I think I learned the hard way with leca. I started off growing some of my orchids in leca but went in totally unprepared. My advice to anyone new to leca is do some research then start slowly with just a small number of plants until you get the hang of it. I almost lost about 6 or 7 phalaenopsis orchids due to overwatering. Thanks for sharing some great tips, I am still learning, in fact you never stop learning when it comes to this subject.
Love your LECA tips. I like that you shared the importance of nutrients in scale with light. Most of my plants in LECA are my fastest growing plants. I pot most of them in vessels similar in size to what I’d use for other substrates. I’m upsizing all the time. It’s easy so long as the roots don’t grow too densely. A good rinse at that time seems to keep everything nice and clean. Starting with clean roots is key for me. Having a system that makes repotting quick and easy changed the game. Once the “process” becomes easy, plant maintenance doesn’t feel like a chore 💚 I learned a lot of this from you. Grateful for your content! I appreciate that you share what hasn’t worked as well.
Thank you so much! It sounds like you have the system down! I feel like once you get through a few lessons in leca, and have a process, things get cleaner and simpler than soil. There is definitely a learning curve though! Appreciate you watching the video early and sharing your LECA experience!
Completely new to this growing medium but very intrigued. I enjoyed this video because as with anything “new”, the tendency is to jump right in without taking the time to learn from those with experience first. Tempted to order one of your kits!
I've been using leca to propagate cuttings for a couple years now and I honestly treat them like water propagations and I've had a lot of good sucess with it my cuttings would put out these really robust thick roots and it was honestly like a set it and forget it kind of thing.
Yep. I agree. I always was confused about that until I just took a leap of faith. I thought “why am I rooting a cutting in water only to basically put it in water?” Lol. This is why I don’t necessarily see the point in the “long method”, aka, pre-rooting in water before the transfer to semi-hydro. I mean, even in traditional gardening, majority of outdoor herbaceous perennials, tropical, shrubs and trees can all be propagated by cuttings placed DIRECTLY into soil. Then they get stronger faster. Example: I’ve made Coleus cuttings root in water prior to planting in soil. Well, that’s pointless because they root into soil the same! And water roots are a little more tender (initially) when transferring to soil… Also, in the case of plants that have a natural reservoir “system”- like snake plants, aloes, cacti, succulents, and plants that actively store water, they don’t necessarily BENEFIT from a reservoir, or could die from it! With succulents especially, I’ve grown them in straight leca and Pon, just dry! And I water them weekly! The cuttings will always root in simple dry Leca or Pon. Or even perlite or pumice! Then you water accordingly without a reservoir.
It seems like you can use the leca with a hydroponic garden system? I have a 12 pod ahopegarden and am interested in trying LECA with them. Though I would probably have to find smaller pebbles, as the pods are small. I wonder if I can grow avocado using leca? Or potato or strawberries?
Aww I love to hear this!! Thank you for sharing which type of vids are helpful -- always hard to think of what to film each week 😅 Will keep doing new LECA concepts!
I am new to plants in LECA. How often do you replace the water and is it necessary to clean the LECA? Also how do you replace the water. Sounds stupid I know but can you damage the plants while changing water.
Hi there, im just getting into leca and I am intrigued watching your beautiful plants in leca but I am wondering what it it that is among the leca ? It's a greyish/white blob spread randomly (from what I can see... on the top)
Hi! Thanks for watching! That is perlite. It's mixed in at 50% of the material with the LECA. It helps stretch the water further so watering windows are 4-8 days instead of every 2 days with 100% LECA (assuming drainage in the pots)
those black tips arent from "too much water". I have plants in hydro for years where roots are in water basically whole time. Its from taking plants out and in and smashing roots with pots so they just die off from the point where they were damaged :)
The plant community uses the terms “leca” and/or “hydroton” to refer to all types of expanded clay. LECA, specifically, stands for Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate - a collection of baked clay pebbles that expand when you soak them in water. You can use LECA for propagation, or you can have your plants live in it!
