Lol that shot of you counting each piece gave me a good laugh 😂. Thank you for doing all the hard work and spoon feeding us all the links to purchase! Great video THANK YOU!
WOWW I look every day to see if you’ve posted, and today I caught it at THREE MINUTES!? 😍 And while I’m drinking my coffee?! Today is going to be a good day lol.
@@jpgypsyxo so it doesn’t weight so much… that’s a good idea. I wonder if the perlite on the bottom of the container wouldn’t get crushed overtime on a big planter 🤔
@@jpgypsyxo oh here in Europe is impossible to find coarse perlite, hence my comment. The one we get here is the small grade like pon rocks and it’s really not very sturdy. Have been looking for coarse perlite every couple months for years now. I think it would be a great business to bring it to Europe. If someone is interested
TFS for sharing your pon recipe with us. I love your make up and nails. ❤ I'm making a gift for you but its going to take time to make it. I'll let you know when I send it so you know to expect it. Have a great day and weekend!😊
Thank you so much for sharing your process in making your DIY pon! I appreciate you for figuring out the ratios too. I love watching your videos! You go so in-depth and really take your time. I can't thank you enough!
Melissa, you are so kind to share this recipe with us. I have been making it with the same recipe except right before I pot, I choose between chunky perlite or pearl size perlite. I LOVE the recipe because I like to control the fertilizer and how much my plants are getting. Plus I do like the perlite because it helps with air flow. I keep trying to buy a plant, but you sell out ASAP! Will keep checking. :-)
So the evolution of Melissa continues: from plant parent with a desire to learn, to Plantologist Extraordinaire rarified status, to founder of Plantmore Estate, to interstellar traveler seeking plants of otherworldly beauty, to exceptional plant educator, to plant entrepreneur to now plant chef!! Recipes on your channel, wow! Please keep in mind, however, that if you use pon as an ingredient in omelets, pancakes, salads, tacos or any food item it might not go well for your teeth or intestines!? What will be next, I can’t wait to find out. Thanks very much, Melissa.
Amazeballs, truly. Once again, you did all the research and came up with supply sources, ratios, and preparation for our own DIY. And Lazy Bones like me can order your product direct, the next time we're lucky enough to click thru fast enuff to get one of your plants. I so wanted another obliqua but was too late (this time)! Will be on the lookout for that and another esqueleto from you. Thanks for all your work, Melissa.
I really appreciate this vid! I am in the process of making diy pon w/ what you mentioned, and just bought a 4th kind from amazon Canada. It's TOPZEA 12 lb mix black volcanic rock, red volcanic rock, green zeolite, maifan stone. I had to look up maifan stone, apparently it's good stuff! I've had some plants in 100% pumice for 1-2 years and they're doing fine. - Oh and I'm adding large perlite to mine too. Good luck with selling it, bc it is some work to put together. I would have bought lechuza, but no way I'm paying their price.
Thanks, I already got the same idea to sort the Stones from the pon. 😂 but I haven't had the time yet. And I live very close to the headquater from lechuza.
Thanks Melissa! My recipe is 70% pumice and 30% Akadama (good quality that doesn’t crush easily). It works really well for me, but requires nutrient solution.
Very cool! I got the same bag of zeolite from Aramark, up to 50% cheaper when used as road abatement vs plant/cat use. I forgot the lava rock but I did add cat litter and leca instead. Not sure if you've covered it before, but is there a difference in using LECA vs DIY PON for root (overall) plant health? I also use fish tank water as my nutrient solution.
I was able to get an anthurium seedling from you and snagged a bag of your diy pon and some aroid mix. 😊 I am excited to try it out!! I went to the Southeast plant show last weekend and have lots of babies to repot once they get acclimated to my house.
