I have 8 bags of leca I got on super sale, and dammit, I cannot make them work for any plant. I’ve tried repeatedly, but I just don’t get it.
I was considering breaking the leca up into smaller chunks with a hammer to see how that worked out. It’s weird, because I’ve used gravel, pumice, perlite, etc. with no problem, but the leca eludes me. The plants just don’t seem to thrive in it.
I also have a huge bag that’s about half full still. It gets used a soil amendment now, along with coco chips, pumice, zeolite, charcoal, and chunky orchid bark.
I haven’t tried the other soilless methods but I can’t imagine it being that much different than leca as you still have to flush, (ideally wash the cache pot), add all the nutrients and monitor/adjust ph.
Plus I like being able to add the systemic granules which you can’t do in leca, maybe in more of a pon system you can, I’m unsure about that
The leca seems to require more upkeep than pumice or zeolite or even bark and gravel. I have some thriving plants in pumice or gritty mix. And all I had to do was add the supplements initially and occasionally add some to the watering pot. I’m thinking it’s the size of the leca. But I could be wrong. The pumice and gritty mix wrap around the roots better it seems.
I don’t know. I’m speculating.
I thunk crushing it up could work. To be fair, in the soil mixes I use the leca is maybe 5-10% of the mix, so I’m not using it in large quantities. I think it generally helps to sequester excess water and give the roots more air circulation. I use it for plants like alocasias and calatheas, that like the soil to be moist all the time but not wet.
Ah, I see. I’ve just tossed it in potting mixes as an afterthought a few times. I suspect it helps to aerate, but I don’t like this big chunks in the soil. But I see what you mean about using it for those types of plants, it sounds like a good solution for them. I’m truly intrigued about how it will work crushed up. I have to get my SO to do it; it *doesn’t* crush easily, as I’ve learned, to my surprise.
It's worth trying, I think, but I would worry that they'd start to break down and become compacted over time.
I'm actually glad to see this post, because I have had some leca in my cart at Amazon for months but haven't been brave enough to pull the trigger.
Maybe you’d have some luck with it. I can’t believe I have 8 bags of that stuff; the sale on them was phenomenal.
I am also worried that crushed leca would just become compact, which would defeat the purpose.
After buying a bag and wanting to try it, and THEN realizing all the stuff I would need to do to monitor the water (feed the plant, etc.), I decided I don’t have the time or patience for it. I also use mine as part of my soil mix to keep things chunky for plants that don’t like straight up dirt.
I killed sansevieria, yucca and a ponytail palm with leca after watching [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsqSlVMYwaA). I don't know how that guy made it, but doing that completely destroyed all my plants. I also tried putting the leca in self-watering pot with a wick and that didn't work either. The water reservoir was always at the same level.
My ponytail palm in particular was indestructible. It was the only plant that survived serious neglect when I didn't water my plants for a whole summer month, so it's saying something that leca was the thing that did the job.
This surprises me. I've been growing a monstera cutting in leca for about a year now and it is by far my best-performing plant. Constant growth. Huge leaves. I have a few others in leca that are doing well too - A florida ghost and a philo silver sword.
I only ever use distilled water and I always use concentrated fertilizers when I water.
I hear ya. We bought a brita filter to try out this year. So far there hasn’t been any issues. I also have 2 or 3 small bags of leca sitting on a shelf. I’m still reading up on it. Once I get a better understanding I may try.
I just started using aquarium water conditioner in my plant water. You need a very little amount so it lasts forever. Too soon to tell if it helps but some people swear by it.
Yeah I feel that. My wife uses a humidifier so she always seems to have a bottle of distilled water around lol. And I only have a couple plants in leca, so I don't have to use much. I've had great results so far, though. *knock on wood*
For me it’s not about the price, but the extra energy lugging water around. A lot of people don’t drive and live on the top floor of a walk up, (ME!) etc.
I've grown in leca for years (previous experience with an industry that was grey market) and love it. I use self watering pots with leca now and have no issues. What I really like is how easy it is to transplant, how easy it is to inspect roots, and leca is mostly neutral so it's easier to fertilize and control fertilizing. I can count on one hand the number of times I've lost a plant to rot when in leca.
Are your plants submerged or are you giving them time to dry out?
I kept the water at like 1/3 of the inner pot but the roots always grow into the water. If I ever let them dry out they’d become desiccated. I thought you were not supposed to let water roots dry out
They’re all in net or clear orchid pots. The problem is the roots always grow down into the reservoir, so out of the inner pot completely. I could repot it and pull the roots back up every time but I would have to do that like every couple of weeks.
and what is so hard about taking it out once awhile to reset the rootz above the 1/3rd mark repot
Also water itself doesn’t cause water roots to rot but temps above 72F certainly can encourage it
And lack of oxygen w.fresh water
Then again idk I treat my roots with myco even in semiHydro it’s just done differently is all
Also ppl sware by hydroguard
Wicks. Wicks are key for plants prone to rot. Use fewer nutrients, make sure if you use distilled water you add calmag. Hoya in particular thrive in wick'd leca, and I flush maybe once a month, if that. The best part though is pest control. If you have pest issues, nothing beats leca imo. I can spray them off daily if necessary, no chemicals needed.
I also grow a lot of Hoya, semi hydro in leca, with some pon & a tiny bit of fluval to help the roots form. Took a bit of experimentation and I do change it up depending on the plant. I get much stronger healthy roots, they just love to cling to those little clay balls. Also leca is the best for props. 🪴💚
What is your secret? I used wicks for all my plants in leca and all of them died. I never noticed the water reservoir going down. And the water attracts mosquitoes. I used regular tap water, but I doubt that is the reason it didn't work for my plants. I'm using aquarium water conditioner in my water now, but I switched back to soil. I'm afraid to try leca again because I don't want to kill any more plants.
