---
title: "The soil that this dwarf umbrella tree has become hydrophobic so I…"
description: "The soil that this dwarf umbrella tree has become hydrophobic so I moved it to perlite. Not sure if I can do this to this specific plant lol but we’ll see…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lZ7uAE3pQ86jnFGxrCwLrg/iwSmejQJTzvCXQdMC6sw1U"
community: "Anything about plants"
author: "katelyn"
published: "2026-09-01T16:34:02.009455Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wexDVn_Y8PiDvWA3x-x1d8L2pHOG1qcLYWIzG7TKlkw/NNDD5Rf3TsqgNccVksvMMQ.webp?size=large"
---

[Community](https://getplanta.com/community.md) / [Anything about plants](https://getplanta.com/community/lZ7uAE3pQ86jnFGxrCwLrg.md)

# The soil that this dwarf umbrella tree has become hydrophobic so I…

_Posted by katelyn on 2026-09-01_

The soil that this dwarf umbrella tree has become hydrophobic so I moved it to perlite. Not sure if I can do this to this specific plant lol but we’ll see 🤷🏻‍♀️

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wexDVn_Y8PiDvWA3x-x1d8L2pHOG1qcLYWIzG7TKlkw/NNDD5Rf3TsqgNccVksvMMQ.webp?size=large)

## 2 comments

### Niela commented on 2026-09-02

You will want to move it to soil once the roots are about 2-5 inches long because perlite doesn’t have fertilizer and nutrients that the plant needs so it won’t be able to sustain its self in there for too long. But I do suggest mixing in about 30/40% perlite for drainage

### Cindy B commented on 2026-09-03

What about adding in some stratum ?

---

_Source: the Planta community (https://getplanta.com). Reading is open to everyone. To post, comment and like, get the Planta app: https://getplanta.com/download_