Thank you so much for the support! 🥹 I heard about the plant show but didn't know about it in time to plan to go. Maybe one year! Have fun with all the new plants and repots! 🫶
As always, thanks for the video. From my experience, I would like to further stress the importance of flushing. Partly I buy Lechuza pon, partly I mix it myself, but these things are so dirty! Rinse several times, and you'll still have sediment in your self-watering pots for a good while. For gardeners, certain vegetables also thrive in pon. Window sill, pots with pon and basil in it, parsley, you name it. No more dirt on the windowsills, no more fungus gnats, but care must be taken with the fertiliser, because pon is inert. We had basil in abundance all winter in no drainage pon vessels. It is exactly the same with the stratum.
Really great information. Thanks for being so generous with all your research and hard work. Why is there fertilizer in the one but not in yours? Do they add it to theirs? Thanks again. I’m thinking of making my own as well. Not just because of the expense but because it’s so in demand I had to wait 3 months for my order to arrive.
Yes! Most definitely :) I used 2 the first time because I washed lechuza in one and my first DIY in a second one at the same time so they were both a little dirty still in my garage. I ended up putting the clean one back in the box and reused one of the used ones to wash the second DIY mix. I just wanted to show the clean one for the video hehe.
Wondering if there are any slow release fertilizers recommended for adding to the mix? Or maybe using the cocktail you have in a different video is good enough? Just curious! Thanks!
I deleted my original comment on my thoughts on pon not to dissuade people from it because this is a great video Melissa 🥰 but please do a fertilizer regimen vid on how you use with these soilless substrates and pon, etc? What brands you use!!
Your diy PON looks great! It would be interesting to know if you found any slow-release fertilizer in the 10 handful of Lechuza. Thanks for sharing Melissa!
Thank you! They are different. Pumice is a rock and is more dense so it holds water well and perlite is expanded volcanic glass so it's very light and porous and you can easily break it. Perlite tends to float to the top for this reason :)
Thank you so much for the support! I use foliage pro along with some other stuff - it's a hydroponic fertilizer. I would see what yours says if you need to adjust the ratio more/less with water :)
I really want to try make my own. I’m just jealous things are so easily available on Amazon to order. It’s so had to find these things in Australia. I can probably find pumice and zeolite in a hydroponics store but I have to go drive around looking. Not sure where to find lava rock 😅
Hey planty friend thank you for sharing your recipe! I would love your recommendation on transitioning a few anthurium from chunky mix to Pon for beginners! 🤞🏼🙏🏼 I have some that do literally amazing in my diy chunky mix but others like my Crystallinum and Mag both struggle with “not so perfect or esthetic pleasing leaves” and I think Pon may be the answer for them! Also any suggestions for us who “Collar” our Anthuriums and wanting to change to Pon? Would you suggest still spag in the Collars? Or would you back fill the collar with Pon? (Collars are cut strips of Acetate sheets/Acrylic-like sheets secured with punched holes and zip ties just for reference incase)
Hi :) I have some anthurium with DIY pot extenders filled with pon. You could probably use moss if you wanted but I prefer to use all pon. I always move plants over to water first if they're a bit bigger or stratum before moving to pon. They'll shed some of their old soil roots and grow in some nice water roots and it'll help with the transfer and less stressful on them.
I wonder if a pinch of Stratum would be beneficial for added nutrients? Lol. I’m always experimenting with random stuff like that. I’ve also added Eco-Complete (by CaribSea), which is a nutrient enhanced substrate for aquarium plants, but it’s pretty rocky and basically looks like Pon. I feel like it’s a bit too large and chunky for most aquatic plants, other than certain aquatic aroids or "epiphytes" like Anubias, Bucephalandra, Cryptocoryne, Lagenandra, etc. It was actually great in DIY pon as a substitute for Osmocote.
….also, for your Philo Brasil on your site, it looks like it is still available (doesn’t say out of stock) but when i click on it I get a message saying this item could not be found. Just wanted to let you know.
Thanks Kelly! I just checked and not sure why it's showing up on there. I have it hidden from the store until the restock. I'll just delete it and add it later :)
1:41 Did you grab handfuls of Pon from the top of the bag or the bottom? If you just grabbed from the top, all of the lighter stones would be more on top(pumice) and the heavier stones will be more towards the bottom. That may be why you had more pumice. You may not have got an accurate estimate. Just a thought, Love your videos.
