Help me choose potting media

[Missi]

Please visit this link and help me choose the best media and size of media for potting tropical understory palms (keeping good drainage and proper pH in mind): https://www.repotme.com/orchid-media/index.html

There are so many types of bark, clay, stone (granite, pumice), coconut husks, coconut chips, coconut coir it boggles my mind. Would moss or charcoal within the mix be beneficial to palms or are those mainly for growing orchids?

I'm tired of trying "this" and "that" so I'd like to get a good formula down.

[Pal Meir]

Missi, there is no mix for all tropical understory palms. The light acidic mix I am using for most potted tropical palms like Lytocaryum weddellianum or Licuala grandis is very simple: 2/3 fine pine bark (up to 8 mm) + 1/3 Seramis® (lateritic soil-like burnt loam). If you need a still faster drainage I would recommend 1/2 fine pine bark + 1/2 Seramis® mix, which I’m using for palms growing on steep rocky slopes like Lytocaryum insigne or in sandy soils like Allagoptera caudescens. That’s all.

[Pal Meir]

Here a couple photos documenting the roots’  acceptance of the potting mix:

[Missi]

Wow! This is exceptional! Thank you Pal! Also, I very much appreciate the pics. Happy palm in that mix, indeed! Do you fertilize with that media? If so, what kind and how often? The clay would hold nutrients for "slow release"? What makes your mix acidic? The pine fines? Clay is not acidic, correct?

Other than what is offered on Palmpedia, where else can I learn of the natural "soil" each plant grows in, in habitat? Also, how to you learn of each media "ingredient"s pH, etc.

Inquiring minds....

[Pal Meir]

Seramis has pH 5.6, pine bark I don’t know, but I guess pH 5.5 or less. Seramis holds nutrients and moisture, too. As fertilizer I am using fluids for green plants. I dilute it more than recommended. The amount depends on the growth of the palm, the season, and the weather (sun, heat, etc.).

[Missi]

I'm trying to find an equivalent to Seramis here in the U.S. Is it LECA?

[Pal Meir]

Although both are made from loam they are totally different: LECA is very hard, chemically neutral and doesn’t hold moisture, it is like clean lava. Seramis is much softer and more like lateritic soil in the tropics, holding moisture and nutrients.

[Pal Meir]

Seramis® and LECA (manually crushed and not yet cleaned):

[Missi]

Ahh, very good Pal! I love how you have it down to a "science"! It helps me really understand and I thank you much!

It seems LECA is just for drainage where Seramis is more functional.