the move from compost to perlite was brought on by a stressful infestation by fungus gnats, unfortunately fixing the problem in my home wouldn't solve the issue because I found they actually come from outside my garden area too! (i have no ownership over it) so…
after a few weeks of SERIOUS reading and watching and gathering info..
the change over started, around 3/4 months ago, and since then i've had to upsize jars/vases some even more than once!! (i've now got vases in abundance)
monsteras LOVE it! I can't stress that enough!! the root growth in only a week is intense! be prepared and do NOT put them in a vase you wish to keep!
my umbrella tree was trimmed before I did the move to perlite, and for ages it wasn't giving off any new branches! now it's flourishing and i honestly don't even know where to begin pruning, i'm just letting her do her thing for a bit!
succulents & cacti also love it! I had no idea you could grow and propagate cacti in only water?! crazy! my snake plant hasn't grown this much EVER! my spring/winter cacti has had a bit of adjustment but is now doing great!!
bird of paradise has been up and down, but only these past few weeks it's been thriving!!
philodendron & calathea seriously fell out with me and almost died, but they're back and they're giving out lots of new leaves!
all in all this has been such an amazing move for me! and I haven't seen this much new growth in years! and also, no fungus gnats or pests!!! this took a few weeks to completely eradicate!
i did read that a good fertiliser was in need for this move, and that ones containing seaweed would be best, so the end picture is the one i've been using!
by repotpropagateplants
19 Comments
Who would have thought??!
Thanks for sharing your research and plant story
Wow wow wow! All of your plants are like nursery greenhouse quality. They’re all thriving and loving life. They’re gorgeous and thank you for sharing. Question how high do you have the water level? Is it just a little bit at the bottom or do you have it all the way up to the top And in either case how often are you watering? Just out of curiosity and for the love of plants. I’ve been considering perlite too. I heard it does wonders literally raises plants from the dead, for example plants with root rot were saved thanks to perlite. Have you tried different types of perlite? Like chunky vs small. Omg I have so many questions. I’m in need of a plant success story.
This is so interesting! Thank you for sharing . Do you mind providing more information? Any resources you could share? It’s so cool — I need more info!
also, i couldn’t find as much info as i would have liked, its minimal but there is info out there! so if anyone has any questions im so happy to help!
Very interesting. Do you need to change the water out regularly? How often do you fertilize?
Do you do the bit of fertilizer at each watering?
Also, would like to know where you’re getting the cool shaped vases!
No problems with algae?
Why do you say not to put monsteras in a vase you want to keep? Do they break the glass? 😳
Hey, first of all: WOW!
Since I don’t have any insta/tiktok, I would love to have some sort of tutorial.. just from reading, it feels like some sort of cheatcode, you’ve unlocked!
Are the monsteras in a blend of some sort, or how does the perlite color look different from the rest (kind of brown instead of white)?
Also, was it a gradual substrate change or did you (because of the infestation) need to just do an immediate uproot and replant into the perlite?
Great job and thank you for sharing!
So the plants are in a perlite and water medium correct? And you add more water when it’s about half down? And fertilize every other filling? Sorry for asking for a repeat just intrigued and interested lol. Assuming I’m correct as well, how often do you end up refilling with water? Do you have to keep adding perlite?
This is awesome! I wonder if this is similar ish to semi hydro/ leca in a way? Roots love the oxygen from the pockets between substrate pieces but also need the fertilizer if they’re not getting nutrients from soil.
I had some snake plant cuttings that were taking forever to root in water so I tossed them into perlite in hopes that would help them propagate. The rate at which they grew roots, new shoots, etc was ASTOUNDING. I now have a full bushy snake plant. Perlite is now my go to method for rooting propagations, or saving any plants that have root issues. I don’t know why I never thought to just keep them in perlite and fertilize. Thanks for sharing!!! Beautiful plants.
Ive found that in any big transition like this, fertilizer is a must! Having those roots contact nutrients asap seems to give the plant the signal “oh this is good let’s root now!” Honestly im about to make the jump to a 20-20-20 fertilizer. Went up to a 10 early spring and everything exploded. Alocasias became easy lil non fussy babies once they had “enough” food lol. My big monsteras are the same way, they cant get enough lol
One thing I will say regarding seaweed fertilizer…the water will get RANK if you leave it out too long. Probably any fertilizer with active bacteria in it, etc.
Have you noticed any of that with perlite? I have a few in chunky mix that want to stay semi hydro and changing their water smells like a fart lol
Thank you for sharing your experiment! Stuff like this is why I love plants/the plant community ❤️
Wow! I’ll try this asap with several of my plants. So many of them are stagnant and have been for forever. Nothing is happening.
Very nice! Thanks for sharing. I have read a bit about this technique lately, gonna give it a try with some snake plants!
COMPOST TO PERLITE TUTORIAL
i’ve never written a tutorial before so bare with me ahahah!
everything you will need,
you will need:
– a face covering! perlite is super dangerous to our lungs! so take precautions because you’ll be using a lot of it! also keep pets away whilst you are sorting your plants out!
– the plant/cutting that you want to change to perlite
– perlite
– seaweed based fertiliser
– 1 litre or above sized jug
– cinnamon if you plan on propagating from a cutting
– a vase suitable, a few sizes bigger than the pot you have, i recommend no lip on the vase, preferably a straight cylinder shape!
– toothbrush
– clean pair of scissors/shears
– microfibre cloth
STEPS
– face covering/ mask on! 🙂
– first remove your plant from the compost, give it a good rinse under water, using a toothbrush to get into the small end of stalk areas, you can even use a little bit of soap to help! get all the compost off of the plant. (if you’re really struggling to do so, you can put your plant in water for a few weeks, changing the water every so often until it’s clean)
– removing some roots and pruning. roots can be trimmed back especially if you cant get the skin off of them which is apart of compost roots, you can also use this time to prune a little, always use clean sharp utensils!
– for cuttings/propagation try a little dusting of cinnamon on the end of your cutting (only after it has dried and there is a dry end (crust)
– fill your jar up just over half way with perlite (maybe less if you have a big plant that needs to be held up a bit more) you want the end of your plants stalk to be just under the rim of the vase, sit the plant hovering over the perlite where you’ld like it to sit, then fill the remainder up with perlite, it’s super hard to push a plant into perlite so hovering and filling around it is better!
– get a jug, put only 2-5 drops of seaweed fertiliser per litre of water (you can start smaller with drops and see how your plants react ) mix well and then begin filling the vase up slowly, fill right to the bottom of the stalk of the plant!
– use a microfibre cloth to clean all leaves for extra oxygen release from your plant
– refilling water. wait until your plant drinks down about half or three quarters of the water, then refill it back up, never removing the water!
– every second refill add a few drops to your 1 litre of water, and fill back up!
– be prepared for FAST root growth in some plants!
good luck <3
Ok, just so I’m clear on this, this is for prop only? Or are you just flat keeping your plants in the perlite and never putting them in soil again? Thank you so much for answering the questions!
Thank you so much for posting this. I am learning a lot and becoming inspired to buy some perlite and start my own plant success story.
Is there a place to look for really good prices on perlite?