Yeah, that definitely would not be easy to figure out. I guess we can get semi-close. Some people in the FB group mentioned that. Of course none of us can be scientific, and I think the size of the rocks even changes the airflow of what Lechuza claims. Lechuza says the airflow percent is what matters, but idk if that is true. Here are two other people I heard test this. Person one: Lechuza Pon ratio: 4:2:1 Spent the afternoon sorting pon and rewatching Rogue One. I found out a few things: This is not scientific. The ratio is not 1:1:1. Particle size varies and I would sift it to get rid of the very small particles. To keep the ideal air / water ratio for plants (45% water/55% air) when mixing your own pon, I’d use this ratio/ There’s not as much fertilizer, as you would think (13 grains per cup). Person two: I took a one cup sample of pon and found the ration to be: 4 parts pumice: 2 parts lava rock: 1 part zeolite
It was just a guess but if someone really wanted to get exact they could get a small bag and count every piece haha. There's definitely more pumice even from the lechuza I have dumped out in a stored container. I don't know if the zeolite percentage and lava rock matter too much but I would use more pumice for sure.
Nope, many use no drainage for pon and are successful with that. However you prefer! I like drainage because flushing is really important to me and the set up is easier for me.
I generally fertilize once a week but it depends on how quickly the plant takes up the water/nutrients, how rooted they are, environmental conditions, light etc all play a role in how quickly the pon dries.
@@plantsbymelissa so fertilizer with every watering? Normal amount as the instructions say or do you cut it? Sorry I’ve been thinking about doing this but haven’t taken the jump yet
Can you spray your plants in pon with neem oil? I like to spray neem oil for pests and prevention of them. Please let me know if you have any experience with using insecticides on pon! Thank you :)
Every time I see that name, it makes me think of the Spanish word for lettuce (lechuga) and think that is such a strange name for a mix of rock substrate! 😜
I killed my Maranra, spider plants and pothos bully adding cal-mag to my regiment. I wanted to cry. I looked at the ingredients to the dyna grow superthrive foliage pro and it has cal-mag (the same as what I bought) so I think it burnt them. I should have looked before I used it but lesson learned
Hi there! I mentioned in the video it was about a bag in a half if I was eyeballing it. I didn't measure it out, sorry. If you buy more pumice then you can stretch out the lava rock and zeolites more for what you paid for them since you're using less :)
I dont understand the purpose of pumice and lavarock in the mix, other than aeration. They both retain very little water nad have virtually no CEC, so what's the point of using them when you can use a 100% zeolite and control air/porosity and water retention capabilities just by varying the zeolite's granulometry? Someone plz enlighten me...
Hey Melissa, again great video. Here in Belgium i can't find the Zeolite on Amazon I even searched amazon Germany but neither there. Do you know by with component we can switch the zeolite? Have a great weekend. Take Care and stay safe grtz from Belgium🥰😍😘
@@plantsbymelissa Yes, they don't sell it. Maybe in the future when amazon gets plenty of demands on it. Thank you so much for your help and time to answer. Nice weekend and take care🥰
Hey Melissa, thanks for the video and doing all the counting for us. The price difference between the DIY & Lechuza is significant. 12L of Lechuza is about 3G. (This is all APPROXIMATE). To purchase 2 3G bags of pumice and 1 3G bag of lava rock via your Amazon links would be $122.05 with tax where I live. To purchase 3 bags of Lechuza is $91.53. That's a difference of over $10 per 3G bag and that is not counting the Zeolite which you can purchase for MUCH cheaper at HD or Lowes. I've made my own before using 1/4” rocks when Lechuza was sold out for all those months. It is a lot prettier but the cost is a big ouch. I'll stick with the Lechuza as long as they keep it in stock. I currently have 3 bags tucked away as backups and I think I'll get a few more to be in the safe side! ❤🎉 Thanks again.
