I finally tried it! I’ve planted two of my beloved plants in Lechuza pon. In my most recent blog I tried to break down exactly what the Lechuza planters and pon are and how they work. In this blog, I’d like to just take a minute and walk you through the process of repotting a plant into pon and also give you a quick update on the health and happiness of my plants.
The first plant I repotted was a variegated Maranta leuconeura kerchoviana. Well, actually, only one branch of that plant is variegated. But the amount of variegation on those leaves is to die for so I refer to it as “variegated”. Anyhow, I’d been having trouble keeping those highly coveted variegated leaves looking nice and I knew that it was because I’d been inconsistent in my watering. So a Lechuza planter seemed like the perfect fit for me. It keeps a reservoir of water below the plant’s roots and delivers that water as the plant demands it. In other words, I couldn’t mess it up.
I began by finding an appropriately sized planter called the Maxi Cubi planter. Next, I removed all the potting mix from the roots; very, very gently. (My Maranta has really smallish, delicate roots compared to the Philodendrons and Monsteras that I’m used to dealing with.) This part of the process isn’t at all necessary by the way. According to the included booklet and also according to another trusted plant expert I know, plants can be planted in Lechuza pon with all of the potting mix around their roots. I write that here because many of the other soil-less potting media will not be successful if soil is left around the roots of the plant. I wanted to remove the potting mix because it was what I had bought the plant in originally. After the roots were cleaned of potting mix, I planted my Maranta in the pon. It was just as easy as planting in a potting mix.
And as easy as that, my plant was repotted and looking pretty cute. Photo below.
Now it has been 25 days since repotting and I just watered my little Maranta for the first time. I am thrilled to report that none of the leaves of this plant have browned at all. No crispy edges and no leaf loss. So far so good.
Since things went so smoothly with up potting my Maranta I wasn’t as worried about repotting my huge Monstera adansonii large form. This poor beast had been living in the same pot I’d purchased it in, a 10″ hanging basket that it was desperately trying to escape. I dearly love this plant and you can imagine my distress when it began to throw leaves in copious amounts. Always yellowing slowly to intensify my feelings of inadequacy as a plant parent. I knew that I wanted to try this plant in Lechuza pon because it needed to have more consistent watering, but also since it was probably needing some nutrients. The Lechuza pon has fertilizer in its mix and would help with the nutrient deficiency.
Up potting my Monstera ended up being a much bigger project than the Maranta simply due to the size of the plant. Also I was dealing with three poles, tied in a tripod formation, that I used to support the super long stems of the plant. I chose the Lechuza Classico 35 planter in white. The planting process was identical to the Maranta except for the 3 ft. long stems trailing all over the place.
In the end, my Monstera looks so much better and the pon has been really good at holding the climbing poles in place compared to soil. And it hasn’t thrown one single leaf since. I couldn’t be more pleased.
Directly below here are the links to the Lechuza planters and the Lechuza pon I am currently using. But…I do not think that you should purchase these products online unless it’s a last resort. If you are able to find the Lechuza brand products in a garden center, they will be a fraction of the online prices you will find. I’m not sure why, my best guess is that shipping large heavy planters and super heavy pon is extremely expensive. So please use these links to see the products that are available and then try to find a local place to buy them. Only purchased online if you have no other local options. (Some or all links may be affiliate.)
I hope this article has been helpful to you. Make sure to follow this blog to get a notification when each new article comes out.
Mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.
Liquidambar Girl Gardening 