, could you please provide a link? How is your Alocasia Frydek doing in pon now a month later?

[@seizedcarcass8440]

Could you just grow corms directly into pon? Like a propagation bin but using pon for the corms to get started growing in. Just a curious idea

[@shvnique]

If i wanted to transfer from soil to pon, do you suggest I put my plants in stratum first then pon? or can it go straight to pon? my calathea is giving me hell so I want to try pon before I give up on it.

[@stephaniecarlson5060]

Calatheas will also grow in just water. It's the same, just changing the roots from soil to water roots. You will need to add nutrients.

[@randarooplantmom]

Hey Mellisa! I was wondering if alocasia will grow corms in pon? Maybe someone else can tell me in the comments. Thank you 😊

[@plantsbymelissa]

Yes it will! Mine still grow a lot of corms. If the plants are more mature they will grow them better and some alocasias just produce more than others :)

[@MyLocsMyPlants]

💚💚💚

[@LkRn09]

Hey Melissa where are you getting your pon? I wanted to try it but Amazon is out of stock every time I check.

[@plantsbymelissa]

I stocked up last time they came back in stock so I have a few bags now :) I ended up signing up for email notifications on Lechuza's website. I got the 12L bag for $27.99

[@LkRn09]

@@plantsbymelissathank you! ❤ I Just got some!!!! Although it says it won’t be here until Dec 🥲

[@cerrenmccormack6218]

Pon scares me. I've transferred 2 plants to pon, and both have died.

[@plantsbymelissa]

oh no I'm so sorry that happened. Which substrate did they come from?

[@cerrenmccormack6218]

​@plantsbymelissa soil, but watching again, so can try again

[@mtsteinjr]

Can you go from soil to pon

[@plantsbymelissa]

Sure, but I prefer not to :)

[@mtsteinjr]

@@plantsbymelissa so what process would you use from soil to ? then to pon? thank you

[@thelioness3305]

I ordered mites to and they never hatched. I reordered and same thing.

[@plantsbymelissa]

I emailed the company and they said they could send a replacement. I never ordered the persimilis before so super bummed they didn't hatch. I ordered the californicus at the same time and they are exploding right now - about 11 days out from receiving. Sorry yours aren't hatching either! 😔

[@michelejones4282]

I Haye those buggers! This is off subject...but I remember you saying u reuse your Fluval. Do you just rinse it water or soak in vinegar or do anything before reusing? Ty!

[@plantsbymelissa]

I just reuse as is. It gets a little mushy over time and breaks down into a sludge like consistency but I don't try and sterilize it and it's been fine for me :)

[@Itsmeyoualreadykno]

Love your uploads! I just love the idea of Pon. I know we can mix it ourselves, but it stinks its been unavailable for so darn long. I have a hard time knowing how much to water or when 😂 i dont know why it freaks me out!

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you for watching! I signed up for email notifications on the Lechuza website so when it's in stock you can get some more quickly before it sells out again. I was nervous about the water amount at first and was super careful not to go over the max lol but now I don't care too much. As long as they don't sit dry and the roots dry up. I try to check the reservoirs when I water to keep an eye on them!

[@amylokers4942]

So I actually was able to get the lechuza pon by ordering it and I signed up to be on a schedule and get it delivered automatically every other month. It's weird even though it says out of stock I still have been getting it. Knock on wood!!! At first I couldn't get either.

[@Itsmeyoualreadykno]

@@amylokers4942 ohhhhh im going to try this! Did you order it on the actual site or like Amazon?

[@Itsmeyoualreadykno]

@@plantsbymelissa good idea!

[@carolstuff]

Good vid. Those spider mites are really attracted to Alocasias; they return even after treatment. Thanks for sharing Melissa!

[@kbm4409]

Melissa I am water prepping my regal shield from soil into water before I put it in leca. It has dropped two mature leaves but one has grown in but it's ultra small. Now I expected to lose leaves while the roots are doing their thing, but I'm changing the water every couple of days because the smell is 😶...the roots are super thick but their falling off faster then the new roots are growing in. I have 3 leaves now and one of the stems of a leaf is starting to feel soft....it's under a bright grow light but I'm worried she is trying to unalive herself. What would be some advice from your experience could you share that may give me a better chance of actually having a plant to move into leca..Help

[@snarkyseverus]

First of all - a big thanks for making all these videos. I have learned a lot from you. I was trying to move my alocasia plants to pon. I am new to Alocasia. I read somewhere that Alocasia likes airier substrate, so to mix oon with perlite. I was wondering if you had any thoughts or opinions about it

[@jenniferb4518]

I am following your lead and changing my 2 alocasia over to Pon, fingers crossed* Do you think by using Pon will decrease the spider mite issue? Thank you for the great videos!

[@plantsbymelissa]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching! I found some spider mites on one of my frydeks in pon so they'll still get them unfortunately :( I think they are mostly attracted to the foliage. I think it will be easier to get rid of them in pon though since there's no soil to lay eggs in.

