LECA Update + Maintenance | Pros + Cons, Nutrients, FAQ

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I’m Fern! A 20-something gal living on beautiful Vancouver Island, Canada with my sweet lil doggo Olive and over 100 houseplants. I like to create content on social media part time and also work as a Registered Nurse. I am passionate about all things living and I have been vegan for over 5 years - it was the best decision I’ve ever made. For those into astrology, I am a gemini sun, scorpio moon, & libra rising. I started out on social media with a focus on makeup/beauty/fashion and am not into it as much, but I do share on those topics from time to time. Thanks for stopping by!

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[RobertMontero-jj]

For anyone watching this lately, the new roots that grow into water are considered water roots and are totally good being in water. The roots that shouldn’t be in water are the soil roots. Not all plants like leca. Generally speaking, if it isn’t easy to get the soil off the roots, it’s probably not going to do well. Hydroponic and semi hydroponic loving plants tend to have large diameter roots. My Monstera’, Alocacias, and calatheas love semi/hydroponics but the philodendrons hate it. Thin roots bad. Rope roots good.

[savannahray]

The white stuff isn’t mold! it’s nutrient deposits on the outside of the leca balls. this means there are too many for that plant to absorb, or more than it needs. so — either water less frequently or lower your nutrient concentration. could be that this is a cuttting so it doesn’t have as many roots to absorb it but it’s not a huge deal, just reduce nutrients and you’ll be good! 🪴

[jake]

I heard when learning about leca, because I don’t have any plants of my own in leca, but if the roots are naturally growing into the water in the leca pot, that they are growing to withstand the water. Kind of like water propagation if that makes sense. But if you take a plant from dirt to leca, those roots aren’t meant to withstand being in water, cause they’ve been grown for soil, so they have to grow new roots towards the water that will be able to.

[ravensandoval]

I think from my research the advising of having a layer of leca between the roots and the water is mostly for when you are first transferring a plant from soil to leca. Especially if you are transferring to leca to battle root rot, its to give the plant a chance to grow water roots rather than having them sitting in the water to continue to rot. All my plants in leca, (really only a few) have now grown well into the water and are doing great. I have my large monstera in leca after root rot and shes putting out new leaves constantly after almost all her roots rotted prior to leca.

[LaurensLeaves]

As someone who has around 30 plants in leca, I think the biggest con is flushing them😅 it takes a long time and is definitely a labor of love. As for your question about the roots being submerged in water, I don’t mind it when the roots are in water. If it gets to be too much I just rearrange the roots back up into the same pot. I’m considering transitioning some plants from leca > soil, wish me luck!

[soilfreebee]

I let my water roots sit in the cache pot! My plants are happy and the roots don't seem to rot!

[jojojogonzalez]

Actually you can mix thenpotting soil with leca, that gives more aeration to the soil and you plant will grow healthier. So you can totally do that with your monstera, just mix 60% potting soil with 20% of leca and the rest you can add chunks of orchid bark or active charcoal (it’s awesome for the plants, every single one of mine have that) 🤍

[alphaanomalous]

@wildfern I grow all of my plants in Leca. I have an Oncidium "Sharry Baby" 2 Moth Orchids, 1 "Grand Duke Of Tuscany" Jasmine A Tea Rose Begonia Golden Pothos and 2 Lily of the Valley all on Leca. They are in self watering pots. The kind without a wick in them. I rinse the Leca with the plants still in them once every 3 months due to salt build up from fertilizer. I use only Hydroponic based fertilizer. All of the roots eventually grow inside the self watering pots. I have never had an issue and they are all healthy.

[Chronically.sarahdayton]

Thank you so much for doing this video! I really enjoy your content, and it's so encouraging to me that you're so patient with us newbies.

Just a warning on using mason jars or other jars that are smaller at the top (or even in the middle)- after the roots get too large, it's nearly impossible to get the roots and LECA out without breaking the glass jar or the roots. It will definitely work for a bit, but not long term. I only know from experience lol 😅

[gabrieleweidhuner]

White deposits are excess calcium & mineral salts from your water & nutrients. Just flush frequently.
If you want to transfer from leca to soil, just remember the roots from lec are essentially "water" roots so the plant will have to grow "soil" roots so there will be another adjustment period.🙂

[suedub]

I'm a 100% soil girl but I love your hair, plants, and your updates!

[Renzyyyyyy]

As a beginner in using leca, this video is so helpful. Thank you so much ❤️ Love from Philippines 🥰

[sonyvaioboy]

Just an FYI.. I use rain water for all my house plant watering. Even bringing the water inside the house to acclimatise before use.
My Monstera Albo is in Leca, the roots are going mental but leaf output is slow at the mo.

[diannawarner]

I have many plants in Leca. The roots always find their way to the water. I don't bother them unless there are a lot out of the net pot.
I have never had issues with the roots that escape the net pot and are growing in the water.
Many times, if the roots growing in the water bothers you it can be unpotted and repositioned in the pot. It doesn't necessarily need a bigger pot.

[meowjessicarose]

Minimalist Cali let’s the roots sit in water because they’re adapted to water and won’t rot :)

[tiffanykp]

I love this helpful video!! 🌱♥️ Can you do one on sphagnum moss on the future?

[rawrritsxreptar]

Love this update! I've been transferring a lot of my plants to leca lately and am waiting to get some Lechuza Pon to try out, too!!

[MrGeemonty]

Love the video! All these "semi-hydroponics" videos just recently started popping up on youtube for me. I grow cannabis using hydroponics but had never heard of this "semi-hydroponics". Had to check this out thinking it was like partial soil or something but this is just a slightly modified kratky method, basically more leca less water.

I mostly grow using the Deep Water Culture method which uses an air stone and air pump to oxygenate the water the roots are sitting in. If you are having troubles keeping the roots from rotting this might be something to consider. I have a giant golden pothos that I grow this way and it is super healthy compared to my soil grown one and looks super awesome with the clear water reservoir I use which allows me to see the bubbles. Cleaning algae sucks. The downside to this is that if the air pump stops working for w/e reason the roots can rot on most plants once the air stops flowing, some plants wont have this issue as they can develop "water" roots. For this reason I never have my roots fully submerged as a sort of short term kratky system until I can get my air flowing again.

[gurlmadeincanada]

Leca looks so weird to me, just like aesthetically. I like to get my hands dirty, and plant in my basic ole'soil mix . Glad your TC is finally thriving tho! ☺️💚🌿

[syafiqahazmin]

I have all of my plants in leca and I'm a lazy plant person so I just let my roots in the water. Sometimes I put leca in the water to elevate my net pot so it wont touch the water. I usually just rearrange my roots in the same net pot and it will take me around 3 mins to do each one. I'll take out half of the leca, take out the plant and fill my catch pot with water untill its 3/4. then i submerge my net pot with half of the leca that is in there, put my plant in and then the rest of the leca balls. The water makes it easier to arrange plants especially when you have few plants growing in the same pot. I hope it works well for you. Goodluck!