Tap water can definitely be the reason, depending on the quality and pH of your water. Start with props, it's much easier than trying to switch from soil. I can't speak to mosquitoes as I've never had that problem - and I'm in northern Saskatchewan. I'd guess you're leaving the water too long, which will also cause pH issues.
I have a lot of my plants in Leca. I add some nutrients to the water, but measure them with my heart and I’ve never flushed my Leca or washed the pots. I just add water if it’s getting pretty low and that’s it.
Right? After reading all the comments on this thread I was starting to think I was crazy. Flush my pots? Monitoring PH? Measuring nutrients? Distilled water? What? I water when I think about it, with tap water. Sometimes I add a little basic houseplant fertilizer. Never checked ph or flushed my pots. My Hoya Carnosa has been in leca for almost 20 years. No issues. (I have a few others in leca but my Hoya is the oldest)
weird; the idea behind “measuring nutrients” is that when keeping plants in soil, they’re able to absorb nutrients in the soil. there’s no nutrients readily available in water. so lots of people use hydroponic nutrients to feed their plants, because they need both food and water.
not saying to change anything that works for you, but that’s what people are talking about. i’m guessing your plants would be happy if you did do it, though.
But doesn't soil only have 6 months of fertilizer in it? Isn't having a plant in soil for more than 6 months the basic equivalent of having it in LECA? And then if you use a chunky soiless mix, isn't that basically the same as LECA as well?
Just curious, because in theory, you could just fertilise LECA plants like any other plant in your collection?
hydroponics is a thing, I just always used the leftover nutrients from that. not as deep as you’re making it. and no, soil has a lot of different stuff in it that isn’t fertilizer, I don’t know how you’re making these equivalencies. leca is intentionally a soilless medium used in cannabis production. with soil comes rot, that’s what I was told.
I think you’ve misunderstood. I meant that people seem to really overcomplicate giving semi hydro plants nutrients. A lot of potting media doesn’t have nutrients in it or only has enough for 6 months. So it isn’t really all the different between hydro and soil / other mediums.
I’ve only been trying leca for about 5 months or so now. But my plants seem to be really thriving. I’ll have to see how it goes long term but my Orbifolia has doubled in size.
While I’ve never tried growing in leca, I love it as a mulch. It’s lightweight, holds moisture, and most importantly deters pesky squirrels from digging up my outdoor pots.
Wow are you me? I feel this post in my soul. Never had much luck long term with LECA, but is wonderful as a soil amendment. It's also great at rooting hoyas.
Weird. I've kept two pothos in LECA only for a couple years and they're doing great. I don't do anything fancy with them. Just add water when it gets low. Granted they're pothos, so they're not particularly fussy.
I tried leca a year back for a few months and it was okay. My plants grew fine, but I had more issues with leca than my now simple mix of coco coir and perlite. The self watering pots always had grime in them after a week and sometimes mold. That in itself was a bit too much maintenance for me.
Yes I agree with this. I live in a very hard water area and my pH goes acidic with air stones so I would be constantly adjusting or changing the water. I only tried LECA for orchids. I never get them to re-bloom and my husband keeps buying them for me and gets mad when they die. I have green thumb with all my green plants (which re-flower all the time ironically) so I was hoping LECA would be my savior with the orchids.
I followed all the videos and trimmed the roots and had a lot of root growth but also had root rot as well. The leaf growth was very slow too so I decided to mount them in my hermit crab tank where the hunidity is 80% and just let them grow mounted on cork. It worked for awhile but the crabbies like to munch on them so they didn't last long.
I may try again as I have 3 orchids again from Easter, Birthday and Mother's Day lol.
I'm planning to never use leca or anything similar but my reason is a bit different. I think it's just such a consumeristic thing. Just creating a product so they have something different to sell and now you must throw out all your pots and buy new fancy ones. Jeez... I can get soil aeration in other ways... Plus the organic matter in the regular soil also has nutrients. Plus I can mix different elements to make different types of soil depending on the plant needs.
I use Leca to root cuttings. Makes it easy for smaller ones that don't fit in tall prop vessels.
I have a few grown from cuttings in cool small glass jars with Leca. They do alright but I do need to figure out a water fertilizer. I try to run fresh water and rinse them fairly regularly.
I've never tried to transition a healthy plant in soil to Leca. That seems like a minefield of potential issues. Don't really see the benefits.
I only buy it as a drainage layer for terrariums but I also put it in my chunky potting mix just because. I have used it for the plant baskets in my aquarium and it has worked pretty well so far.
I think Leca works better for cuttings and props. I have many of my little propagations and cuttings in leca but as soon as they’re ready for soil I make that switch because of the very same reason, root rot.
You are not alone. I know lots of people do not have success with leca. I totally agree with you. I tried leca because I thought it was going to simplify plant-care, and it turned out to be the opposite.
You have to monitor a lot of variables when you transition plants to leca and keep them in it. Everything you said - pH, fertilizer, water reservoir level, weekly cache pot cleanup, drilling the damn holes in glass jars. You can not relax if you have to control all of that. That's way more of a hassle than simply bottom-watering your plants and wait for the soil to dry completely before watering again, which is what I am doing right now.
I was seduced by the idea of not using soil because it seemed so clean, not having to get your hands dirty and the promise of no pests. I have a thrips pest right now and I'd rather deal with that than with maintenaning my plants on leca, when you have to watch your plants like a hawk constantly. My plants have a better chance of surviving now.
Maybe, just maybe, I will try pumice, pon or perlite mix some day, but never leca.