Honestly, without removing most the soil, it’s really susceptible to root rot. Might be best to become a top down watered approach like what we talk about in other Leca videos like this one: ruclips.net/video/m7zAgiFKbfE/видео.html You can add in some perlite, and use a pot with drainage… and just figure out the best schedule of watering for it! Maybe between 5-20 days, depending how much moisture the roots hold
You can look up and learn ways to “read” your leaves for nutrient deficiencies. It takes some time and experiences but it’s a great skill to have to be able to figure out deficiencies by leaf appearance.
I've just put in some grow beds with 1000 kg leca from Finja in Sweden. When watering, the water just beads on the leca and runs off. the leca doesn't seem to get wet. even the dust float. Never had this before with hydroton. Any ideas on getting the leca wet?
@@prettyingreen I thought so too. I called Finja and was told that no its not a coating, no chemicals are on it, Its due to the manufacturing process. The MSDS supports this. So I'm looking for ideas. Other than removing the ton I just carted in by wheelbarrow and disposing of it where? Its made to be inert and non toxic. 100% natural clay.Ill try washing it with soap to break the surface tension, Or maybe time will fix it..
I really love the leca medium system but would you please please please do a video on how you clean roots from soil or moss pot and evaluate if the roots are worth cleaning after pulling the plant straight out of the pot? And it would be great if you can share some tips on what type of potting mix we should avoid when buying a plant in nursery or stores to save us some time before we transition them into leca? It is absolutely a whole lot of pain cleaning the roots when i first get the plant home. I am getting more back pain than ever hah
The way I discern what will stay and go on the roots, is by spraying a hose-on the fairly high setting. What remains after I leave. Then, if it’s moss, I usually have to tweezer out more bits from the roots! I’d stick with an Aroid mix, and use bagged soil from a high quality producer (ideally not big box retail). But smaller garden centers / hydroponics stores!
To transition potted plants into leca I rinse off the soil/grow medium with a pretty strong stream of water (garden hose or some kitchen faucets have a blade spray setting that’s a flat fan of water and the spray heads are pretty cheap). Then I trim off basically all of the secondary roots because those are what’s likely going to die off and rot in the transition. I’ll usually start my leca transfers in clear vessels (glass jars or vases with a drainage/flush hole cut into it with a diamond hole drill bit) or plastic cups and orchid pots so I can monitor the roots until they start putting out new roots. Most people will say to start in leca with cuttings and not to bother trying to transfer soil plants into leca, but I’ve done it successfully tons of times. It can seem counterintuitive to cut off so much root mass from the outset, but it’s honestly one of the best things I’ve learned in transitioning plants to leca. You also don’t really want to leave any water in the bottom of the vessels as a reservoir until you notice new root growth. For the first couple weeks just run water through the cups and let drain every couple of days (or more often depending on how dry your home is). Once they develop new roots you can leave a bit of nutrient solution/water in the bottom or reservoir.
What's the bleach and water ratio? I tried adding bleach only so it smells like a pool and the roots burnt. I think culture gap means we have diff pool smells. H😊a ha ha.
Great question! The substrate also has to deliver oxygen to the roots! So you'd have to pump in oxygen to the water using an airpump. This is called DWC (Deep Water Culture)
I need some advice I put three of my plants in leac about 2 weeks ago but the leaves turn yellow please I'm asking you what did I do wrong could you help me with a text please blessed day
OK I just bought a Thai Constellation but there is no way to get the coco chips and perlite out of the root system without completely destroying it. I went ahead and replanted in leca thinking that it was only coco chips and perlite and then I watched this video. Do you think I should abandon the leca?
No, don’t abandon it. Just be very careful about overwatering when it’s mixed with other media. Ideally keep it in a clear cup so you can monitor its roots!
If it was for you I wouldn't have beautiful plants on Leca. You male nutrient feeding very easy, otter channel mafe nutrient adding too complex....I just buy your nutrients for my Leca plants. Thank you!!!!
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I love how educational your content is. I'm always taking notes as I watch your videos
I think I learned the hard way with leca. I started off growing some of my orchids in leca but went in totally unprepared. My advice to anyone new to leca is do some research then start slowly with just a small number of plants until you get the hang of it. I almost lost about 6 or 7 phalaenopsis orchids due to overwatering. Thanks for sharing some great tips, I am still learning, in fact you never stop learning when it comes to this subject.