For sure, I think lechuza is a good price for what you get. I think a lot of people run into the issue of not being able to get more since it goes out of stock so often. Probably because people buy so much of it at once 🙊 I'm guilty of that too haha. It's nice to have a back up version and I'll still use and buy lechuza :)
The pumice product in the link has says Small particles are approximately from 3/16" to 1/4" ( 6 mm-10 mm ) Would 3/8" (9.53 mm) or 1/4" (6.25 mm) work? These sizes are much cheaper. You mentioned it's ok to use larger pumice for thicker roots. How big is too big?
Hi Melissa, about your website pon. I think $15 is a good shipping price. The thing is, if someone buys from you, it's about $127 for 12L vs. $27. That's quite the markup, even if you don't get the large business benefits. People don't have money to pay almost 5x the price of an already premium product.
Hi there! I’m not a large business 😅 I did a search on Etsy to see what others were selling their DIY pon for and it’s very comparable. I’m not forcing anyone to buy from me hence why I shared the exact recipe and materials. I could have not shared that at all 🤷♀️ Some people may not want to go through the trouble of making their own and are happy to support. Also, I have to end up paying a lot more for shipping out of my own pocket depending on weight of the package and distance someone is from me. I’m only charging a standard rate vs a live app that will charge someone a lot more. I would never tell someone what they should or shouldn’t sell something for 😊
Lol that shot of you counting each piece gave me a good laugh 😂. Thank you for doing all the hard work and spoon feeding us all the links to purchase! Great video THANK YOU!
haha you're welcome! 🫶
Thank you Melissa! I really appreciate how you presented the tutorial, straight to the point.
Happy growing!
Thanks! I can get a little chatty so wanted to keep this short for those that just want to copy a similar recipe :)
WOWW I look every day to see if you’ve posted, and today I caught it at THREE MINUTES!? 😍 And while I’m drinking my coffee?! Today is going to be a good day lol.
aww you're the best! Thank you! 🥹
That’s a beautiful set up to your day, so lucky! Lol 💕
This world needs more people like you ❤❤❤❤
🫶🫶
I like to also add perlite to diy pon to help with the weight on the roots and aeration! ❤
@@jpgypsyxo so it doesn’t weight so much… that’s a good idea. I wonder if the perlite on the bottom of the container wouldn’t get crushed overtime on a big planter 🤔
I watch a lot of UA-camrs that add perlite to their home made pon.
@@Yambataller I’ve never really had that problem, as long as the perlite isn’t smaller than the other ingredients. I also filter out the powder.
@@jpgypsyxo oh here in Europe is impossible to find coarse perlite, hence my comment. The one we get here is the small grade like pon rocks and it’s really not very sturdy. Have been looking for coarse perlite every couple months for years now. I think it would be a great business to bring it to Europe. If someone is interested
@@Yambataller what a shame! Maybe contact a seller there? That could order bulk?
You're so amazing Melissa! Wow you literally separated and counted those stones to get the ratio. 👑👏🥰
hehe right 🙈 it's just a guess but they definitely use more pumice!
TFS for sharing your pon recipe with us. I love your make up and nails. ❤ I'm making a gift for you but its going to take time to make it. I'll let you know when I send it so you know to expect it. Have a great day and weekend!😊
You're so sweet Dora 🥹🫶
Omg! The mesh bags! My mind is blown. Adding to my cart now. 😝
It's perfect!
I have some fine mesh bags for laundry garments. I wonder if it'll work the same.
Thank you so much for sharing your process in making your DIY pon! I appreciate you for figuring out the ratios too. I love watching your videos! You go so in-depth and really take your time. I can't thank you enough!
❤❤❤❤❤❤
I doubt that I can get them here.
But I enjoyed that video.❤
Thank you so much for the short yet informative video. I will try it tomorrow
You're welcome! 💕
Yay🎉 a new Melissa video!
Thank you for being here! 💜
Melissa, you are so kind to share this recipe with us. I have been making it with the same recipe except right before I pot, I choose between chunky perlite or pearl size perlite. I LOVE the recipe because I like to control the fertilizer and how much my plants are getting. Plus I do like the perlite because it helps with air flow.
