I wasn’t ready to start LECA and neither are you 

I accidentally bought $100 worth of LECA (bought a huge bag $50 on Amazon and then accidentally put it on a delivery plan) soooooo for the foreseeable future, I'm doing LECA. Lmao.

1. Fungus gnats, 2. , 3. ... 😂 I love your sense of humor! "I drew this extremely detailed graph" LOOOL!❤

I love your communication style. You *always* explain things perfectly, even when I’ve been trying for weeks to learn something. Thank YOU 🙏

The timing of this video is so perfect I was just debating of I should start using leca lol

I really love the honesty about how to use LECA! I just decided to start using LECA & I love the great information! Thank you so much for all the wonderful useful information!!

Woahh! Lee you are spoiling us with the new camera & audio!! And a dolly for the b-roll? Damn!!!

Oh yeah, I am the never fertilize my plant person. Sheer laziness or just procrastination, I'll do it next time. BUT this spring I started and wow, wow, wow - what a difference, lol!! Now I put just a little in every watering can. Love the difference.

Thank you for this video! I am a houseplant veteran interested in LECA only for my water props and cuttings. My instinct was not to transfer anything from soil and this helped me feel good about that choice. Love your channel

Thank you for this. I've been thinking the same things and not understanding the hype. Thanks for your honest and straight forward review. I definitely don't have the time for this right now!

I transferred 90% of my plants in leca and I love it

You’re just naturally so funny, thank you for this video!

Thank you so much for the best and clearest instructions! Love your video! So concise, and you are soo charming! There are soo many videos about Leca that it's very confusing, I was overwhelmed. I now realize it's not for everyone, it's a big commitment and needs more study to do it correctly. But having said that you have inspired me to transition to Leca eventually! Thank again!

Thanks for sharing your insights. Love that graph and your humor.

Your sense of humour always gets me 😂 one joke then another just makes me happy, along with all your knowledge, thank you ^__^

This makes sense and you made it easier to understand. I just want one plant in leca, mostly because I'm afraid it will die on me and it was a present. I don't think I want everything in leca at all, but at least I know for sure what needs to be done, thanks! (your channel name scares me lol)

omg i was just about to put a bunch of water propagated plants in LECA along with some established soil grown plants because i thought it would be easier. didnt realise you needed to purchase a science lab first. glad i found this video, thanks for saving me a whole lotta headache !

So happy to hear somebody say this. It just seems like a nightmare switching to LECA. Glad I haven’t fallen down that rabbit hole yet.

Hydroculture is easy to learn if you know a little chemistry and biology. As you start to mix the multi-part fertiliser, it begins to break down. The mix is good for around four days, so if you mix a day in advance, it is only good for another three. If your tap water has consistent hardness or if you use rainwater, you don't need to measure pH each time you mix a bottle. Use a small syringe to drop the exact amount of acid (pH down) in the bottle. Also: don't use a spoon; a small syringe is much easier. Use a colour-coded syringe for each fertiliser part; that way, you don't need to wash the spoon. Most importantly of all: use an EC meter (Electric Conductivity) to measure the fertiliser level. Measure before you water and compare with the last time or several times back. If the EC value rises, you are killing the plant by over-fertilising (or the pH is too low). If EC is stable, everything is fine. If the EC is very low, you might want to fertilise more. Plants that want to stay moist (like peace lily and coffee) are easier to convert. You can remove all the soil (hydroculture) or some of it (hybrid hydroculture - the soil will eventually flush out and give a smoother conversion). Lots of RU-vidrs fail with LECA and hate it. You cannot learn anything from them. For me, LECA saves time and plant lives. Soil is time-consuming if you weight the plants as I do, but I am not good with soil.

LECA is different to PON or even self -made PON. With LECA the ph goes down much faster and it 's totally different. I Mix my own PON (pumice, lava and perlite, zeolite would be ideal), use self-made self-watering pots and it works perfect. I flush the plants from time to time, add fertilizer and/or hydrogen peroxide as I think what the plant needs. It is all in all very clean and free from fungus gnats, in addition it 's way easier to treat the plants for pests/spray in the shower. I love it and will never go back to soil with these plants! Still have a few hanging plants, succulents and the big BOP in a well draining soil mix + much pumice, thats ok 😊

I find it strange people say semi-hydro is too much effort. I've found transferring my plants to pon a learning experience for sure, and I did lose some precious ones during my first year (and I will say that when I did straight leca I struggled more), but once I got the hang of it I've found my plants have been much happier, even during period where my mental health hasn't allowed me to take care of them. Any that are still in soil struggle and look very sad. I do mostly use self watering pots, but I do have some just in cache pots. I'm also fortunate enough that I don't have to adjust the PH of my water since I have a waterbutt filled with rainwater and the PH is always at the right range after adding all my nutes and additives :) Beneficial bacteria was a game changer for me

“You don’t” 😂 Why’s this dude so underrated!