Agreed, and you have to wash the leca first which people say you really shouldn’t do in your house because it’s bad for the pipes and I don’t really have an outdoor area with a hose so that’s not really easier than sweeping up some soil, and I still got thrips with leca, at which point I couldn’t just add systemic granules like I can in soil
Yeah, the washing is so annoying. The little ones clogged the drainhole of my kitchen sink. Definitely not good to do it indoors, and I didn't even know about the pipes. It's getting worse and worse.
I'm also wary of the clouds of dust it produces when you scoop it out of the box. Inhaling all that dust is not good. People who do pottery wear masks because they are at risk of getting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but I never see anyone in the leca community talking about that risk.
I got a few bags free with a plant purchase once but I’ve been too scared to transition any of my plants to straight LECA, so I mixed them into the soil mix I’ve always made to add extra aeration for plants like alocasias. I use a 50/50 combo of LECA and my soil mix and they all seem to be doing really well! So I if you have a ton of LECA you want to get rid of, I’d suggest just mixing it into your soil!
I love leca for making a chunky soil mix even more chunky. They absorb water like crazy and can elongate the time between watering by acting like a little water reservoir inside the dirt
Glad it works for you! Can you describe your process a little bit? Especially, do you let the roots continue to grow into the reservoir or do you frequently repot to get the roots back in the leca pot?
I don't really do anything special. When I first pot them up, I put a layer of leca about ¼ of the way and then put the plant in and fill the rest. I've only ever done semi hydro in a drainless setup and most of them have grown into the reservoir and I haven't noticed anything negative. I do try to let the leca dry out a bit before refilling the reservoir, I use my liquid fertilizer almost every time I refill and will occasionally (probably once every 2ish months, I'm definitely not consistent and probably should do it more) flush the leca out with plain water. The only times I've lost plants is when I tried to put some very small rooted philo cuttings in with a much larger plant in a much larger container. All my plants in semi hydro kinda get ignored unlike my plants in more traditional substrates. I haven't really had any issues with any of the 20 or so plants I have in semi hydro
https://preview.redd.it/itshtt5syr7d1.jpeg?width=2992&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed0eead2715163b10a1d96d50a9cb250003c563d
This is my Alocasia nobilis. It's been in leca for about 6 months. It was a top cut that I rooted in water. This picture is from last month and it's still in this same container
I hear you. I don’t get it. I’ve bought several plants that arrived in LECA and upon moving them to an aroid mix, they tend to explode in growth. Could also be a fertilizer thing but who knows. I know many people swear by it but was never for me.
[Not so sure about that.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SemiHydro/comments/106t7s6/i_am_so_proud_of_my_gloriosum_it_is_my_greatest/) I live in a dry climate too. I'm growing difficult orchids, aroids and begonias in leca. It's been a saving grace for many plants that were near-dead. It's transformed plants that were slow but reliable growers into absolute beasts of plants. And it's *easier* than soil, because you can see exactly what's going on with your roots and your hydration levels at all times. It removes all guesswork. It sucks that you've been unable to achieve success with the media but that doesn't mean it's a bad media, just that you couldn't make it work.
Well feel free to enlighten me and the others here who struggle with it then. You do or do not have to monitor and adjust nutrients, ph, and do flushes? I don’t believe I wrote anything that claims leca cannot work. I’m simply stating that for my care style and conditions, it’s way more work than a soil mix.
Yes, I adjust for pH and nutrients in leca, the same as I do for my soil-based plants: every single week. That is how you get them healthy and thriving.
Yes, this entire paragraph is not factual:
>You have to make sure that the ph is correct, that you’re adding the right kind and amount of nutrients, that you flush weekly and wash the cache pots. You can’t let the reservoir get too low or two high. The roots cannot dry out for even a single damn second.
Ok but you just agreed about the ph and nutrients. If you don’t flush (depending on your water) salt and minerals will build up visibly on the leca, there are many resources talking about this. When I’ve asked for help in the past I was frequently told not to keep the water level too high, but if it drys out too much the roots will become desiccated. Maybe that’s not your experience but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.
Thanks for adding nothing of value though
I live in a dry climate too I had an anthurium and a bromeliad die in leca. Anthurium in particular died very quickly. I had self-watering pots with wicks, but not transparent so I could not see the roots. The water resevoir stayed at the same level for all of my plants. I don't know what the problem was, but my plants were not getting watered.
I think that leca doesn’t actually wick water as well as it claims, perhaps due to its size like another commenter suggested. And when I say dry climate I’m talking like 15-30% humidity. I think what happens is that all the roots in the pot dry out and desiccate while the roots in the reservoir are fine, but again I really had to be super on top of the water level and it just became more of a hassle than soil
they’re almost as bad as stepping on Legos, also. I accidentally spilled some in our open kitchen a few years ago and it took so many painful missteps to find all of them.
It all depends on what you grow and where you grow it. Leca —> it’s hydroponics.
Nothing I’ve used compares in terms of growth and maturity like using a plastic backed sphagnum moss pole but those are much more maintenance and the accelerated growth quickly becomes unwieldily compared to a classic potted plant. Different plants have different needs for sure, and a growers climate, space, habits, or preferences make a big difference in how a plant performs in different seasons.
I prefer making a gritty aroid/bonsai mix (~1/8-1/4” aggregate screened) for houseplants but imo that mostly reflects my caretaking and maintenance preferences. I’ve cleaned and reused my leca many times and there’s a certain value in that. The only stuff I don’t like is the peat based pre-bagged “potting soils”
Hi OP! I'm certainly no expert, but I've used them with my orchid with great success. How I water her is one a week or so I put her in a bowl the size of the pot and water through the leca until the water is almost to the (terracotta) pot lip. I let her sit in this mildly fertilized water for about 30 minutes.. sometimes much longer. After that I drain her in the sink then return to her pad (and put the leftover water in my watering can).