I keep trying to buy a plant, but you sell out ASAP! Will keep checking. :-)
The color of yours is so pretty! I'm definitely going to make a batch. Thank you for sharing your secret recipe ❤
of course :)
I have learned so much from your videos. Thanks for sharing.
So the evolution of Melissa continues: from plant parent with a desire to learn, to Plantologist Extraordinaire rarified status, to founder of Plantmore Estate, to interstellar traveler seeking plants of otherworldly beauty, to exceptional plant educator, to plant entrepreneur to now plant chef!! Recipes on your channel, wow! Please keep in mind, however, that if you use pon as an ingredient in omelets, pancakes, salads, tacos or any food item it might not go well for your teeth or intestines!? What will be next, I can’t wait to find out. Thanks very much, Melissa.
Melissa! I just ordered your pon! Can't wait until it arrives! 😊
Yay! Thank you for the support 🥹🫶
Amazeballs, truly. Once again, you did all the research and came up with supply sources, ratios, and preparation for our own DIY. And Lazy Bones like me can order your product direct, the next time we're lucky enough to click thru fast enuff to get one of your plants. I so wanted another obliqua but was too late (this time)! Will be on the lookout for that and another esqueleto from you. Thanks for all your work, Melissa.
Love the nails Melissa! ❤
Thank you! They're polish pop gel stickers :)
I really appreciate this vid! I am in the process of making diy pon w/ what you mentioned, and just bought a 4th kind from amazon Canada. It's TOPZEA 12 lb mix black volcanic rock, red volcanic rock, green zeolite, maifan stone. I had to look up maifan stone, apparently it's good stuff! I've had some plants in 100% pumice for 1-2 years and they're doing fine. - Oh and I'm adding large perlite to mine too. Good luck with selling it, bc it is some work to put together. I would have bought lechuza, but no way I'm paying their price.
Thanks, I already got the same idea to sort the Stones from the pon. 😂 but I haven't had the time yet. And I live very close to the headquater from lechuza.
Thanks Melissa!
My recipe is 70% pumice and 30% Akadama (good quality that doesn’t crush easily).
It works really well for me, but requires nutrient solution.
Thank you for sharing all your information. Great job. Will definitely try making your diy pon.
I add chunky perlite to pon to lighten it and to extend the amount
Awesome job Melissa🤗really appreciate making the content of your DIY Pon. Thank you sooooo much😊 more power to you!!!
You are so welcome!
Very cool! I got the same bag of zeolite from Aramark, up to 50% cheaper when used as road abatement vs plant/cat use. I forgot the lava rock but I did add cat litter and leca instead. Not sure if you've covered it before, but is there a difference in using LECA vs DIY PON for root (overall) plant health? I also use fish tank water as my nutrient solution.
Thank you ❤️ that has to save alot of money!
great video! This is so helpful 🌿
I was able to get an anthurium seedling from you and snagged a bag of your diy pon and some aroid mix. 😊 I am excited to try it out!! I went to the Southeast plant show last weekend and have lots of babies to repot once they get acclimated to my house.
Thank you so much for the support! 🥹 I heard about the plant show but didn't know about it in time to plan to go. Maybe one year! Have fun with all the new plants and repots! 🫶
The fun part? That soil mix works AMAZINGLY for North American cactus as well! They develop an amazing root system
Thank you nelissa kove tour video's
As always, thanks for the video. From my experience, I would like to further stress the importance of flushing. Partly I buy Lechuza pon, partly I mix it myself, but these things are so dirty! Rinse several times, and you'll still have sediment in your self-watering pots for a good while.
For gardeners, certain vegetables also thrive in pon. Window sill, pots with pon and basil in it, parsley, you name it. No more dirt on the windowsills, no more fungus gnats, but care must be taken with the fertiliser, because pon is inert. We had basil in abundance all winter in no drainage pon vessels. It is exactly the same with the stratum.
most definitely! flushing is so important! I cannot believe I didn't even rinse mine in the beginning...soo dirty 😭
I am going to try pon. Just learning about it. What is the purpose of each of the different ingredients? What sort of fertilizer do you add?