Agreed! Overwatering is usually the issue. Definitely keep trying and always learning 😊
Love your LECA tips. I like that you shared the importance of nutrients in scale with light. Most of my plants in LECA are my fastest growing plants. I pot most of them in vessels similar in size to what I’d use for other substrates. I’m upsizing all the time. It’s easy so long as the roots don’t grow too densely. A good rinse at that time seems to keep everything nice and clean. Starting with clean roots is key for me. Having a system that makes repotting quick and easy changed the game. Once the “process” becomes easy, plant maintenance doesn’t feel like a chore 💚
I learned a lot of this from you. Grateful for your content! I appreciate that you share what hasn’t worked as well.
Thank you so much! It sounds like you have the system down! I feel like once you get through a few lessons in leca, and have a process, things get cleaner and simpler than soil. There is definitely a learning curve though! Appreciate you watching the video early and sharing your LECA experience!
I AGREE WITH YOU PRETTY GREEN ABOUT THE LEAFS TO FAR DOWN INSIDE THE FLOWER POT.
I will definitely try leca. Thanks
It's THE BEST!!!
All your plants look beautiful.
Completely new to this growing medium but very intrigued. I enjoyed this video because as with anything “new”, the tendency is to jump right in without taking the time to learn from those with experience first. Tempted to order one of your kits!
Hi! I'm replying to you a year after your comment was made. Curious enough to ask how has your leca experience been so far??
I've been using leca to propagate cuttings for a couple years now and I honestly treat them like water propagations and I've had a lot of good sucess with it my cuttings would put out these really robust thick roots and it was honestly like a set it and forget it kind of thing.
I love this. This is exactly how it's done! They put out the best roots in leca -- you just have to know how much water to give them!
Yep. I agree. I always was confused about that until I just took a leap of faith. I thought “why am I rooting a cutting in water only to basically put it in water?” Lol. This is why I don’t necessarily see the point in the “long method”, aka, pre-rooting in water before the transfer to semi-hydro. I mean, even in traditional gardening, majority of outdoor herbaceous perennials, tropical, shrubs and trees can all be propagated by cuttings placed DIRECTLY into soil. Then they get stronger faster. Example: I’ve made Coleus cuttings root in water prior to planting in soil. Well, that’s pointless because they root into soil the same! And water roots are a little more tender (initially) when transferring to soil…
Also, in the case of plants that have a natural reservoir “system”- like snake plants, aloes, cacti, succulents, and plants that actively store water, they don’t necessarily BENEFIT from a reservoir, or could die from it! With succulents especially, I’ve grown them in straight leca and Pon, just dry! And I water them weekly! The cuttings will always root in simple dry Leca or Pon. Or even perlite or pumice! Then you water accordingly without a reservoir.
Same... mine sit in a water reservoir, as long as it always has a reservoir, no need to worry if they need water or not
This was SO helpful!!
So glad!!! Thanks for watching Melanie 😄
It seems like you can use the leca with a hydroponic garden system? I have a 12 pod ahopegarden and am interested in trying LECA with them. Though I would probably have to find smaller pebbles, as the pods are small. I wonder if I can grow avocado using leca? Or potato or strawberries?
yup very helpful I would love to hear more about aroid tips!
Thank you!!!! I'll put something together
thank you! this is the channel that I needed!
Thank you!!! I love to hear that 🌱
Thank you so much- you answered so many of my questions.
Awesome!!! Love to hear that 🤗
Love the lessons learned videos. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for checking it out Carol 😊
Amazing video!! Always look forward to your videos!!!
First comment yes!!!
Yeee!! Thank you Eddie!!!
I like when you make videos about leca cuz I have just started leca journey and your videos really help me what to do❤
Aww I love to hear this!! Thank you for sharing which type of vids are helpful -- always hard to think of what to film each week 😅 Will keep doing new LECA concepts!