[@Akimills_84]

💚🌱💚🌱💚

[@GenRN]

Planning to move my alocasias over to DIY Pon. Is this something I should wait to do if it goes into dormancy? I kinda feel like if it isn’t broken, why fix it. It’s a Polly and has like 13 leaves. It is so beautiful but lately began getting crispy points and idk if this is dormancy creeping in.

[@plantsbymelissa]

If it has 13 leaves and seems happy I probably wouldn't disturb it unless you feel confident moving them over. Changing substrates in a shock to the plant so there's always a chance of something happening. I've brought alocasias out of dormancy by keeping them in more ideal growing conditions like warmth, humidity and high light but if you feel a plant is going dormant then it may not transfer well or have the energy to maintain all the leaves so it will start aborting them.

[@GenRN]

@@plantsbymelissa yes, exactly my thoughts. It is just getting a few crispy tips and spots. It has definitely cooled down and part of me wants to just do it and if it dies back, it will be ok. Thank you so much for your input! I love your channel and have learned so much!

[@sianrenaud8800]

Thanks for this video Melissa 💚. I struggle so much with transferring to pon. I’m new to it but really want to get my Alocasia, Calathea and Maranta into it to help with inconsistent watering. I’ve started with only a few Alocasia and they just keep rotting. I’ve lost almost 20 corms I grew over the summer. Even transferring from stratum has caused rotting, which makes no sense to me as the substrate is so similar. I’d say they sit in less water than when in stratum. I’ve tried soil plants in cups of water before but they rot. I’ve also tried just watering the pon through like soil with no reservoir for both soil and stratum transfers. But as soon as I water they start to rot again. I’m so close to giving up. I live in the U.K. 🇬🇧 where it’s our autumn now, I don’t use grow lights or a cabinet so my space doesn’t dry quickly. Do you have any advise. I’ve lost so many corms and had to start over after amazing growth this past summer 😢 Would also love a follow up video on their progress 🌱

[@carolinebaines8735]

I’d strongly recommend purchasing some grow lights. My mentor figurative smacked me over the head recently. I’ve lost so many import plants this year. We were talking about tents and she told me to buy one. The (minor in the scheme of things) investment would save $100’s in plants. It worked. I’ve lost ONE $20 plant from this last import of 28 plants. The tent was $60… Buy some lights! 😜

[@plantsbymelissa]

I'm so sorry that's happening! If the plants aren't getting much light then they can't photosynthesize efficiently! Changing substrates is a big shock to the plant so light is really important to help them transition and grow. If you can't get them close to a window with good light I would definitely recommend getting some grow lights if you're investing time and money into growing plants 🫶

[@sianrenaud8800]

@@plantsbymelissa Thanks so much for the reply! I so appreciate it, I do have 5 Alocasia in a south facing window and all are yellowing after transfer. They are in clear pots and I can see some of the roots are rotting. I’m wondering if being near the window isn’t actually great as the glass is cold. It’s double glazed and they aren’t touching the glass but I’m sure just the coldness from the window doesn’t help…. But saying that 1 is about 12cm (5 inches) away from the window and I have baby Alocasia grown from corm in stratum also next to the window and they are fine. Also the ones I transferred from stratum to pon were in the same place and doing so well in stratum. I’m at such a loss & running out of options before I give up so I’ll try grow lights. Any other ideas happily welcomed 😢

[@kimberlylarkins8858]

Hey Melissa, I’m rather new to the houseplant world and absolutely love it. Do you ever use Leca? Just wondered about Pon vs Leca. I use stratum first (monstera albo cutting) and then moved her to self watering pot with Leca. Please help.

[@plantsbymelissa]

I don't use leca but it's similar to pon. Pon is still new to me so I'm trying to figure it all out as I go. Leca has no nutrients at all so you would need to use a hydroponic fertilizer. Lechuza brand of pon comes with 6 months of fertilizer then after that you would need to add nutrients.

[@kimberlylarkins8858]

@@plantsbymelissa I tried to buy the pon brand in your Amazon store but it’s out of stock and they don’t know when or if they will get more in. Do you know of another brand I can get?

[@GenRN]

Melissa, is there a way to store corms? Like dry them and put them in a paper bag?

[@plantsbymelissa]

I haven't tried storing alocasia corms but I've stored caladium bulbs over winter I just let them dry out and kept them from moisture so in a cool, dark place. I'm not sure how the corms would do!

[@GenRN]

@@plantsbymelissa thank you so much! Maybe I’ll try a little experiment.

[@Planty-Mandy]

How long do you leave them in water before planting into Pon?

[@plantsbymelissa]

I'll probably wait a week or so or until I see some new water roots happening. I have't tried this yet so just sorta going with what feels right!

[@zandrawostel5868]

You are so chilled about finding spider mites. I freak out over any bugs on my plants. It seems that this year has been a horrible year for them. I've gone through three orders of beneficial mites and I'm still finding spider mites. I broke out the Liquid Dirt recipe for spider mites and now I'm using it ever three to four days. It's a lot of work but I'm bound and determined to get rid of them.

