Hi all - I recently had an albo monstera die from root rot 😫 and was told it was because of the pot setup, but I don't understand how the setup I had could have possibly led to rot.

Below is a picture of the setup that I had (A), along with 2 other setups that I'd like your opinion on.

A - pot with Leca and a hole in the bottom. Water until water runs out and then you're done.

B - pot with Leca and NO hole in bottom. Water is only filled to the bottom section, away from the roots. Water is carried to roots by capillary action via the Leca.

C - inner pot with Leca and holes/mesh, outer pot with no holes and a water reservoir and a cotton cord to wick water to the Leca and roots.

I don't see how it's possible to over-water anything with the setup in A. Even if Leca holds onto water, isn't there sufficient airflow in the pot?

Which do you think is the best setup for your plants?

Also, I'm new to Leca (the albo I bought came with it). Personally I prefer a chunky aroid mix with bark. Will the setup in B & C work with aroid mix?

Thanks, and hopefully you had a laugh at my rudimentary drawings. 😁

If you were using setup A, I would suspect your plant died from not getting enough moisture, not rot. How was it determined that it died of rotting?

The new leaf was black before it even came out, the roots were mushy.

White Variegated Monstera (Monstera deliciosa 'Albovariegata') is such a beautiful plant; I'm so sorry you lost yours to root rot.

I know that everyone has different views and what works for one person's growing conditions may not work for another but I think, for the overall and long term health of the plant, a well aerated soil and good air circulation around the entire plant is extremely important. I also feel that more than a single drainage hole is warranted for adequate aeration and drainage at root level.

I hope you will be able to acquire another Monstera "Albo" and that you have better luck next time. I always thought it would be nice to have a variegated Monstera ... until I saw the $$$$ that people were asking for them!!

Oftentimes it is not just the watering aspect you have to consider.

What was the ambient temperature around your plant..and what light exposure was it getting?

Usually, the colder the temps are, especially for tropicals, they go less active..so less watering. They may not go dormant, but they just do not need too much water at this time of the year. But if temps are sustained indoors..like temps are stable at the range of 70F to 80F, even overnight and light exposure is sufficient for its needs, then it will be consuming water better, hence it will not suffer overwatering.

At times, I even run the ceiling fan to simulate airflow around the entire plant.

If your heater is turned on, air will be drier around your plant, so it may actually need more water too..but it all depends on your growing environment there. That is why it bears to analyze other aspects around your plant and not just the watering alone.

Hello Ani,
and sorry for the loss of your plant.
Good for you, trying to figure out what happened. (Your drawings are great!)
Personally, I'd chalk it up as a "fail" for Leca.
I say that without ever having tried growing in pure Leca. I also haven't tried hydro nor semi-hydro nor wick watering setups. I never had any reason to.
I have used wick "un-watering" for a plant in a public space that passers-by liked to water. It's been working great.
Once you have proper light, temperature and humidity, proper potting will make all the difference for proper watering.
This is what works for me:
Having a pot with LOTS of drainage holes. It's hard to find ceramic or even terracotta pots that have anywhere near enough drainage for most houseplants. Those black plastic growers' pots work best. Or, you can drill lots of extra holes in a plastic pot. You can place an ugly pot inside a cache pot, but never leave water sitting in the outer pot.
I've even seen pictures of terracotta pots with most of the bottom knocked out and replaced with a piece of screen.
These fast-draining pots now need fast-draining soil. I use houseplant potting mix, with 20 to 50% added grit. For grit, my favorites are: poultry grit (granite chips), small pumice, or pea gravel. They all seem to work fine. I'm not fond of perlite, it tends to have a lot of fine dust that clogs up the soil, plus it will float out of the pot when I water.
Add some small bark if you like, I'm not sure it makes any difference.
Do not add a layer of stones to the bottom of the pot. This makes drainage worse, and raises the perched water level.
This setup allows both air and water around the roots. I water thoroughly, then let plants get moderately dry before watering again. I haven't had any problems with root rot.
The only plants I don't use this with are Fittonia and Peace Lilies. They seem to like to keep their feet wet.
Water quality is also an issue with any sort of bottom watering. My tap water is quite hard. I get calcium/mineral buildup everywhere. Without frequent flushing out of pots, there can be enough mineral buildup to inhibit plant growth. I killed off a couple of African Violets this way, it took about a year.
There are lots of different opinions on the best pot and potting mix, sometimes you just have to find what works for you.

if you are using straight leca, perlite or similar all large aggregate media, there is no need for more than one hole. But the hole needs to be large enough so as not to clog up. More holes are fine, but these are wanted with smaller aggregate media that restrict water flow due to high capillary action.