Maybe doing something like this would help with the root rot. Unless growing hydroponically (which we've never had luck with even running water from our Koi pond water through aqu trenches lol) seems like water in the bottom would rot because they are soil roots reaching down through the dryish leca, not water roots.🤷🏻 But this just my novice intuition, lol.
Good hunting! (Expanse) 🙏
Happy leca as tax:
https://preview.redd.it/9xtr0mmxkq7d1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f81d7d5d97d8e961b8b917656710037e045f609c
Aww bummers. I am right on Monterey Bay in US, so I didn't factor the humidity boon.
Then hell, throw them all in dirt with some good peat or coir and call it. Leca is definitely not the medium we expected. We bought for the aquaponics, but geez nothing worked. Most all I think it's important to find peace and have fun when tending plants...throw that sucky leca out into a flower bed - yours or someone else's. 😸
Shanti 🙏
I've used it to propagate fallen leaves, but transfer to a soil mix when it roots. My success is up and down. (Pretty much like all areas of my life.LOL)
However, I have 2 big cacti that are in leca only. I got them this way. I've never re-potted or looked at the roots because they are too big. One is a candleabra plant. the other is a Blue Columnar. They are 3 feet tall, at least 10 years old.
Have you tried adding hydrogen peroxide to your water? Or maybe using pots with some slits at the bottom—think orchid pots, then setting that in a shallow tray of water
I use leca as a soil amendment, and i love its properties for that. I read a bit about semi hydro and had no desire to ever try it. I'm 100% with you on the too much work opinion, and honestly... why? Why is it a thing?
> why? Why is it a thing?
Root aeration is extremely important. In addition, semi-hydro allows precise monitoring and control of nutrients and moisture levels. It is a superior growing medium for many plants.
Admittedly, I don't know much beyond what I initially read, but I'm sure I'm achieving root aeration in my current media and adequately (and more easily) meeting moisture, pH, and nutrient requirements. I've never seen plants growing in semi hydro that look any better than in traditional media, and I rarely see very mature plants in it. I can't help but feel I want to recreate where they grow naturally, whether that's leaf litter, sand, or up a tree. However, I do get the desire to experiment!
Wow… I’m sorry, leca doesn’t
suck, you’re just using it wrong.
Those people are doing it their way, which is great and possible but like you said- way too much work and obviously causing issues for you. A lot of those people in my opinion just like the aesthetic of leca and don’t use it properly. A lot of plant tok hacks are just aesthetic and not actually great for the plants or your routine.
I have used leca for years. Think of leca as a tool, instead of an end all, be all.
Like moss, perlite, charcoal, fertilizer, lava rocks, sand. It’s a tool to use with your process of caring for your plant.
The thing is, I would never replace the soil for my plants with leca. That’s a horrible idea and I’m not surprised you have had a negative experience.
The way I use leca is by using it on top of the soil. I will plant my pot with regular soil and after the plant is potted I will do a layer of leca. Maybe 1/2-1 inch thick depending on leca size. Usually one “layer” of it on top.
The purpose of the leca on top is similar to why people will put moss on their top layer. It provides humidity,
good support for the plant and new sprouts, and doesn’t stay soaking wet. I like the leca more than moss for some plants, to increase humidity, because of that. Putting a small top layer of leca or sand on my succulents and cacti has made a big difference for me.
The other way I have used leca is during water propagation. I have learned that I shouldn’t fill the vessel all the way with leca and then add water. You want like 1/3 to 1/2 leca in the vessel so when you add the water it floats a little. (This is so the roots have enough room between beads to grow) The purpose of adding leca to water props is so that the root has something to hold onto, which can supposedly encourage strong root growth, as opposed to simply putting it in water.
I don’t know if it actually makes it faster, but it is said to simulate dirt in the sense of blocking light and giving the roots something to hold on to, which can lead to easier translations, allegedly. So it’s like a pseudo medium, not an actual medium, of which you’d want to plant with, or plan to keep the plant in long term.
That being said, I don’t really use leca for water props anymore unless it’s some kind of succulent. It has increased algae for me. Gets dirty faster because of the degradation of the clay. The roots will grow onto the leca and is hard to remove, which you will need to do prior to potting and can just damage the root.
It’s a great tool to have but not something I’d use instead of soil.
Hope this helps and wasn’t too passive aggressive. Plant trends sometimes give me the ick and this is one of them.
I have 8 bags of leca I got on super sale, and dammit, I cannot make them work for any plant. I’ve tried repeatedly, but I just don’t get it. I was considering breaking the leca up into smaller chunks with a hammer to see how that worked out. It’s weird, because I’ve used gravel, pumice, perlite, etc. with no problem, but the leca eludes me. The plants just don’t seem to thrive in it.
I also have a huge bag that’s about half full still. It gets used a soil amendment now, along with coco chips, pumice, zeolite, charcoal, and chunky orchid bark. I haven’t tried the other soilless methods but I can’t imagine it being that much different than leca as you still have to flush, (ideally wash the cache pot), add all the nutrients and monitor/adjust ph. Plus I like being able to add the systemic granules which you can’t do in leca, maybe in more of a pon system you can, I’m unsure about that
I just include leftover Lena in my orchid or monstera mix since they like chunky stuff
The leca seems to require more upkeep than pumice or zeolite or even bark and gravel. I have some thriving plants in pumice or gritty mix. And all I had to do was add the supplements initially and occasionally add some to the watering pot. I’m thinking it’s the size of the leca. But I could be wrong. The pumice and gritty mix wrap around the roots better it seems. I don’t know. I’m speculating.
I use it as part of a soil mix, and I’ve had great luck with it that way.
Tried it. Still doesn’t work for me. I think crushing it might make it a better soil additive though. This is just a theory; I need to try it out.
