Episode 198: Lechuza pon
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Transcript
Episode 198
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Jane: This week, I eschew the soil and turn to Pon, Lechuza Pon. Did that make me sound a bit like James Bond? Maybe I've been watching too many trailers! It's On The Ledge, the podcast about houseplants. I'm Jane Perrone, your host, and this week I am joined by Arvin Bhudia from Lechuza, to talk about their mineral-based substrate, Pon. What is it? What's it made of? Do you need to rinse it? Where do you get it? All your questions will be answered in this episode, plus, I answer a question about a succulent that's harbouring a surprise.
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Jane: Thanks to all of you who have already responded to my request for your thoughts about what's changed for you in the world of houseplants since February 2017. I've had happy stories, sad stories funny stories and you're going to hear them in episode 200, which will be going out on 22nd October. There is still time to get your thoughts to me. I'd love to have them in audio form. Just record a voice memo and send it to ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com but if not, I can read it out for you. Just drop me some words to the same address. Maximum a minute or two would be great. It's going to make such a fun episode! I'm really looking forward to it, so do share your thoughts now.
Just a reminder, also, that after that 200th episode, the first 50 episodes of On The Ledge will be going Patreon-only, so if you're not a Patreon, of the Ledge-end or the Superfan level, you won't be able to hear those first 50 shows on free-to-listen any more, but you will be able to sign up to Patreon to hear them and there'll still be 150 free episodes to hear.
Thank you to VivBurt and RoseFromReno, both in the US, who left lovely, lovely, lovely reviews for On The Ledge and to Tessa and Lucy, who both became Ledge-ends this week, joining Patreon and thus securing their right to listen to the first 50 episodes of the show! All the details for Patreon are in the show notes, as is info on how to make a one-off donation as well, so if I've saved a houseplant or two of yours from certain death, then why not say thank you with a small donation? How else can you say thank you? Well, leaving a review is a great thing to do, telling friends about the show, bigging On The Ledge up on Twitter or Instagram. All of those things are highly valuable and much appreciated.
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Jane: So many growers these days are choosing not to grow their plants in the traditional medium that's been used for, well, since forever: something soil-based, something organic. They're turning instead to mineral-based substrates, specifically Pon. Lots and lots of people are using this stuff successfully and some swear by it, but what is it, how does it work, how can you transfer your plants to it? I decided to go to the source to get information about Pon, from somebody at the firm that has been marketing this stuff for years, that is of course, Lechuza. So we're going to be hearing from Arvin Bhudia in this episode, who is Sales Director at Lechuza in the UK, to get it straight from the horse's mouth, as it were.
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Jane: Let's just start with the very basics, for me, more than anything else, as a complete ignoramus about this stuff! What's actually in Pon? What's it made of?
Arvin: Fantastic question, so let's start with the ingredients list. So Lechuza Pon, which is our most popular substrate, consists of four key ingredients. The first is zeolite, the second is bims, third is lava and then the last ingredient, which we add in, is the fully-coated premium fertiliser. So what the zeolites are introduced into the substrate for, is to balance and stabilise the pH value of the rooting structure. So it has high water and nutrient storage, it binds heavy metals and pollutants and it also has a fungus-inhibiting effect. So that's the main properties of zeolite in our substrate. Bims, on the other hand, is literally designed for maximum airport volume and a very high storage capacity. So the air pockets, or the pores, in the bims will naturally just attract a larger amount of water and hold a larger amount of water. Then lava, I'm pretty sure a lot of people out there listening probably know what lava is, and lava is, basically, a mineral stone which is, obviously, designed to sustainably release micronutrients back to the rooting system. So those are the key differences in the materials that are put together for this mineral substrate.
Jane: How do we use this stuff? I imagine it's quite different from planting into soil? What's the basics of getting started with Pon?