Keep making new contents. ♥️👌
Great tips! I wished I would've seen your video earlier. I almost killed my split-leaf philodendron because I planted it too deep (lesson #3).
I am new to plants in LECA. How often do you replace the water and is it necessary to clean the LECA? Also how do you replace the water. Sounds stupid I know but can you damage the plants while changing water.
Thank you this is a very helpful video ! I have my albo in half leca half perlite and water once a week.
Nice! Make sure it needs the water at the 1x a week mark. It's a good starting point, but I've stretched some of mine out to 1x every 10 days :)
Love your videos. They are very informative.
Thank you!! 🙌
I use Eheim Substrat. Much cleaner ☝️ As plant substrate and filter buo media
Hi there, im just getting into leca and I am intrigued watching your beautiful plants in leca but I am wondering what it it that is among the leca ? It's a greyish/white blob spread randomly (from what I can see... on the top)
Hi! Thanks for watching! That is perlite. It's mixed in at 50% of the material with the LECA. It helps stretch the water further so watering windows are 4-8 days instead of every 2 days with 100% LECA (assuming drainage in the pots)
Cool. I’m poised to experiment with Kratky and similar. Subscribed!
Yes! I remember Kratky buckets! Thanks for the sub 😆🤗
Very informative,thank you
Thank you for being one of the first ones to check out the video! :)
I love semi hydro!!!! Great video!!! 😃
Thank you!! Yes semi hydro is the best 😊
those black tips arent from "too much water". I have plants in hydro for years where roots are in water basically whole time. Its from taking plants out and in and smashing roots with pots so they just die off from the point where they were damaged :)
Definitely some from getting smash.. some sit in water and blacken off in my trays :/
Thanks dude about to try a grow in that stuff soon 👍🇦🇺
Good luck!! Leca is the best!
The plant community uses the terms “leca” and/or “hydroton” to refer to all types of expanded clay. LECA, specifically, stands for Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate - a collection of baked clay pebbles that expand when you soak them in water. You can use LECA for propagation, or you can have your plants live in it!
Thank you for sharing I am trying to use the leca but somehow my leaves are turning yellow please tell me what I'm doing wrong have a blessed day
It might be overwatering! Allow the Leca to dry out more between waterings
Love LECA videos. What if the plant has fine roots & soil is almost impossible to remove all soil. Can that plant still go in LECA?
Honestly, without removing most the soil, it’s really susceptible to root rot. Might be best to become a top down watered approach like what we talk about in other Leca videos like this one: ruclips.net/video/m7zAgiFKbfE/видео.html
You can add in some perlite, and use a pot with drainage… and just figure out the best schedule of watering for it! Maybe between 5-20 days, depending how much moisture the roots hold
Thank you for this. Normally I used leca for propagation, then moved them to soil. How to deal with burn leaves? Any suggestions
Likely decrease fertilizer quantity
Very helpful! 💚
🤗
Thank you.
You're welcome!
Yes like the tips.
Good to hear!
in part 4, you mentioned the sign of chlorosis means lack of nitrogen. would love to know more to see what nutrients my monstera needs.
Balance N-P-K like 3-3-3 works well. Also 3-1-2 ratios work well like Osmocote! I’m also currently testing a 13-11-11
You can look up and learn ways to “read” your leaves for nutrient deficiencies. It takes some time and experiences but it’s a great skill to have to be able to figure out deficiencies by leaf appearance.
I have yet to have any success with leca 😅 I hope it gets better
It’s gotta get better!! Worth getting it right-it just takes time
Can i leave it with big fig , and not change or sterilize it
Howdy!
Have you tried growing bonsai in leca semi hydro? Can it be done?
Hey! That’s a great question. I have not tried it, but I don’t see what it couldn’t be done! I’m sure someone has done it at this point
I've just put in some grow beds with 1000 kg leca from Finja in Sweden. When watering, the water just beads on the leca and runs off. the leca doesn't seem to get wet. even the dust float. Never had this before with hydroton. Any ideas on getting the leca wet?
