Bringing Home A New Plant
My tips below are based from my own experience. Everyone has their own preference on how to acclimate their new plants. This is my method that has worked well for me.
A lot of plant parents say don’t touch your plants for two weeks. I’m not one of them. Remember — I’m prepping my plants to be grown in leca so this is slightly different than prepping for soil.
Step 1: Remove all of its current medium.
Step 2: Give it a nice and wet shower.
Step 3: Spray the leaves with insecticide. Its best to apply insecticide at night when the lights are off and then rinse it off in the morning OR apply insecticide and just leave it in a place with medium indirect light. Insecticide on your leaves under a bright light will turn it yellow or brown.
Step 4: Let it sit in bubbling (aerated water) for 2 weeks to promote water root growth. You can aerate the water with an airstone. This will oxygenate your plant’s roots so they don’t drown in water. Once your plant grows water roots (the white fuzzies) then it can sit in water.
Step 5: Quarantine it away from the rest of your plants. This will save you a lot of heartache if you suddenly get spider mites from a freaking $3 English Ivy plant from Walmart.
Step 6: Place it somewhere humid or put a humidifier nearby. Your plant needs time to get acclimated to your new environment. I’d give it 1wk to 2wks.
Some common mistakes that have killed my plants:
Using the wrong type of fertilizers. Different plants need different nutrients. Do your research!
Don’t use leaf shine…It’ll make your plants look good in the beginning but the ingredients will eventually clog the leaves’ stomata inhibiting its ability to breathe. Think of your skin pores and what happens if you use oils on it. You can shine your leaves with organic soap and water or neem oil.
Avoid direct sunlight. You’ll burn your plants.
Don’t repot too quickly. Give it some time to get used to your environment. Because I grow in leca, I find my new plants love sitting in bubbling water. After 3 days, I pour my diluted nutrient water to get it used to feeding this way and then when I’m ready to transfer the plant into leca, I use the normal amount of nutrient water.