Arvin: The first way that we would generally use the products is what I would call the 25% Lechuza use rule. So this is where you would have a drainage barrier inside your planter, you'd probably fill one third or one quarter of the base with Lechuza Pon, this will be your water reservoir and your drainage level. Your root ball, or the plant root ball, is then placed directly on top and then you fill around the edge of the pot with compost or potting soil. So that's the first use. The second way that Lechuza can be used is the 50% rule. So this is to use Lechuza in the drainage barrier level and to also fill the remaining void, around the sides of the planter, around the root ball and then on top to cover all soil being exposed to the environment. So that's the second one. A third version, which is becoming quite popular now, is a complete replant into 100% Lechuza Pon. This method is generally the best method to enhance plant life and to prevent any organic matter from contaminating the plant or planter. In this step, you would generally break down the root ball, so you'd massage away, rinse away, all the organic compost and soils that are tethered to the roots. You would then take this washed root ball and root structure and place that directly into the Lechuza Pon. It's almost similar to hydroponics but, because it's a capillary reaction that's occurring with the rooting structure and Lechuza Pon, it's the ideal way to prevent any excess soil around the roots and having any fungus fly gnats laying any eggs in the organic compound inside the base.
Jane: I'm so used to growing in soil. What would you say to me, as somebody who's a soil grower, about switching over? Where would you recommend that I start?
Arvin: So I would say, generally, start off small. Test your plants in Lechuza Pon first. Generally, most plants will adopt Lechuza Pon quite well, but in terms of changing over from soil directly, you've got many benefits. Firstly, if you're an allergy sufferer, soil is going to have mould, it's going to have fungus, it's going to have live microorganisms which are always breeding. So if you suffer from allergies in any aspect, soil indoors is not ideal for you. Where, in this case, you can replace it with an inorganic compound like Lechuza Pon and you eradicate all of those allergy issues immediately and those pest issues go out the window as well. So that's the first benefit of using Lechuza Pon. Secondly, is the stable pH level of Lechuza Pon. Certain soils can increase or decrease in pH levels depending on, obviously, the type of plant, the type of fertiliser you're adding into it. Lechuza Pon will stabilise itself and always maintain a rough level of 7.1 just to ensure that the plant is at its optimum level of development. I think there's a couple of the other issues, as well, in terms of watering, forgetting to water. Generally soil will dry out at the top. Most people, generally, start seeing that as an indicator that the plant needs water. So not realising that soil holds about 75% of its water below that first layer, most people over water their plants. With Lechuza Pon you eradicate this problem. Because of the capillary action, the entire sub-level to the top always has enough water and it will always draw water from the bottom up into the rooting structure.
Jane: When I put out that I was doing this interview and asked for questions from Pon newbies and also experienced Pon users, the main question that I got back is, "Why can't I get hold of any Pon right now?" So there's lots of people desperate to get hold of your product. I'm guessing this is an indication of what's happened over the pandemic in terms of the rise of houseplants? Has it been a huge surge of interest for your business?
Arvin: Well, most certainly we've definitely seen, during the pandemic, that a lot of people have spent a lot more time at home, during which they, obviously, have greened their interior or they've had some new hobbying in their spare time. So with many looking at new and improved solutions and taking care of repotting their plants, Lechuza Pon and other substrates that we do, did see a large increase in sales across the UK and internationally, as well. In terms of your questions with the problems that were at the time of the pandemic, they've now been resolved. So we are currently restocked, we've got enough Pon in all of the substrates on the shelf in the UK to satisfy all incoming orders for at least the next six to eight months. So we've got plenty in stock but yes, we did see a huge surge in indoor planting and now we've gauged and understood what the UK market is now receptive to, we will aim to keep those levels maintained throughout the year.
Jane: Have you come across any unusual ways that people are using Pon, or unexpected things that people are doing that you just hadn't thought of at your end?