Awesome video Melissa! Thanks for sharing and all you work 💚😊
Thank you so much!
Thanks so much for sharing your recipe 💚
of course :)
Really great information. Thanks for being so generous with all your research and hard work. Why is there fertilizer in the one but not in yours? Do they add it to theirs? Thanks again. I’m thinking of making my own as well. Not just because of the expense but because it’s so in demand I had to wait 3 months for my order to arrive.
Thank you for sharing!
My pleasure!
Thank you 👍
i need to try pon and tree fern lol 💚 love the makeup and nails !!! i love purple!
Thank you!! 💜🥹
Thank you for this video!!!!!😊
No problem 😊
Thanks Melissa! Can you reuse the wash bags?
Yes! Most definitely :) I used 2 the first time because I washed lechuza in one and my first DIY in a second one at the same time so they were both a little dirty still in my garage. I ended up putting the clean one back in the box and reused one of the used ones to wash the second DIY mix. I just wanted to show the clean one for the video hehe.
@@plantsbymelissa This worked like a charm. Everything I never knew I needed but did. Huge thanks!
Its giving lab project and i fucking love it
Wondering if there are any slow release fertilizers recommended for adding to the mix? Or maybe using the cocktail you have in a different video is good enough? Just curious! Thanks!
Thank you so much for this video!🫶🏻 and your Marantaaaa👀👀😍🥵 Have a wonderful weekend!!
You are so welcome! You too!
I deleted my original comment on my thoughts on pon not to dissuade people from it because this is a great video Melissa 🥰 but please do a fertilizer regimen vid on how you use with these soilless substrates and pon, etc? What brands you use!!
I made a pon care video recently :)
Will you be restocking your mix on your website?
lovely Info... its just a advice you must add some cocopeat also
Your diy PON looks great! It would be interesting to know if you found any slow-release fertilizer in the 10 handful of Lechuza. Thanks for sharing Melissa!
maybe 1- 2 haha not much!
Love your videos!! Pumice and perlite are the same thing? Thank you 💖
Thank you! They are different. Pumice is a rock and is more dense so it holds water well and perlite is expanded volcanic glass so it's very light and porous and you can easily break it. Perlite tends to float to the top for this reason :)
Thank you, just ordered some from you! I typically use a balanced fertilizer. Will I need a different fertilizer for pon use?
Thank you so much for the support! I use foliage pro along with some other stuff - it's a hydroponic fertilizer. I would see what yours says if you need to adjust the ratio more/less with water :)
I really want to try make my own. I’m just jealous things are so easily available on Amazon to order. It’s so had to find these things in Australia. I can probably find pumice and zeolite in a hydroponics store but I have to go drive around looking. Not sure where to find lava rock 😅
Hey planty friend thank you for sharing your recipe! I would love your recommendation on transitioning a few anthurium from chunky mix to Pon for beginners! 🤞🏼🙏🏼 I have some that do literally amazing in my diy chunky mix but others like my Crystallinum and Mag both struggle with “not so perfect or esthetic pleasing leaves” and I think Pon may be the answer for them! Also any suggestions for us who “Collar” our Anthuriums and wanting to change to Pon? Would you suggest still spag in the Collars? Or would you back fill the collar with Pon? (Collars are cut strips of Acetate sheets/Acrylic-like sheets secured with punched holes and zip ties just for reference incase)
Hi :) I have some anthurium with DIY pot extenders filled with pon. You could probably use moss if you wanted but I prefer to use all pon. I always move plants over to water first if they're a bit bigger or stratum before moving to pon. They'll shed some of their old soil roots and grow in some nice water roots and it'll help with the transfer and less stressful on them.
Thanks!
Thank you so much! 🥹🫶
@@plantsbymelissaI've learned so much from you over the past 2.5yrs. 😊
So if you want to move a soil plant to semi hydro, how long do you put it in stratum before moving to pon??