I thunk crushing it up could work. To be fair, in the soil mixes I use the leca is maybe 5-10% of the mix, so I’m not using it in large quantities. I think it generally helps to sequester excess water and give the roots more air circulation. I use it for plants like alocasias and calatheas, that like the soil to be moist all the time but not wet.
Ah, I see. I’ve just tossed it in potting mixes as an afterthought a few times. I suspect it helps to aerate, but I don’t like this big chunks in the soil. But I see what you mean about using it for those types of plants, it sounds like a good solution for them. I’m truly intrigued about how it will work crushed up. I have to get my SO to do it; it *doesn’t* crush easily, as I’ve learned, to my surprise.
It's worth trying, I think, but I would worry that they'd start to break down and become compacted over time. I'm actually glad to see this post, because I have had some leca in my cart at Amazon for months but haven't been brave enough to pull the trigger.
Maybe you’d have some luck with it. I can’t believe I have 8 bags of that stuff; the sale on them was phenomenal. I am also worried that crushed leca would just become compact, which would defeat the purpose.
After buying a bag and wanting to try it, and THEN realizing all the stuff I would need to do to monitor the water (feed the plant, etc.), I decided I don’t have the time or patience for it. I also use mine as part of my soil mix to keep things chunky for plants that don’t like straight up dirt.
Yeah it seems a lot of extra work and expense to kill my plants faster than any other way lol
lol yes! Getting root rot? Spend all this money and time and still get root rot 🙃
I killed sansevieria, yucca and a ponytail palm with leca after watching [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsqSlVMYwaA). I don't know how that guy made it, but doing that completely destroyed all my plants. I also tried putting the leca in self-watering pot with a wick and that didn't work either. The water reservoir was always at the same level. My ponytail palm in particular was indestructible. It was the only plant that survived serious neglect when I didn't water my plants for a whole summer month, so it's saying something that leca was the thing that did the job.
I think it's a conspiracy. Big Leca. Sorry about your plants!
This surprises me. I've been growing a monstera cutting in leca for about a year now and it is by far my best-performing plant. Constant growth. Huge leaves. I have a few others in leca that are doing well too - A florida ghost and a philo silver sword. I only ever use distilled water and I always use concentrated fertilizers when I water.
Ya maybe it’s the water? I use filtered tap, but it’s only an issue with leca. I’m just not going to buy distilled water regularly for plants ya know?
I hear ya. We bought a brita filter to try out this year. So far there hasn’t been any issues. I also have 2 or 3 small bags of leca sitting on a shelf. I’m still reading up on it. Once I get a better understanding I may try.
You can use tap water just fine for leca.
I just started using aquarium water conditioner in my plant water. You need a very little amount so it lasts forever. Too soon to tell if it helps but some people swear by it.
Does it change the pH of the water?
I don’t know, actually. I don’t have a pH meter.
Yeah I feel that. My wife uses a humidifier so she always seems to have a bottle of distilled water around lol. And I only have a couple plants in leca, so I don't have to use much. I've had great results so far, though. *knock on wood*
Distilled water is not expensive.
For me it’s not about the price, but the extra energy lugging water around. A lot of people don’t drive and live on the top floor of a walk up, (ME!) etc.
I've grown in leca for years (previous experience with an industry that was grey market) and love it. I use self watering pots with leca now and have no issues. What I really like is how easy it is to transplant, how easy it is to inspect roots, and leca is mostly neutral so it's easier to fertilize and control fertilizing. I can count on one hand the number of times I've lost a plant to rot when in leca. Are your plants submerged or are you giving them time to dry out?
I kept the water at like 1/3 of the inner pot but the roots always grow into the water. If I ever let them dry out they’d become desiccated. I thought you were not supposed to let water roots dry out
Not the person you’re replying to, but that might be too deep in a pot with no drainage. You want the roots to stay humid, not wet
They’re all in net or clear orchid pots. The problem is the roots always grow down into the reservoir, so out of the inner pot completely. I could repot it and pull the roots back up every time but I would have to do that like every couple of weeks.
and what is so hard about taking it out once awhile to reset the rootz above the 1/3rd mark repot Also water itself doesn’t cause water roots to rot but temps above 72F certainly can encourage it And lack of oxygen w.fresh water Then again idk I treat my roots with myco even in semiHydro it’s just done differently is all Also ppl sware by hydroguard
Wicks. Wicks are key for plants prone to rot. Use fewer nutrients, make sure if you use distilled water you add calmag. Hoya in particular thrive in wick'd leca, and I flush maybe once a month, if that. The best part though is pest control. If you have pest issues, nothing beats leca imo. I can spray them off daily if necessary, no chemicals needed.
I also grow a lot of Hoya, semi hydro in leca, with some pon & a tiny bit of fluval to help the roots form. Took a bit of experimentation and I do change it up depending on the plant. I get much stronger healthy roots, they just love to cling to those little clay balls. Also leca is the best for props. 🪴💚
I love using Fluval.
What is your secret? I used wicks for all my plants in leca and all of them died. I never noticed the water reservoir going down. And the water attracts mosquitoes. I used regular tap water, but I doubt that is the reason it didn't work for my plants. I'm using aquarium water conditioner in my water now, but I switched back to soil. I'm afraid to try leca again because I don't want to kill any more plants.
Tap water can definitely be the reason, depending on the quality and pH of your water. Start with props, it's much easier than trying to switch from soil. I can't speak to mosquitoes as I've never had that problem - and I'm in northern Saskatchewan. I'd guess you're leaving the water too long, which will also cause pH issues.
I have a lot of my plants in Leca. I add some nutrients to the water, but measure them with my heart and I’ve never flushed my Leca or washed the pots. I just add water if it’s getting pretty low and that’s it.