Arvin: We're seeing Pon being used in a lot of hydroponic systems. So it's not something that we would 100% recommend, it's still something that we're looking into at the moment, in terms of usage, but a lot of the growers and a lot of the bloggers that are using our products have reported back to us that they've actually been quite successful with hydroponics and Lechuza Pon. We're also hearing back from the rare and unusual growers. They've reported back to us to say that Lechuza Pon is "amazing" for growing their rare cuttings, and, actually, rehab plants, which have been affected by a root rot, or fertiliser burn from placing them in soil or placing them in Leca. So that's something quite interesting for us.
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Jane: More Pon chat to come, but now it's time for Question of the Week and it comes from Frank who has noticed something strange happening to a succulent. Helpfully, Frank has sent a picture, but they're not sure what succulent this is. It looks to me like some kind of Gasteria aloe cross. There are loads of different hybrids out there and I think this is one of those. I wouldn't be confident to say which one, but it doesn't matter because the advice is the same. The plant has put up a flower spike, but coming up along some of the points on that flower spike are some little baby plants, or as Frank puts it, "A tentacle-like thing sprouted out!" and what looks like a couple of baby plants have started to grow, like a spider plant does. Frank wants to know what to do with these little tiny plants that have grown along that flowering stem. Now, this gives me a chance to use one of my favourite words in the botanical lexicon and that is vivipary! I don't really know how to pronounce it, vivipary... viv... vivipary!? It's a word I've read a lot but not said a lot! So what is vivipary or vivip... however you say it!? What is it? It happens when seeds germinate while they are still attached to the parent plant in the form of the fruit or the seed head. You may have seen, on social media, a picture of a strawberry, where the little seeds on the outside of the plant are all sprouting? That's a great example of vivipary. People get very freaked out by it, but it's not that uncommon in the world of plants. So that's vivipary, but what we have here, with Frank's succulent, is called 'false vivipary' and this is where a flowering stem gets all confused and starts producing pups rather than flowers. This phenomenon is seen in succulents, particularly things like Agaves and some of the Gasterias and Aloes do sometimes do this. The other group of houseplants that you'll see this happening with is the carnivorous plants. Sometimes a Venus Flytrap will put up a flowering stalk and will end up growing plantlets at the top of that, rather than flowers.
Why does it happen? Well, it's the plant getting a little bit confused. If you can imagine that that flower stem is basically a variation on the theme of a leaf, if I can put it as basically as that. Sometimes the cell information just gets a bit confused and the plant decides to put out a plantlet rather than a flower. So the plant is effectively switching from sexual reproduction through producing flowers that are pollinated and then produce seed, to vegetative reproduction, where it's putting out a plantlet that can then drop down to the ground, root and make a new plant. That means that the plantlet is a clone of the parent plant. Genetically, it's completely identical, as opposed to the seed that would be pollinated, as opposed to sexual reproduction, where the seed produced by the flowers of the plant would be genetically different from that parent. I mean, does that make any difference to you? Not really, other than the fact that it speeds up the process of propagating that plant because you can snip off that baby plant, once it's reached a reasonable size, and it should root in some gritty compost quite easily. Yes, you will get less plants than if you saved a seed pod and sowed those seeds but it certainly does make things work quicker. So, yes, Frank can cut off that flower stem at any stage. These plants really want to survive, so they will root quite easily. I don't know about you but I do love a plant freebie! I hope that helps, Frank, and if you've got a question for On The Ledge, do drop a line to me. I will be happy to help if I possibly can. If you can provide loads of information and pictures about your problem, that really helps me to answer your question. Just drop a line to ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com
Let's return to our chat about Lechuza Pon and I wanted to find out whether you have to buy the pots from Lechuza, or whether you can just buy the Pon and use your own pots.
