Plant number one is a Rhapis excelsa palm, a real beauty.They grow well in bright diffuse light but will tolerate periods of low light. The die back at the ends of the leaves is natural. Just take a pair of scissors and trim it off leaving a tiny margin of dead material on the leaf so you do not cut into live tissue.
Plant number two is a Dracaena Janet Craig with a nice little aglonema at the base. Both are very common and tolerant of low light conditions.
All of these plants are growing in Leca or
Grow rock is a Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate (L.E.C.A.), That is
a type of clay which is super-fired to create a porous texture
This system used to be very popular for interior plants but there were issues:
- soluble salt level would build up in the water medium over time
- costly and time consuming to get a plant to adapt to live in the medium
- heavy to move
- any cracks in the pots would leak large quantities of dirty smelly solute on the floor. Oh the memories!
- the indicator would tell you how much water to put in. Usually the float would stop working or small children would fill the float area with leca and you had to guess how much water it needed
If the pots leak water that is why they were left behind as the hydroponic thing cannot work when the container leaks.
The Dracaena and aglo are very common and new ones can be purchased inexpensively. The Rhaphis palm is a real gem and work keeping. Here's how:
- buy a large new pot with a drainage hole at the bottom and a saucer to hold the overflow
- get some potting soil suitable for tropical plants
- get some strong friends and a large area with a tarp on the floor
- remove the plant from the pot
- gently remove as much leca as possible
- place plant in new pot, add soil, water and observe