I've never seen this happen on LECA -- sounds like it might be some type of oil or hydrophobic substance on the LECA
@@prettyingreen I thought so too. I called Finja and was told that no its not a coating, no chemicals are on it, Its due to the manufacturing process. The MSDS supports this. So I'm looking for ideas. Other than removing the ton I just carted in by wheelbarrow and disposing of it where? Its made to be inert and non toxic. 100% natural clay.Ill try washing it with soap to break the surface tension, Or maybe time will fix it..
@@heikkiparviainen6084 I would try something like soap, or a gentle solvent to break it off.
I loved this video! Thank you!
more like this pls
Will do!
Are these in a full hydro or passive hydro system?
Both!
Also i use pots with holes ☝️
Keep them in some water always, they are called semi hydro for a reason 😭 thats wh, the roots rot, because the, when the, dry out then sit in water
You can periodically water them! They don’t have to sit in water
I really love the leca medium system but would you please please please do a video on how you clean roots from soil or moss pot and evaluate if the roots are worth cleaning after pulling the plant straight out of the pot? And it would be great if you can share some tips on what type of potting mix we should avoid when buying a plant in nursery or stores to save us some time before we transition them into leca? It is absolutely a whole lot of pain cleaning the roots when i first get the plant home. I am getting more back pain than ever hah
The way I discern what will stay and go on the roots, is by spraying a hose-on the fairly high setting. What remains after I leave. Then, if it’s moss, I usually have to tweezer out more bits from the roots!
I’d stick with an Aroid mix, and use bagged soil from a high quality producer (ideally not big box retail). But smaller garden centers / hydroponics stores!
To transition potted plants into leca I rinse off the soil/grow medium with a pretty strong stream of water (garden hose or some kitchen faucets have a blade spray setting that’s a flat fan of water and the spray heads are pretty cheap). Then I trim off basically all of the secondary roots because those are what’s likely going to die off and rot in the transition. I’ll usually start my leca transfers in clear vessels (glass jars or vases with a drainage/flush hole cut into it with a diamond hole drill bit) or plastic cups and orchid pots so I can monitor the roots until they start putting out new roots. Most people will say to start in leca with cuttings and not to bother trying to transfer soil plants into leca, but I’ve done it successfully tons of times. It can seem counterintuitive to cut off so much root mass from the outset, but it’s honestly one of the best things I’ve learned in transitioning plants to leca. You also don’t really want to leave any water in the bottom of the vessels as a reservoir until you notice new root growth. For the first couple weeks just run water through the cups and let drain every couple of days (or more often depending on how dry your home is). Once they develop new roots you can leave a bit of nutrient solution/water in the bottom or reservoir.
What's the bleach and water ratio? I tried adding bleach only so it smells like a pool and the roots burnt. I think culture gap means we have diff pool smells. H😊a ha ha.
1 capful of bleach/gallon (4 L) water. HTH
if the point of substrate is to deliver water to the roots, wouldn't it be easier to plant everything in just water?
Great question! The substrate also has to deliver oxygen to the roots! So you'd have to pump in oxygen to the water using an airpump. This is called DWC (Deep Water Culture)
I need some advice I put three of my plants in leac about 2 weeks ago but the leaves turn yellow please I'm asking you what did I do wrong could you help me with a text please blessed day
Hey! It sounds like too much water :/
Check the roots for rot
OK I just bought a Thai Constellation but there is no way to get the coco chips and perlite out of the root system without completely destroying it. I went ahead and replanted in leca thinking that it was only coco chips and perlite and then I watched this video. Do you think I should abandon the leca?
No, don’t abandon it. Just be very careful about overwatering when it’s mixed with other media. Ideally keep it in a clear cup so you can monitor its roots!
Always get a grow formula with nitrogen and potassium calcium and beyond
#LeafLux
We don’t grow in a greenhouse. Just use a self watering pot.
Only the gifted can grow plants in LECA.
If it was for you I wouldn't have beautiful plants on Leca. You male nutrient feeding very easy, otter channel mafe nutrient adding too complex....I just buy your nutrients for my Leca plants. Thank you!!!!
Thank you for the support 🙌