Arvin: Yes, of course you can! Pon can be used in a variety of vessels. Whether you have a sealed bottom planter, or an open drainage planter, Lechuza Pon is a universal alternative to potting soil. This being said, we have amazing amount of plant growers who prefer to actually use their own clear plastic sealed containers. What I mean by this, is they can actually see from the outside of the planter, how their rooting structure is, how the health of the roots are, is there anything in particular in terms of fungus or root health or root rot, which is occurring, and they can monitor and maintain this from from using a clear plastic container. But, however, they do work hand-in-hand with our Lechuza self-watering planters, but yes, I would say that everyone is free to use Lechuza Pon in any way that they deem fit, in terms of sealed units or open drainage units.
Jane: So let's talk about specifics here, of different plants that you can grow in Pon. Is there anything that you really can't grow in Pon, that really just won't be happy, that you wouldn't recommend trying to convert to a Pon system?
Arvin: I would say it's a free-for-all. Each plant will have its own dependent factors, such as the type, the variety, of plant, location, humidity, watering requirements, temperature and the actual requirements for the substrate itself. So all of these factors need to be taken on board in terms of when you're transferring any type of plant. Whether it's roses, Hoyas, succulents, orchids, each plant will have its own unique functions that you need to be looking out for. We categorise them into two areas. The first ones, the heavy-wetting plants, they will, obviously, require wetter conditions, damper conditions, and generally, in that case, is we would have a reduced dry phase. You would water, once that water is taken in by the plant you'd have a one to five days break where you wouldn't want to water. Then there's the second stage, which is where some plants will require drier conditions or drier periods where they're not being watered. We generally educate all of our customers to observe a type of dry phase, whether it's a slightly reduced one or a very long one. In terms of a full dry cycle, I would recommend a standard drying phase of anywhere between three and fourteen days on a normal type planter, which requires slightly drier periods of watering. Generally, the reason being is that it will develop a strong rooting system and, as the roots then span out to search for water, the health of the plant increases because it's now trying to span out, trying to gauge a larger area of the planter which they probably didn't venture into before.
Jane: One of the other questions that really came up so often when I asked listeners about Pon, is rinsing. So, a question of, "Does Pon need to be rinsed before it's used?" I've got people who want to rinse a whole bag in one go, people who don't want to rinse it, people who want to rinse a little bit at a time. Give me the lowdown on rinsing.
Arvin: Generally, you don't need to rinse Lechuza Pon. You can use it straight from the bag, as it arrives to you. We have had some growers who have come back to us to say that their plants actually thrive better once it's been rinsed and all flushed, as they would call it. But what they're trying to do here is, basically, just wash away the small grit and sediment inside the bag where, obviously, the bag has rustled over time. So, as the particles rub together, you get smaller grains of sand or sediment inside the bag or inside the mixture, so they're just, basically, washing away the smaller grit and sediment leaving the larger mineral stones behind.
Jane: Well, that sounds like a lot of work saved. So let's talk about feeding. You said that the Pon comes with an inbuilt fertilizer. How long does that last and when do we need to think about starting to feed plants that are in Pon?
Arvin: Okay, so generally with Lechuza Pon, you do get a hard capsulated fertiliser feed added in. What I mean by that is it's a slow release formula in a solid pellet form and you'd actually be able to visually see these as yellow pellets inside the mixture. These pellets here, or fertiliser beads that we have, can last anywhere between six to eight months inside the mixture that you have right now. So, straight away, as you plant up using the Lechuza Pon from the bag, you have feed already in place for you and your plant for the next six to eight months. Obviously, as time elapses and you get to the six to eight month mark, you will see these beads from the surface diminish. You have then two options; you can add liquid fertiliser feed, which you can buy from any local garden centre, Amazon, eBay etc. and that can be poured directly into the Pon mixture and then the Pon will grab onto the fertiliser feed and release it when it needs to, or you can buy our own fertiliser, which is the Lechuza Leaf for leafing-type plants, or Lechuza Flower, which is for flowering-type plants. These would then give you another period of six to eight months of feed in a slow-release formula.
Jane: Where do people go wrong with Pon? I imagine it's the usual thing of not really reading the instructions properly, or not really taking in the information? Where do people go wrong and what can they do to get things back on track?
