Pon Care Tips - Nutrient Solution

Written By Christina .

Pon is a great medium for semi-hydroponic growing setups. One important aspect of semi-hydroponic growing is your nutrient solution! Pon is an inorganic substrate, therefore it alone will not provide your plants with the nutrients they need to thrive. Some may choose to add slow release fertilizer directly to the pon, but this method typically only provides ~6 months of fertilization. I personally use a nutrient solution in my self-watering plant reservoirs. Below is the nutrient solution that has worked for my plants in my environment. Feel free to give it a try, but keep in mind this isn’t a 1 size fits all and you may need to modify/adjust for your specific plant needs.

Smooga’s Nutrient Solution (I use this for Alocasia, Monstera, Aglaonema, Hoya, Synognium and Philodendron)

  • 1 Gallon Filtered or RO Water

  • 2 mL Silica - General Hydropoics Armor Si - Add this first and you MUST wait at least 20 mins before adding any other items to water

  • 4 mL Liquid Fertilizer - Dyna GRO “SUPERthrive” Foliage Pro

  • 1 mL Vitamin Solution (Optional) - “SUPERthrive” The Original Vitamin Solution

  • pH Adjuster (up or down) to get solution within 5.5 - 6.5 range

Other Tips

I use 5 gallon water jugs with spigot to allow access to filtered water. I go through a lot of water for my 100+ plants in my collection. I mix my nutrients in 1 gallon reusable plastic jugs. I typically treat my filtered tap water with a small amount of Seachem Prime (yes….what you would use for fish tanks) while they are in the 5 gallon jugs.

“Flushing” Your Pon

If you are using self-watering pots with separate cache pot, I highly recommend “flushing” your pon every 1-3 months (or whatever you feel is necessary). This means to empty the current solution in your reservoir, cleaning it out, then replace with fresh nutrient solution. Be prepared as they may get kind of gross overtime. You can add a little bit of 3% hydrogen peroxide to your nutrient solution and pour some solution through the top of the pon when flushing to ensure you get any of the old stagnant solution out.

Christina .