LECHUZA-PON a suitable substrate for cacti?

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Mrs.Green
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LECHUZA-PON a suitable substrate for cacti?

Post by Mrs.Green »

I found this ; https://www.lechuza.us/accessories-lech ... 19561.html in a local shop. Pretty expencive stuff here but if this is a good substrate, I will buy it. Any experience/thoughts would be welcome 😊
Mrs.Green
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Re: LECHUZA-PON a suitable substrate for cacti?

Post by Mrs.Green »

Adding; if this is a good substrate, could I use only this or should I mix it with something else. ( depending of species of course)

..and after looking online for info I got a bit insecure about it’s suitability for cacti..someone mentioned that it wasn’t good for cacti, since it retained to much water. Not exactly what I was looking for :-k
keith
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Re: LECHUZA-PON a suitable substrate for cacti?

Post by keith »

You could mix it with small gravel ?
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Steve Johnson
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Re: LECHUZA-PON a suitable substrate for cacti?

Post by Steve Johnson »

keith wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 8:48 pm You could mix it with small gravel ?
Agreed -- pumice holds a surprising amount of water, and the porosity of lava rock creates a similar effect. Mrs. Green, if you mix LECHUZA-PON with a nonporous gravel, it will act as a "moderator" that prevents the pumice and lava rock from taking too long to dry out. I grow the vast majority of my cacti in a 60% pumice/40% granite gravel mix, and the granite is there for precisely that reason.

There's only one thing about LECHUZA-PON I'm not thrilled with:

"Fully-coated, premium-quality fertilizer.
The coating is purely organize [I think it's supposed to say "organic"] and breaks down without leaving any residue.
The fertilizer supplies your plant with nutrients for up to 6 months.
Fit for all plants, including foliage, flowering plants like orchids, citrus plants, herbs, tomatoes, fruit trees, cacti, and more."

Desert cacti in the wild grow in nutrient-poor native soils, and nursery-grown cacti share the same genetic heritage as their wild ancestors. While they do need to be fertilized under cultivation, fertilizer levels should always be lower than what we would use for orchids, citrus, tomatoes, etc. I doubt that the LECHUZA-PON people know anything about the lower nutrient requirements that are specific to cacti and succulents. However, growing your cacti with their fertilizer shouldn't be a problem IMO -- once it's used up, you can start using your fertilizer of choice.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
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MrXeric
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Re: LECHUZA-PON a suitable substrate for cacti?

Post by MrXeric »

That mix looks good, though not as course as I would like. But it should still be an improvement from normal potting soil/compost. Their "organic" fertilizer looks to be just some composted material and/or worm castings or vermicast. I do see some grains of slow release fertilizer that may be of concern, but I wouldn't worry much if their "6 months worth of feed" claim is true.
I would also agree with mixing this with aquarium gravel, not only to help limit water retention but to cut the more expensive mix with something cheaper and make it last longer.
Mrs.Green
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Re: LECHUZA-PON a suitable substrate for cacti?

Post by Mrs.Green »

keith wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 8:48 pm You could mix it with small gravel ?
Thank you Keith; exactly what I came up with as a possible solution too, glad to learn that I wasn’t way off, thinking that.
Steve Johnson wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 9:59 pm [quote=keith post_id=394617 time=<a href="tel:1655412539">1655412539</a> user_id=6370]
You could mix it with small gravel ?
Agreed -- pumice holds a surprising amount of water, and the porosity of lava rock creates a similar effect. Mrs. Green, if you mix LECHUZA-PON with a nonporous gravel, it will act as a "moderator" that prevents the pumice and lava rock from taking too long to dry out. I grow the vast majority of my cacti in a 60% pumice/40% granite gravel mix, and the granite is there for precisely that reason.

There's only one thing about LECHUZA-PON I'm not thrilled with:

"Fully-coated, premium-quality fertilizer.
The coating is purely organize [I think it's supposed to say "organic"] and breaks down without leaving any residue.
The fertilizer supplies your plant with nutrients for up to 6 months.
Fit for all plants, including foliage, flowering plants like orchids, citrus plants, herbs, tomatoes, fruit trees, cacti, and more."

Desert cacti in the wild grow in nutrient-poor native soils, and nursery-grown cacti share the same genetic heritage as their wild ancestors. While they do need to be fertilized under cultivation, fertilizer levels should always be lower than what we would use for orchids, citrus, tomatoes, etc. I doubt that the LECHUZA-PON people know anything about the lower nutrient requirements that are specific to cacti and succulents. However, growing your cacti with their fertilizer shouldn't be a problem IMO -- once it's used up, you can start using your fertilizer of choice.
[/quote]

Thanks a lot Steve Johnson! I wonder if it would help to wash ( and dry) the Lechuza-pon before using it? But if the added fertilizer wouldn’t do to much harm, I will use it as it is. Adding gravel to the mix should also give a less total amount of fertilizer, the plant would be exposed to?
Mrs.Green
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Re: LECHUZA-PON a suitable substrate for cacti?

Post by Mrs.Green »

MrXeric wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 12:00 am That mix looks good, though not as course as I would like. But it should still be an improvement from normal potting soil/compost. Their "organic" fertilizer looks to be just some composted material and/or worm castings or vermicast. I do see some grains of slow release fertilizer that may be of concern, but I wouldn't worry much if their "6 months worth of feed" claim is true.
I would also agree with mixing this with aquarium gravel, not only to help limit water retention but to cut the more expensive mix with something cheaper and make it last longer.
Sorry MrXeric, I missed your answer. Thank you very much. I will mix it with aquarium gravel to limit the water retention and it doesn’t hurt cutting the cost a bit either. It is pretty expencive stuff.
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Steve Johnson
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Re: LECHUZA-PON a suitable substrate for cacti?

Post by Steve Johnson »

Mrs.Green wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 9:47 amI wonder if it would help to wash ( and dry) the Lechuza-pon before using it?
I was thinking about that possibility. Here's the problem...

The fertilizer coating in LECHUZA-PON is a slow-release (AKA time-release) fert designed to gradually "wear off" with repeated waterings over the course of 6 months. Unfortunately, washing it once won't do anything. Good news is that it takes a very long time for cacti to show the negative effects of being persistently overfed, and you won't see it after only 6 months of fert application with the LECHUZA-PON. I believe you have about 3 months of your growing season left, then after your cacti go through their winter dormancy, you'll have another 3 months of growing season as the rest of the LECHUZA-PON fert is used up. At that point, you'll be able to start using your fert of choice. Long story short, you should be fine using the product as-is without having to worry about the fert issue.
Mrs.Green wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 9:47 amAdding gravel to the mix should also give a less total amount of fertilizer, the plant would be exposed to?
Correct -- what you're doing is lowering the nutrient dosage, and that works in your favor.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
Mrs.Green
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Re: LECHUZA-PON a suitable substrate for cacti?

Post by Mrs.Green »

Thank you very much Steve Johnson! I will go ahead and use it as it is then, only adding gravel to the mix.
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