Right? After reading all the comments on this thread I was starting to think I was crazy. Flush my pots? Monitoring PH? Measuring nutrients? Distilled water? What? I water when I think about it, with tap water. Sometimes I add a little basic houseplant fertilizer. Never checked ph or flushed my pots. My Hoya Carnosa has been in leca for almost 20 years. No issues. (I have a few others in leca but my Hoya is the oldest)
weird; the idea behind “measuring nutrients” is that when keeping plants in soil, they’re able to absorb nutrients in the soil. there’s no nutrients readily available in water. so lots of people use hydroponic nutrients to feed their plants, because they need both food and water. not saying to change anything that works for you, but that’s what people are talking about. i’m guessing your plants would be happy if you did do it, though.
I use hydroponic nutrients for sure, but I literally just eyeball it and dump them in a gallon jug and that’s that. Lol
But doesn't soil only have 6 months of fertilizer in it? Isn't having a plant in soil for more than 6 months the basic equivalent of having it in LECA? And then if you use a chunky soiless mix, isn't that basically the same as LECA as well? Just curious, because in theory, you could just fertilise LECA plants like any other plant in your collection?
hydroponics is a thing, I just always used the leftover nutrients from that. not as deep as you’re making it. and no, soil has a lot of different stuff in it that isn’t fertilizer, I don’t know how you’re making these equivalencies. leca is intentionally a soilless medium used in cannabis production. with soil comes rot, that’s what I was told.
I think you’ve misunderstood. I meant that people seem to really overcomplicate giving semi hydro plants nutrients. A lot of potting media doesn’t have nutrients in it or only has enough for 6 months. So it isn’t really all the different between hydro and soil / other mediums.
I’ve only been trying leca for about 5 months or so now. But my plants seem to be really thriving. I’ll have to see how it goes long term but my Orbifolia has doubled in size.
I mainly use Leca as a drainage layer in my terrarium/vivariums. I’ve been curious about using it as a substrate but never tried it.
While I’ve never tried growing in leca, I love it as a mulch. It’s lightweight, holds moisture, and most importantly deters pesky squirrels from digging up my outdoor pots.
I think it’s great as a soil amendment!
Very true!
Wow are you me? I feel this post in my soul. Never had much luck long term with LECA, but is wonderful as a soil amendment. It's also great at rooting hoyas.
Glad I’m not alone.
Weird. I've kept two pothos in LECA only for a couple years and they're doing great. I don't do anything fancy with them. Just add water when it gets low. Granted they're pothos, so they're not particularly fussy.
I tried leca a year back for a few months and it was okay. My plants grew fine, but I had more issues with leca than my now simple mix of coco coir and perlite. The self watering pots always had grime in them after a week and sometimes mold. That in itself was a bit too much maintenance for me.
I've also tried Leca and failed. Chunky soil all around this year.
I like mixing leca into my hanging pots to keep the weight down.
Yes I agree with this. I live in a very hard water area and my pH goes acidic with air stones so I would be constantly adjusting or changing the water. I only tried LECA for orchids. I never get them to re-bloom and my husband keeps buying them for me and gets mad when they die. I have green thumb with all my green plants (which re-flower all the time ironically) so I was hoping LECA would be my savior with the orchids. I followed all the videos and trimmed the roots and had a lot of root growth but also had root rot as well. The leaf growth was very slow too so I decided to mount them in my hermit crab tank where the hunidity is 80% and just let them grow mounted on cork. It worked for awhile but the crabbies like to munch on them so they didn't last long. I may try again as I have 3 orchids again from Easter, Birthday and Mother's Day lol.
I'm planning to never use leca or anything similar but my reason is a bit different. I think it's just such a consumeristic thing. Just creating a product so they have something different to sell and now you must throw out all your pots and buy new fancy ones. Jeez... I can get soil aeration in other ways... Plus the organic matter in the regular soil also has nutrients. Plus I can mix different elements to make different types of soil depending on the plant needs.
I personally like a super chunky soil mix and my plants are great. I’ve never tried Leca or pon and I don’t plan on it 😅
I use Leca to root cuttings. Makes it easy for smaller ones that don't fit in tall prop vessels. I have a few grown from cuttings in cool small glass jars with Leca. They do alright but I do need to figure out a water fertilizer. I try to run fresh water and rinse them fairly regularly. I've never tried to transition a healthy plant in soil to Leca. That seems like a minefield of potential issues. Don't really see the benefits.
I only buy it as a drainage layer for terrariums but I also put it in my chunky potting mix just because. I have used it for the plant baskets in my aquarium and it has worked pretty well so far.
What’s the cheapest way to get LECA? I bought some for way too much from a local hydroponics store.
I think Leca works better for cuttings and props. I have many of my little propagations and cuttings in leca but as soon as they’re ready for soil I make that switch because of the very same reason, root rot.
The best thing I could use LECA was crushed up for “sand” in a succulent soil. Worked good ish
You are not alone. I know lots of people do not have success with leca. I totally agree with you. I tried leca because I thought it was going to simplify plant-care, and it turned out to be the opposite. You have to monitor a lot of variables when you transition plants to leca and keep them in it. Everything you said - pH, fertilizer, water reservoir level, weekly cache pot cleanup, drilling the damn holes in glass jars. You can not relax if you have to control all of that. That's way more of a hassle than simply bottom-watering your plants and wait for the soil to dry completely before watering again, which is what I am doing right now. I was seduced by the idea of not using soil because it seemed so clean, not having to get your hands dirty and the promise of no pests. I have a thrips pest right now and I'd rather deal with that than with maintenaning my plants on leca, when you have to watch your plants like a hawk constantly. My plants have a better chance of surviving now. Maybe, just maybe, I will try pumice, pon or perlite mix some day, but never leca.