Arvin: I would say 99% of the problems is the actual planting up stage. I would say follow the instructions as we've provided them, follow the steps that we have in place for that specific type of plant, or the type of planting method, and follow the dry phase that we offer as well. What most end-users tend to do, is they would continue to water their plants and what this interior does is it makes the roots of the plant, I would say, very large and swollen. What this then does, when you reduce the watering amount to that type of plant, it will start to fade, the leaves will start to brown and, eventually, it will slowly start to die out because you've now over watered instead of regulating that dry phase for that plant to strengthen its roots. So I would say that's generally the first and most common problem that occurs. Then, secondly, is, I would say, adding too much fertiliser in. Once, obviously, the period is gone, they will then start to add their own liquid feeds in. We would always say gauge and measure the size of the planter and the amount of feed that you're putting into your plant. If it's a small planter, you'd probably only need two to three drops from a pipette, diluted down into water to add to your feed. You wouldn't need anywhere between ten or fifteen mils, that is written on the back of the instruction label. So you have to gauge it and understand not to over-fertilise because you will get fertiliser burn, but I would say the dry phase is always very important to follow.
Jane: Now there's no secret about what's in your Pon substrate. Obviously, as I said before, houseplant growers are experimenting all the time and some people have looked at your list of ingredients and said, "I can do that at home myself!" and made their own DIY mixes, which, I guess, isn't probably that much of a surprise to you. Are there potential pitfalls? Of course, you're going to say, "Buy our product" but is that something you're aware of, worried about, trying to combat?
Arvin: Well, to be fair, we're not going to really combat it because all of the key ingredients in our product can be individually bought, or, like you said, they can be individually put together as well. I would say it's the parts-per-matter which is unique to us. I'm not going to release that information because then everybody will know what we do, but the parts-per-matter is what makes our Lechuza Pon the ideal growing ratio. It's been tried, it's been tested, scientifically proven and then we've got our own fertiliser which is added in as well. Many have tried, many have succeeded in their mixtures, but I would always say just buy original. It is a little bit pricier than using compost or soils etc, but Lechuza Pon is a lifetime product for you. It can be washed, it can be reused and it can be re-fertilised as well. So, let's just say, in a year's time, that Pon's looking weak and tired, you can reinvigorate it by just washing it in some warm water, adding some new solid fertiliser back into it, or reintroducing it back in, mix it back up and you can reuse that and that life cycle just keeps going and going. You don't then need to go out and keep on buying Lechuza Pon consistently and that's the reason why we want to aim to push Lechuza Pon as an alternative to soil. With soil, you're continuously buying more, you're buying more and you'll, obviously, keep on adding fertilisers. It all adds up in the long run. Whereas Lechuza Pon, you buy one bag, you're good with that one bag for a very, very long time.
Jane: Now that is where you might have me, in terms of converting to Pon, that idea that you can just buy the amount you need for your plants, transition them and then you can just keep using it over and over again. I love the fact that that's sustainable. That is probably the most appealing feature of it for me, so it's really interesting to hear that. I guess the difference is it's inorganic, so it's not breaking down the same way that my compost will be breaking down over time and ending up on the compost heap. That's a really good point that I hadn't thought of. As I say, I'm an old dinosaur! I don't know if I'm going to ever fully switch away from soil, but it's really interesting to hear what you're doing, Arvin, and thank you very much for joining me today!
Arvin: Thank you very much, Jane.
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Jane: Thanks so much to Arvin and do check out the show notes for links to Lechuza and all their info. I would love to hear from you on this subject. Obviously, we've heard from Lechuza, who are the makers of one kind of Pon, but I know a lot of you are doing your own thing, creating your own mixes. Maybe Pon has worked brilliantly for you, maybe it's been an absolute disaster. I'm going to be hearing from one listener who has found great success with expanded clay pebbles, aka Leca, in an upcoming episode, so I'd also like to have your thoughts for that episode. Do feed back because, while it's great to hear from Lechuza, I know that you guys also have a lot of expertise to offer, so if you've got a follow-up question shoot it over to me.
