---
title: "I tried to put my Alocasia polly in a semi-hydro setup and gave her…"
description: "I tried to put my Alocasia polly in a semi-hydro setup and gave her root rot 🤦🏼‍♀️ Oops. Can someone help me understand how to use a semi-hydro setup without…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/8YJLrBkOSo27kyNSisgUpA/QTSTJYhRVnEDK3ZGFOb5CA"
community: "Alocasia Aficionados"
author: "Madison"
published: "2025-12-30T17:22:43.044143Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v2/cloudinary/global_data/communities/mpycjli7ggvccwjwq84r.jpg"
---

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# I tried to put my Alocasia polly in a semi-hydro setup and gave her…

_Posted by Madison on 2025-12-30_

I tried to put my Alocasia polly in a semi-hydro setup and gave her root rot 🤦🏼‍♀️ Oops. Can someone help me understand how to use a semi-hydro setup without repeating the same mistake? Any resources such a youtube videos diving into this topic would also be greatly appreciated. I used a diy lechuza pon recipe but am open to other options. She was living in my greenhouse cabinet where it got 12 hours of light each day. I did wash the roots clean before transferring to semi-hydro so there wasn’t any soil on them. My specific questions are:  
1.) How do you know when to water again and how much water to provide?  
2.) Do you follow the same rule of thumb for sizing a planter for a semi-hydro setup as you do for soil/potting mix (i.e about 1-2 inches bigger than the root ball)?  
3.) What medium do you like to use and why?

Thanks in advance!

## 7 comments

### Amie206 commented on 2025-12-30

The Leca Queen and Leafy Diva are two creators that have a lot of info about moving to semi-hydro.

All my alocasia are in semi-hydro. Were you using a wicking set up?

#### Amie206 replied on 2025-12-30

I water when the reservoir is dry. Maybe a day or two after.

Yes - same idea when repotting. That said, if your roots have grown out of the cache pot, you may lose some of them.

I have had all my alocasia in pon for more than a year. I haven’t lost one since transferring. I also rinse them in the shower once per month to keep pests at bay.

#### Madison replied on 2025-12-31

thank you! I will check them out. I did have a wicking set up using a self watering pot

#### Madison replied on 2025-12-31

do you propogate them in water or anything before transferring to semi-hydro or did you transition your plants straight from soil to it?

#### Amie206 replied on 2025-12-31

For more mature plants, I’ve cut the roots very short before putting into pon. When I have a small plant (4” pot or smaller) I just rinse the roots and put in pon.

### Paulina | Semi-Hydro commented on 2025-12-31

I keep several alocasia successfully in pon - I use the Lechuza one and I keep them in self watering planters with a wick and make sure they never run dry.  
Another thing I’ve noticed with alocasia in particular when moving to semi-hydro is that I’ve had the smoothest transition if I propagate them in water to let them grow new roots before transferring. I did a direct transfer with a black velvet once and it melted, so now I always do “the long method” first (The Leca Queen who was mentioned above goes through this process in detail on her YouTube channel).  
After transferring to semi-hydro, I always use a root boosting nutrient (I use GT Root Ultra - I’m in the UK) for a few weeks before switching to my standard nutrient.

#### Madison replied on 2025-12-31

thank you!

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