Agreed, and you have to wash the leca first which people say you really shouldn’t do in your house because it’s bad for the pipes and I don’t really have an outdoor area with a hose so that’s not really easier than sweeping up some soil, and I still got thrips with leca, at which point I couldn’t just add systemic granules like I can in soil
Yeah, the washing is so annoying. The little ones clogged the drainhole of my kitchen sink. Definitely not good to do it indoors, and I didn't even know about the pipes. It's getting worse and worse. I'm also wary of the clouds of dust it produces when you scoop it out of the box. Inhaling all that dust is not good. People who do pottery wear masks because they are at risk of getting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but I never see anyone in the leca community talking about that risk.
I got a few bags free with a plant purchase once but I’ve been too scared to transition any of my plants to straight LECA, so I mixed them into the soil mix I’ve always made to add extra aeration for plants like alocasias. I use a 50/50 combo of LECA and my soil mix and they all seem to be doing really well! So I if you have a ton of LECA you want to get rid of, I’d suggest just mixing it into your soil!
I love leca for making a chunky soil mix even more chunky. They absorb water like crazy and can elongate the time between watering by acting like a little water reservoir inside the dirt
This is crazy I love leca 💀 maybe more than pon but I haven't used that long enough to really say
Glad it works for you! Can you describe your process a little bit? Especially, do you let the roots continue to grow into the reservoir or do you frequently repot to get the roots back in the leca pot?
I don't really do anything special. When I first pot them up, I put a layer of leca about ¼ of the way and then put the plant in and fill the rest. I've only ever done semi hydro in a drainless setup and most of them have grown into the reservoir and I haven't noticed anything negative. I do try to let the leca dry out a bit before refilling the reservoir, I use my liquid fertilizer almost every time I refill and will occasionally (probably once every 2ish months, I'm definitely not consistent and probably should do it more) flush the leca out with plain water. The only times I've lost plants is when I tried to put some very small rooted philo cuttings in with a much larger plant in a much larger container. All my plants in semi hydro kinda get ignored unlike my plants in more traditional substrates. I haven't really had any issues with any of the 20 or so plants I have in semi hydro https://preview.redd.it/itshtt5syr7d1.jpeg?width=2992&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed0eead2715163b10a1d96d50a9cb250003c563d This is my Alocasia nobilis. It's been in leca for about 6 months. It was a top cut that I rooted in water. This picture is from last month and it's still in this same container
I hear you. I don’t get it. I’ve bought several plants that arrived in LECA and upon moving them to an aroid mix, they tend to explode in growth. Could also be a fertilizer thing but who knows. I know many people swear by it but was never for me.
[Not so sure about that.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SemiHydro/comments/106t7s6/i_am_so_proud_of_my_gloriosum_it_is_my_greatest/) I live in a dry climate too. I'm growing difficult orchids, aroids and begonias in leca. It's been a saving grace for many plants that were near-dead. It's transformed plants that were slow but reliable growers into absolute beasts of plants. And it's *easier* than soil, because you can see exactly what's going on with your roots and your hydration levels at all times. It removes all guesswork. It sucks that you've been unable to achieve success with the media but that doesn't mean it's a bad media, just that you couldn't make it work.
That’s why I said it was an opinion. I’m happy for you that you like it! I just find it to be much more work
You say it's an opinion but then you write a lot of factually incorrect information.
Well feel free to enlighten me and the others here who struggle with it then. You do or do not have to monitor and adjust nutrients, ph, and do flushes? I don’t believe I wrote anything that claims leca cannot work. I’m simply stating that for my care style and conditions, it’s way more work than a soil mix.
Yes, I adjust for pH and nutrients in leca, the same as I do for my soil-based plants: every single week. That is how you get them healthy and thriving.
So what about what I wrote is not factual? My soil plants are thriving thank you. Again, happy the leca is working for you, doesn’t work for me.
Yes, this entire paragraph is not factual: >You have to make sure that the ph is correct, that you’re adding the right kind and amount of nutrients, that you flush weekly and wash the cache pots. You can’t let the reservoir get too low or two high. The roots cannot dry out for even a single damn second.
Ok but you just agreed about the ph and nutrients. If you don’t flush (depending on your water) salt and minerals will build up visibly on the leca, there are many resources talking about this. When I’ve asked for help in the past I was frequently told not to keep the water level too high, but if it drys out too much the roots will become desiccated. Maybe that’s not your experience but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Thanks for adding nothing of value though
I live in a dry climate too I had an anthurium and a bromeliad die in leca. Anthurium in particular died very quickly. I had self-watering pots with wicks, but not transparent so I could not see the roots. The water resevoir stayed at the same level for all of my plants. I don't know what the problem was, but my plants were not getting watered.
I think that leca doesn’t actually wick water as well as it claims, perhaps due to its size like another commenter suggested. And when I say dry climate I’m talking like 15-30% humidity. I think what happens is that all the roots in the pot dry out and desiccate while the roots in the reservoir are fine, but again I really had to be super on top of the water level and it just became more of a hassle than soil
So sick of people claiming “chunky” mix is the solution to anything. I use regular ass soil and have no problem when the pot die is correct
Good for you! Different climates/light conditions/ care styles and most likely the plants themselves.
Nope. Every single type of plant. Exactly the same. Just water when dry. Except the air plant
It has its uses but I found it’s a pain in the ass if you reuse your soil. It also can be problematic/a choking hazard with pets/childreb
they’re almost as bad as stepping on Legos, also. I accidentally spilled some in our open kitchen a few years ago and it took so many painful missteps to find all of them.