Is there a back-story to your plant's demise? Did you put it in leca from growing in soil? Perhaps this video might help. She is a soil scientist, and honestly, I've seen a lot of her good videos, and she's never acted as goofy as she does in the beginning of this one.... you might want to advance to 1 minute into the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

tarev said: Oftentimes it is not just the watering aspect you have to consider.

What was the ambient temperature around your plant..and what light exposure was it getting?

Usually, the colder the temps are, especially for tropicals, they go less active..so less watering. They may not go dormant, but they just do not need too much water at this time of the year. But if temps are sustained indoors..like temps are stable at the range of 70F to 80F, even overnight and light exposure is sufficient for its needs, then it will be consuming water better, hence it will not suffer overwatering.

At times, I even run the ceiling fan to simulate airflow around the entire plant.

If your heater is turned on, air will be drier around your plant, so it may actually need more water too..but it all depends on your growing environment there. That is why it bears to analyze other aspects around your plant and not just the watering alone.

All good points. The temp is about 65-68 and I don't have a humidifier set up. Light is north-east morning sun (not very intense) and then I turn on a grow light in the evening. There's no heater or fan.

MsDoe said: Hello Ani,
and sorry for the loss of your plant.
Good for you, trying to figure out what happened. (Your drawings are great!)
Personally, I'd chalk it up as a "fail" for Leca.
I say that without ever having tried growing in pure Leca. I also haven't tried hydro nor semi-hydro nor wick watering setups. I never had any reason to.
I have used wick "un-watering" for a plant in a public space that passers-by liked to water. It's been working great.
Once you have proper light, temperature and humidity, proper potting will make all the difference for proper watering.
This is what works for me:
Having a pot with LOTS of drainage holes. It's hard to find ceramic or even terracotta pots that have anywhere near enough drainage for most houseplants. Those black plastic growers' pots work best. Or, you can drill lots of extra holes in a plastic pot. You can place an ugly pot inside a cache pot, but never leave water sitting in the outer pot.
I've even seen pictures of terracotta pots with most of the bottom knocked out and replaced with a piece of screen.
These fast-draining pots now need fast-draining soil. I use houseplant potting mix, with 20 to 50% added grit. For grit, my favorites are: poultry grit (granite chips), small pumice, or pea gravel. They all seem to work fine. I'm not fond of perlite, it tends to have a lot of fine dust that clogs up the soil, plus it will float out of the pot when I water.
Add some small bark if you like, I'm not sure it makes any difference.
Do not add a layer of stones to the bottom of the pot. This makes drainage worse, and raises the perched water level.
This setup allows both air and water around the roots. I water thoroughly, then let plants get moderately dry before watering again. I haven't had any problems with root rot.
The only plants I don't use this with are Fittonia and Peace Lilies. They seem to like to keep their feet wet.
Water quality is also an issue with any sort of bottom watering. My tap water is quite hard. I get calcium/mineral buildup everywhere. Without frequent flushing out of pots, there can be enough mineral buildup to inhibit plant growth. I killed off a couple of African Violets this way, it took about a year.
There are lots of different opinions on the best pot and potting mix, sometimes you just have to find what works for you.

Thanks MsDoe. I use inner pots with lots of holes (like orchid pots). I too am not a fan of Leca, though people swear by it. I like a chunky aroid mix (soil, bark, perlite).

Leftwood said: if you are using straight leca, perlite or similar all large aggregate media, there is no need for more than one hole. But the hole needs to be large enough so as not to clog up. More holes are fine, but these are wanted with smaller aggregate media that restrict water flow due to high capillary action.

Is there a back-story to your plant's demise? Did you put it in leca from growing in soil? Perhaps this video might help. She is a soil scientist, and honestly, I've seen a lot of her good videos, and she's never acted as goofy as she does in the beginning of this one.... you might want to advance to 1 minute into the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Hi Leftwood - when I purchased the plant it was already in Leca. I didn't mess with it. About a week after I got it, I noticed the new leaf was black at the tip. I watered per their instructions and the excess water ran out. Then the black part spread down to the whole leaf and attempts to save it failed.🙁

I will check out the video, thanks.