Becoming LECA hater. What's with the hype?

I kept hearing about how Alocasias “thrive” in semi-hydro, so I bought a wick system and transferred quite a few of my plants into it.

Honestly, all it did was kill three of my Alocasias and cause massive root rot in the others. The frustrating part is that they were doing perfectly fine in soil before.

I don’t really understand all the hype around semi-hydro. Alocasias can grow perfectly well in a good, airy soil mix with regular fertilizing and proper watering. For me, switching them out of soil did WAY more harm than good.

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u/depressed1Guy — 28 days ago

Is this type of pot any good for semi hydro wick setup or is the "saucer" too shallow?

u/depressed1Guy — 2 months ago

For those of you using LECA: are you growing in semi-hydro, and do you use organic fertilizers, or do they need to be mineral-based?

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u/depressed1Guy — 2 months ago

What kind of soil mixes did you figure out work best for (variegated) alocasias?

I'm was mostly working with monsteras previously, and they love perlite, orchid bark, and house plant soil mix. But I'm not sure if the same mix works for alocasias. Your thoughts?

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u/depressed1Guy — 2 months ago