It all depends on what you grow and where you grow it. Leca —> it’s hydroponics. Nothing I’ve used compares in terms of growth and maturity like using a plastic backed sphagnum moss pole but those are much more maintenance and the accelerated growth quickly becomes unwieldily compared to a classic potted plant. Different plants have different needs for sure, and a growers climate, space, habits, or preferences make a big difference in how a plant performs in different seasons. I prefer making a gritty aroid/bonsai mix (~1/8-1/4” aggregate screened) for houseplants but imo that mostly reflects my caretaking and maintenance preferences. I’ve cleaned and reused my leca many times and there’s a certain value in that. The only stuff I don’t like is the peat based pre-bagged “potting soils”
Hi OP! I'm certainly no expert, but I've used them with my orchid with great success. How I water her is one a week or so I put her in a bowl the size of the pot and water through the leca until the water is almost to the (terracotta) pot lip. I let her sit in this mildly fertilized water for about 30 minutes.. sometimes much longer. After that I drain her in the sink then return to her pad (and put the leftover water in my watering can). Maybe doing something like this would help with the root rot. Unless growing hydroponically (which we've never had luck with even running water from our Koi pond water through aqu trenches lol) seems like water in the bottom would rot because they are soil roots reaching down through the dryish leca, not water roots.🤷🏻 But this just my novice intuition, lol. Good hunting! (Expanse) 🙏 Happy leca as tax: https://preview.redd.it/9xtr0mmxkq7d1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f81d7d5d97d8e961b8b917656710037e045f609c
I think I’d have to water every single day with this set up haha, very low humidity where I live. Beautiful orchid :)
Aww bummers. I am right on Monterey Bay in US, so I didn't factor the humidity boon. Then hell, throw them all in dirt with some good peat or coir and call it. Leca is definitely not the medium we expected. We bought for the aquaponics, but geez nothing worked. Most all I think it's important to find peace and have fun when tending plants...throw that sucky leca out into a flower bed - yours or someone else's. 😸 Shanti 🙏
I've used it to propagate fallen leaves, but transfer to a soil mix when it roots. My success is up and down. (Pretty much like all areas of my life.LOL) However, I have 2 big cacti that are in leca only. I got them this way. I've never re-potted or looked at the roots because they are too big. One is a candleabra plant. the other is a Blue Columnar. They are 3 feet tall, at least 10 years old.
Wow! Do you keep them in a water reservoir or no?
I squirt the leca when dry. try not to wet the roots or fallen leaf directly. I've been lucky lately, but it's all an experiment. :-)
Have you tried adding hydrogen peroxide to your water? Or maybe using pots with some slits at the bottom—think orchid pots, then setting that in a shallow tray of water
Why people see the need to write UnPopUlAr OpiNioN in every single post these days
Because people clearly have differing opinions and experiences. Why feel the need to write a comment that contributes nothing?
I use leca as a soil amendment, and i love its properties for that. I read a bit about semi hydro and had no desire to ever try it. I'm 100% with you on the too much work opinion, and honestly... why? Why is it a thing?
> why? Why is it a thing? Root aeration is extremely important. In addition, semi-hydro allows precise monitoring and control of nutrients and moisture levels. It is a superior growing medium for many plants.
Admittedly, I don't know much beyond what I initially read, but I'm sure I'm achieving root aeration in my current media and adequately (and more easily) meeting moisture, pH, and nutrient requirements. I've never seen plants growing in semi hydro that look any better than in traditional media, and I rarely see very mature plants in it. I can't help but feel I want to recreate where they grow naturally, whether that's leaf litter, sand, or up a tree. However, I do get the desire to experiment!
Wow… I’m sorry, leca doesn’t suck, you’re just using it wrong. Those people are doing it their way, which is great and possible but like you said- way too much work and obviously causing issues for you. A lot of those people in my opinion just like the aesthetic of leca and don’t use it properly. A lot of plant tok hacks are just aesthetic and not actually great for the plants or your routine. I have used leca for years. Think of leca as a tool, instead of an end all, be all. Like moss, perlite, charcoal, fertilizer, lava rocks, sand. It’s a tool to use with your process of caring for your plant. The thing is, I would never replace the soil for my plants with leca. That’s a horrible idea and I’m not surprised you have had a negative experience. The way I use leca is by using it on top of the soil. I will plant my pot with regular soil and after the plant is potted I will do a layer of leca. Maybe 1/2-1 inch thick depending on leca size. Usually one “layer” of it on top. The purpose of the leca on top is similar to why people will put moss on their top layer. It provides humidity, good support for the plant and new sprouts, and doesn’t stay soaking wet. I like the leca more than moss for some plants, to increase humidity, because of that. Putting a small top layer of leca or sand on my succulents and cacti has made a big difference for me. The other way I have used leca is during water propagation. I have learned that I shouldn’t fill the vessel all the way with leca and then add water. You want like 1/3 to 1/2 leca in the vessel so when you add the water it floats a little. (This is so the roots have enough room between beads to grow) The purpose of adding leca to water props is so that the root has something to hold onto, which can supposedly encourage strong root growth, as opposed to simply putting it in water. I don’t know if it actually makes it faster, but it is said to simulate dirt in the sense of blocking light and giving the roots something to hold on to, which can lead to easier translations, allegedly. So it’s like a pseudo medium, not an actual medium, of which you’d want to plant with, or plan to keep the plant in long term. That being said, I don’t really use leca for water props anymore unless it’s some kind of succulent. It has increased algae for me. Gets dirty faster because of the degradation of the clay. The roots will grow onto the leca and is hard to remove, which you will need to do prior to potting and can just damage the root. It’s a great tool to have but not something I’d use instead of soil. Hope this helps and wasn’t too passive aggressive. Plant trends sometimes give me the ick and this is one of them.
use an anti fungal additive and aerate the water using an aquarium pump
That’s the point, I don’t want to use an aquarium pump and have to do all these extra steps. Soil I can literally just water when it’s dry