I wonder if a pinch of Stratum would be beneficial for added nutrients? Lol. I’m always experimenting with random stuff like that. I’ve also added Eco-Complete (by CaribSea), which is a nutrient enhanced substrate for aquarium plants, but it’s pretty rocky and basically looks like Pon. I feel like it’s a bit too large and chunky for most aquatic plants, other than certain aquatic aroids or "epiphytes" like Anubias, Bucephalandra, Cryptocoryne, Lagenandra, etc. It was actually great in DIY pon as a substitute for Osmocote.
Hey Melissa, what is your opinion on mycorrhizal fungi for houseplants? Do you have any video with feedback about it? Thanks! Love your videos! 😊
I use some when I’m thinking about it. I have 2 brands I use but it’s great 😊
@@plantsbymelissathank you for answering 🥰 do you use it in pon also?
🙌🏼
❤
In color I like your pin recipe. The color is better.
….also, for your Philo Brasil on your site, it looks like it is still available (doesn’t say out of stock) but when i click on it I get a message saying this item could not be found. Just wanted to let you know.
Thanks Kelly! I just checked and not sure why it's showing up on there. I have it hidden from the store until the restock. I'll just delete it and add it later :)
Where did you purchase all your amendments?
1:41 Did you grab handfuls of Pon from the top of the bag or the bottom? If you just grabbed from the top, all of the lighter stones would be more on top(pumice) and the heavier stones will be more towards the bottom. That may be why you had more pumice. You may not have got an accurate estimate. Just a thought, Love your videos.
Yeah, that definitely would not be easy to figure out. I guess we can get semi-close. Some people in the FB group mentioned that. Of course none of us can be scientific, and I think the size of the rocks even changes the airflow of what Lechuza claims. Lechuza says the airflow percent is what matters, but idk if that is true. Here are two other people I heard test this.
Person one:
Lechuza Pon ratio: 4:2:1
Spent the afternoon sorting pon and rewatching Rogue One. I found out a few things:
This is not scientific.
The ratio is not 1:1:1.
Particle size varies and I would sift it to get rid of the very small particles.
To keep the ideal air / water ratio for plants (45% water/55% air) when mixing your own pon, I’d use this ratio/ There’s not as much fertilizer, as you would think (13 grains per cup).
Person two:
I took a one cup sample of pon and found the ration to be: 4 parts pumice: 2 parts lava rock: 1 part zeolite
It was just a guess but if someone really wanted to get exact they could get a small bag and count every piece haha. There's definitely more pumice even from the lechuza I have dumped out in a stored container. I don't know if the zeolite percentage and lava rock matter too much but I would use more pumice for sure.
How is you DIY pon going with all your babies? I was going to purchase but wanted to see how its going!
For this type of medium do you need to use a special fertilizer?
I would use a hydroponic fertilizer :)
Does the color of the lava rock matter?
Would 3/8 pumice size be too big?
Thank you!
\
You're welcome!
Can you only use
pon in self watering pots?
Nope, many use no drainage for pon and are successful with that. However you prefer! I like drainage because flushing is really important to me and the set up is easier for me.
How to store them. Can v store it in wet condition. Some pls tell me.
I deleted my other comment, I'm excited to try this recipe out! Everytime i try to order lechuza it's out of stock!
Are those proportions by weight or by volume?
Hi there! I did twice as many scoops of pumice when I was adding it to the bag to rinse. It's just an estimate :)
Melisa you are my pon lady.
How often do you fertilize with this?
I generally fertilize once a week but it depends on how quickly the plant takes up the water/nutrients, how rooted they are, environmental conditions, light etc all play a role in how quickly the pon dries.
