Alocasia hydroponics

Joined
Nov 9, 2021
Messages
6
Reaction score
3
Location
Nrw
Country
Germany
Hey I would like to chat with some people who have experience with alocasia especially hydroponics and root rot.
I love Alocasia and have been experimenting with them for over a year.
My experience in soil: they don't grow very well, they are easily too dry and too easily too wet. It is a lot of work to water them appropriately.
Then I learned about hydroponics and tried to get them used to it. Oh well. It took an extremely long time and there were some losses from tuber and root rot (I use coarse grained pon, mixed myself). Then I had the idea of removing the roots, as they rot quickly, and placing the tubers in perlite. Wow! First roots after a few days and gigantic root systems after 1 to 2 weeks. Then I had the idea of repotting them into coarse-grained pon again. First the plant grew quickly and then again root and tuber rot??? Why, when she grew well in wet perlite...
And then I see people on Youtube and Instagram wo just put them in water and leca and no Problems at all??? XD
I apologize for any English mistakes, I'm from Germany :)
 
Joined
Nov 9, 2021
Messages
6
Reaction score
3
Location
Nrw
Country
Germany
Which species or cultivar of Alocasia are you attempting to grow?
I have a lot different ones and experimenting with them all
For Exemplar Black velvet, silver dragon, dragon scale, nobilis, polly, zebrina, stingray, Regal shields, clypeolata green shield, cuprea Red secret, golden gangea, frydek, melo, platinum, lauterbachiana, cuculata, metal head, wentii, nebula and more
But when it comes to hydroponics they all seem to be the same
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2021
Messages
4,224
Reaction score
1,485
Location
California
Country
United States
How extraordinary to grow such a variety, and have them all rot. Some Alocasia are more tolerant of wet conditions than others. you will need to supply different conditions for different species.

I'm not sure why you have decided that growing them hydroponically would be easier. They certainly can be grown well in ordinary potting soil, if other parameters are adequate.

Post pics of your growing environment and explain more about the plants' conditions, such as light, temperature, and nutrients.
 
Joined
Nov 9, 2021
Messages
6
Reaction score
3
Location
Nrw
Country
Germany
How extraordinary to grow such a variety, and have them all rot. Some Alocasia are more tolerant of wet conditions than others. you will need to supply different conditions for different species.

I'm not sure why you have decided that growing them hydroponically would be easier. They certainly can be grown well in ordinary potting soil, if other parameters are adequate.

Post pics of your growing environment and explain more about the plants' conditions, such as light, temperature, and nutrients.
I didn't mean that they all die :)
All of these grow very well. I propagate the baby tubers in perlite and then test different substrates and how they grow. I have found that they grow fastest and largest in hydroponics for me. I'm also studying botany and have a lot of discussions with my professors because I'm very interested in this topic. Water, light, humidity is all actually appropriate (the big ones in Perlite also grow great) I just wonder why Perlite works so well but Pon (even mixed without fertilizer) suddenly doesn't work (despite roots that are used to mineral substrate).
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2021
Messages
4,224
Reaction score
1,485
Location
California
Country
United States
I see. I'm not sure why your results differ depending on substrate.
Maybe coarse pon retains more moisture than perlite and the irrigation frequency needs to be reduced.
...or perhaps there is something else about pons that is conducive to the growth of a pathogenic fungi, bacter, or water mold.
 
Joined
Nov 9, 2021
Messages
6
Reaction score
3
Location
Nrw
Country
Germany
I see. I'm not sure why your results differ depending on substrate.
Maybe coarse pon retains more moisture than perlite and the irrigation frequency needs to be reduced.
...or perhaps there is something else about pons that is conducive to the growth of a pathogenic fungi, bacter, or water mold.
Thank you for answering! The zeolith in Pon (blue stones) retain a lot of water. Thats why I used more coarse lava and bims to get lots of air in there. Still wondering why the roots in Perlite even grew unter the waterlevel and in a more airy substrate they die...
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2021
Messages
4,224
Reaction score
1,485
Location
California
Country
United States
Thank you for answering! The zeolith in Pon (blue stones) retain a lot of water. Thats why I used more coarse lava and bims to get lots of air in there. Still wondering why the roots in Perlite even grew unter the waterlevel and in a more airy substrate they die...
That is interesting. Perhaps the coarse pon encourages a pathogen somehow, or some part of it was itself contaminated. It could be fluke of the batch you made.
Try an experiment in which you autoclave samples of the media and leave others unheated.
I believe bims is a brand of pumice, is that correct?
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
26,586
Messages
256,586
Members
13,258
Latest member
alba

Latest Threads

Top