That's all for this week's show. I'll be back next Friday and don't forget to send me your thoughts about what's changed since February 2017 for that 200th episode. Have a great, planty week! Be good and if you can't be good, be careful . . . and if you can't be careful, don't get caught! Bye!
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Jane: The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll by The Joy Drops, The Road We Used To Travel When We Were Kids, by Komiku, and Sundown by Josh Woodward. All tracks are licensed under Creative Commons. Visit the show notes for details.
I find out more about the soil-free growing medium Pon from Lechuza’s UK sales director Arvin Bhudia, and I answer a question about a succulent that’s growing something strange.
This week’s guest
Arvin Bhudia is the sales director for Lechuza UK. Lechuza can be found on Instagram at @lechuza.co.uk and Lechuza Uk is on Twitter as @lechuzaUK.
(Fascinating fact: the German company behind Lechuza, Brandstätter Group, also makes the children’s toy Playmobil!)
Check out the notes below as you listen…
Lechuza Pon is a mineral based (ie soil-free and inorganic) substrate made of four ingredients: zeolite, bims (aka pumice), lava rock and slow release fertiliser granules.
Pon can be used in different ways:
1. 25% rule: keeping the plant in soil and adding pon within the drainage level, using a drainage barrier to keep the soil and pon separate.
2. 50% rule: using pon in the drainage level and filling the void around the rootball with pon as well as topping the surface to completely cover the rootball with pon.
3. Complete replant into 100% pon. Rinse away all the organic matter on the rootball and place directly into pon.
You don’t have to used Lechuza self watering planters to use pon: you can use a sealed bottom planter or open drainage planter: lots of people used clear plastic sealed containers with pon so they can see what’s happening at root level.
Lechuza says pon does not have to be rinsed, but some growers like to flush/rinse pon to remove smaller particles that can impede drainage.
The slow release fertiliser in Lechuza Pon should last for six months: after that you can add liquid fertiliser of your choice, or you can top up with Lechuza’s own slow release fertilisers.
Lechuza has also started selling other substrates: Terrapon is an organic substrate; OrchidPon for orchids, and Veggiepon, a friendly substrate for growing veg.
Have you gone soil-free? Are you a convert to pon or leca? I’d love to hear how you’ve done with inorganic substrates: drop me a line to ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com with your thoughts for inclusion in an upcoming episode.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Frank’s succulent with its mystery growths.
Frank’s succulent has put out a flower spike but it’s covered in baby plants…. what’s going on?
This plant looks like a Gasteria/Aloe hybrid, aka a Gasteraloe.
The phenomenon seen here is known as false vivipary: let’s break that down! Vivipary is where seeds sprout while still attached to the fruit or seedhead they came from - you may remember seeing a picture of a strawberry covered in sprouting seeds for instance.
False vivipary is where plantlets grow where flowers should be on a flower stem: in effect some of the cells have get confused. Botanists don’t full understand why this happens, but it seems to occur more frequently in certain plants, such as Agaves, Gasteria, Aloe and some carnivorous plants such as the venus flytrap.
The plantlets can be snipped off and rooted on gritty compost: they will be genetic clones of the parent, whereas plants grown from seed would be genetically different: in other words, false vivipary is a form of vegetative (as opposed to sexual) reproduction. This doesn’t seem to hurt the plants and once it turns brown the flower spike can be chopped down to the base of the plant or pulled away using a firm tug.
Want to ask me a question? Email ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. The more information you can include, the better - pictures of your plant, details of your location and how long you have had the plant are always useful to help solve your issue!
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CREDITS
This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops, The Road We Use To Travel When We Were Kids by Komiku and Overthrown by Josh Woodward.