@@plantsbymelissa so fertilizer with every watering? Normal amount as the instructions say or do you cut it? Sorry I’ve been thinking about doing this but haven’t taken the jump yet
Can you spray your plants in pon with neem oil? I like to spray neem oil for pests and prevention of them. Please let me know if you have any experience with using insecticides on pon! Thank you :)
Every time I see that name, it makes me think of the Spanish word for lettuce (lechuga) and think that is such a strange name for a mix of rock substrate! 😜
❤❤❤❤❤🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
I killed my Maranra, spider plants and pothos bully adding cal-mag to my regiment. I wanted to cry. I looked at the ingredients to the dyna grow superthrive foliage pro and it has cal-mag (the same as what I bought) so I think it burnt them. I should have looked before I used it but lesson learned
So how many liters or kg or lb do you get for that $121
A 10 liter Lechuza bag is about $30
Hi there! I mentioned in the video it was about a bag in a half if I was eyeballing it. I didn't measure it out, sorry. If you buy more pumice then you can stretch out the lava rock and zeolites more for what you paid for them since you're using less :)
I dont understand the purpose of pumice and lavarock in the mix, other than aeration.
They both retain very little water nad have virtually no CEC, so what's the point of using them
when you can use a 100% zeolite and control air/porosity and water retention capabilities just by varying the zeolite's granulometry?
Someone plz enlighten me...
Hey Melissa, again great video. Here in Belgium i can't find the Zeolite on Amazon I even searched amazon Germany but neither there. Do you know by with component we can switch the zeolite? Have a great weekend. Take Care and stay safe grtz from Belgium🥰😍😘
Have you tried looking from a local garden center near you?
@@plantsbymelissa Yes, they don't sell it. Maybe in the future when amazon gets plenty of demands on it. Thank you so much for your help and time to answer. Nice weekend and take care🥰
Hey Melissa, thanks for the video and doing all the counting for us.
The price difference between the DIY & Lechuza is significant. 12L of Lechuza is about 3G. (This is all APPROXIMATE). To purchase 2 3G bags of pumice and 1 3G bag of lava rock via your Amazon links would be $122.05 with tax where I live. To purchase 3 bags of Lechuza is $91.53. That's a difference of over $10 per 3G bag and that is not counting the Zeolite which you can purchase for MUCH cheaper at HD or Lowes.
I've made my own before using 1/4” rocks when Lechuza was sold out for all those months. It is a lot prettier but the cost is a big ouch. I'll stick with the Lechuza as long as they keep it in stock. I currently have 3 bags tucked away as backups and I think I'll get a few more to be in the safe side! ❤🎉
Thanks again.
For sure, I think lechuza is a good price for what you get. I think a lot of people run into the issue of not being able to get more since it goes out of stock so often. Probably because people buy so much of it at once 🙊 I'm guilty of that too haha. It's nice to have a back up version and I'll still use and buy lechuza :)
Math is not my friend 😛….are you saying the DIY method is more, or less, expensive?
@@serendipity1237 DIY is more expensive.
Hello gorgeous 😊
Diy Pro Tip- Use old Pantyhose to rinse all your rocks/stones off!
Yours look much better! The lechuza pon seems to have a bit of algae built up.
Thank you! I'm curious if that will happen with mine too. I've noticed some of my pon getting algae build up :)
The pumice product in the link has says Small particles are approximately from 3/16" to 1/4" ( 6 mm-10 mm )
Would 3/8" (9.53 mm) or 1/4" (6.25 mm) work? These sizes are much cheaper.
You mentioned it's ok to use larger pumice for thicker roots. How big is too big?
Yours is pretty. it’s not all about looks, but…
Hi Melissa, about your website pon. I think $15 is a good shipping price. The thing is, if someone buys from you, it's about $127 for 12L vs. $27. That's quite the markup, even if you don't get the large business benefits. People don't have money to pay almost 5x the price of an already premium product.
Hi there! I’m not a large business 😅 I did a search on Etsy to see what others were selling their DIY pon for and it’s very comparable. I’m not forcing anyone to buy from me hence why I shared the exact recipe and materials. I could have not shared that at all 🤷♀️ Some people may not want to go through the trouble of making their own and are happy to support. Also, I have to end up paying a lot more for shipping out of my own pocket depending on weight of the package and distance someone is from me. I’m only charging a standard rate vs a live app that will charge someone a lot more. I would never tell someone what they should or shouldn’t sell something for 😊