[@plantsbymelissa]

I think I am so used to pests now haha 😂 I feel like I get them twice a year usually spring/fall. I catch the pretty early so they don't get a chance to spread around much. I know which plants of mine are targets so I'm usually checking them often. If my cabinet gets a pest then they all get them in there with the fans blowing lol.

[@dora9368]

I use the same recipe. You're right, it's a lot of work, but worth it, because it works...you just have to do it every week for a month or two🎉❤

[@zandrawostel5868]

@@dora9368 I'm finding webs between the decorations on my wire shelves so I'm having to wipe down the shelves and racks too. Fun times.

[@ConnieP92]

Yep...time to clean my plant 'room' (not really a room but an alcove in my house hehe). Thanks for the kick up the back side 👍🏼 It's always less of a chore when you have company 😹 And your Dragon Scale bouquet looks beautiful. I repotted my Dragon Scale a couple of days ago and realised yesterday that I had another little corm prop that was hiding in amongst my other plants that was supposed to go in with the others 😩 Oh well....in the infamous words of Scarlet O'Hara..."I'll think about that tomorrow" 🤭😅

[@MyNameisKorina]

hi melissa!! were you feeding the stratum plants with any fertilizers or just water? didn’t know they could stay in that medium for so long :)

[@nelsonporter8387]

Hello my #1 plant video maker!!! Another great one!

[@youtubeofbharat]

Hi Melissa... Very curious to know why the first plant is called Maharani?.. is this plant from India? Maharani means Great Queen 👑 in Indian Language.

[@plantsbymelissa]

I know it's a hybrid but not sure exactly which two but it's also known as a grey dragon native to the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia.

[@tabsg.7130]

I wonder how you will get the little plants out of the propagation vessel when they grew. Won´t they get damaged? so you also can´t squeeze the glass like all the plastic cups. Looks cute, but is it that helpful? I just got into Alocasias, mostly because I watched your videos. The first two baby plants died (dragon scale and silver dragon), but the cuprea is thriving (in soil) and I´m curious how proper I can handle this type of plants :D

[@plantsbymelissa]

I definitely waited wayyy too long. I can get sorta lazy with props and just sort of sit and forget them type of thing. You can definitely damage roots. It would probably be best to have one corm per vessel but I was thinking of saving space so I just need to move them out sooner!

[@yvonnevigil7489]

Hi Melissa, you are my favorite plant flosstube channel and I have subscribed to many but really enjoy you 100%. Your results of your plants, your tips and topics are do helpful truly!. I wish I could purchase corms somewhere . Found one person who sells 100 corms😮. Proud parent of a Marble Queen. thanks 🩷

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you so much 🥹 I so glad you are enjoying my content! I appreciate you for being here 🫶

[@plantguy285]

Hey again melissa! It's sad to hear that some of your plants were hit with spider mites :( Hope all goes well! (Also, thanks so much for the tips for the fungal issue. My aclocaisa seems like it's doing a little better!)

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you! Hoping they are gone soon! It's wasn't a huge outbreak and I check pretty regularly! Glad your alocasia seems to be doing better! 💗

[@dianespring3228]

I put my 2 peace lilies in pon today because they love water they are often used in aquariums so I just washed the roots really good and switched them over. My TC are arriving tomorrow

[@plantsbymelissa]

oh yay! I really want more TC in the future! It's so fun!! Hope your peace lily's love their new home :)

[@amylokers4942]

Hey Melissa so I have a question when you put your allocasia from from soil to water you leave all the soil roots and do they ride away in the water or does it grow water roots from the solar roots cuz I always thought you had to cut the roots off before you put it in water.

[@plantsbymelissa]

I haven't actually tried putting them in water yet. This is sorta a first for me so just waiting to see what happens. I imagine some of the soil roots will rot in water but it should grow new water roots. I'll see what they look like in a week or so then decide on when to transfer to pon :)

[@Horsewoman-pt2ku]

I did an experiment. I purchased lady bugs and they are not eating the flat mites on my Hoyas. They also don’t eat scale and they actually spread the scale with their legs walking on my philodendron. I don’t have spider mites back so I don’t know if they eat those yet. And don’t have thrips anymore and I don’t think they eat those either. Won’t do ladybugs again as they seem to only like aphids which I don’t have

[@plantsbymelissa]

oh that's so interesting! I heard they work well for mealy bugs but that's scary they are spreading the scale around 😬 I would totally try them myself if I didn't have cats because I know mine would try to eat them :(

[@Horsewoman-pt2ku]

@@plantsbymelissa I have never had mealy bugs and would prefer those over any other pests. It might be ladybugs do eat mealys but they sure are picky on the bugs they do eat. They are reproducing as I’m finding the new red ladybugs wo the spots but haven’t seen the smaller nymphs yet

[@Chriss-mg3kz]

Hello good day can you please send me some of your Alocasia forms or plant that you don’t want.