Lack of moisture on the surface of the pot with lecca

[Georg Luiz Barth]

Originally Posted by Ray

There will always be a gradient of moisture - saturated at the bottom, less so as you move up in the column of medium. The greater your ambient humidity, the less the gradient.

I have been experimenting with rock wool cubes as a means of providing "wet spots" in the column, and it seems to work pretty well, although I've not yet decided if a "mix" or "layers" is a better idea. Certainly a "top dressing" of wet rock wool provides a bit of an evaporation barrier.

Yes Ray...searching here on the forum, I found a post about Rockwool Medium, where you and other colleagues comment positive experiences on the subject. I found it fascinating... One question, using rockwool mixed with Leca, should I continue using 25ppmN watering every other day?

---------- Post added at 06:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:36 PM ----------

Originally Posted by BobcatJohnson

Many people, including me, use a layer of small rocks to cover the top of the leca. The theory being that the rocks will slow the evaporation rate on the top of the leca surface, allowing the top layer to retain moisture by not drying so quickly. By using small rocks it is easy to remove them one at a time as new growths cause the base of the plant to spread. I still mist the top with R.O. water every morning, but the top of the leca rarely goes completely dry.

Thanks for the comments. I will consider them.