Im glad ive seen this. I have ADHD and was gifted an orchid, which was on my goal plant list to conquer caring for. I already bought the leca so im going to go for it anyway since orchids have high care needs, but this was really useful to know before starting. Its also going to be in my front room so I will always be reminded to care for it

Great video, thanks for the breakdown

I love that you were honest about LECA not being for everyone. Agreed. You have to analyze your circumstances before diving into the LECA world. Months ago I transferred all of my plants to LECA in self-watering pots with the wick system, but the water level in the reservoir never decreased. My plants died. I identified some of the mistakes I made after watching videos from the LECA queen, but none of them explained the water level never going down. I might try LECA in self-watering pots in the future but for now I will stick to soil and bottom-watering with a tray, which worked sort of OK for me before. I find that if you are not using self-watering pots, LECA can be more of a hassle than soil what with the fertilizer, flushing the whole plant often to remove excess nutrients, checking the pH, etc. Also, I might need to replace my self-watering pots with the wick system for the ones with the cache pot system and that would be another investment, so for now it’s LECA 1 - me 0 😂

This was super helpful!

Your dry humor kills me and is not overlooked! 😂😂😂

I grow all my orchids in leca 😀 the fact that I can recycle indefinitely, which makes it super cost effective 👍🏼 glad you mentioned the importance of pH. I am in S'ern Spain. Come gave a look 👀 😍

Very clear and helpful!

Great content, I like what you mean about reaching an optimal level. I have maybe most of my plants in leca about 20something and it was a slow transition over the year. I started from every new plant that I got a cutting or imports I throw directly in leca. I only have a few plants in soil. I would say leca is worth it because every time I water. I can give my plants a bath really rinse it down to prevent pests. I also disagree with you about water schedule. I find it easier to water my leca plants. I can be one or two days early or late while soil plants too early is not great as you'll risk over water and too late is not great for water loving plants. The best decision was my marnta which was the hardest to transfer but no I don't even need to worry about forgetting to water as often

I watched you discussing LECA with Nora and I think it really has to do with the kind of plant parent you are. To be honest, I struggle and spend a lot of time with checking the moisture level of the soil because cold and moist feels the same at times and of course tons of fungus gnats. But if you have to change the nutrition once every two weeks, I don't think it's too much effort at all. And I have the peace of mind that my plant is doing ok because I can see the health of the root. I'm glad i watched both your and Nora's videos to realize what I would prefer.

Super informative video, def had to hit that subscribe button 🙌🏾

Thank you! Great info!

Hey! This is an excellent review of the effort and cost of converting to LECA, with great points to consider before making your decision. Thanks for the great video.

I use leca on my Haworthias and some cacti. I also have some leca in my Dracena pots For the rest of my plants I use mix of bark and some soil. That's how I use fewer ingredients for maximum result. Leca can be used in so many combinations and ways that it's no brainer why one should consider buying some.

Love this!!

GREAT points!

Thank you for this video. Informative no nonsense guide. I have had a meddle with leca but was always unsure whether it was for me…. After this video… NO it is not 🤣 I started my houseplant collection during the 2nd year of lockdown and originally was very random in my purchases…both in mediums and plants… have settled now to targeted soil types and so much happier staying with what I know. Looking forward to more of your videos. Again thanks for just cracking on with the information instead of much of the blurb we have to listen to before getting to what we want to hear

Thanks for this info! I am a fairly new plant parent and kept hearing about this leca. Wanted to try it but I think I am good with plain ol' soil....for now lol.

Great information. Thank you.

You are the best. Thank you.

This Video seems rather weird for me, cause I have all my plants in Leca and I find it fare easier than all other forms of growing plants. That is for the simple reason that with leca the water only stays at the bottom of pot an is not absorbed by the substrate. That means I can fill way more water in the pot, which means I have to water less frequent. Several of my plants haver survived me not watering them for over a month, when I was on vacation. This wouldn´t been possible with any other substrate. Also Plants grow faster in LECA which specially for beginners is beneficial cause your plant still grows even if you make some mistakes.

Love this info! Wish i watch this bfore starting leca

Thank you,I was wondering..I will stay with soil

I am just learning about Leca, I like the idea as I am gone several weeks a few times a year and in the past my poor plants died. This is perfect for me. I started out with an orchid in Leca, now I am waiting for a large bag of Leca and will try several more plants. It’s better than replacing the plants when I get home and find dead ones. Or taking them with me-which I’ve also done.

Thank you for this. I am disabled and unable to do all this for leca due to time and unforseen hospital visits. So happy I saw this video. At least if I come home from a 2 week hospital stay my Jade varieties, pothos, phili and a few others will be alive. Two weeks with no care seems like my leca plants would be dead. Nope, not doing it. Thanks.

Until Brian stops returning your text messages... hahahah. Literally had me unexpectedly laugh out loud :)

How am I just scrolling into you 😂 I'm diggN your concerns about leca 🌱.

I had another shot at this. So glad I did. The results are very rewarding on my dumb canes… now there are no brown tips and instead of all dark green leaves with bits of white the leaves are mostly white… no nasty spider might plagues on my Alocasia and certainly a 98% drop in fungus gnats appearing even though I was buying those very expensive unsightly sticky pads.’

New subscriber here! Love your videos filled with in-depth knowledge and no drama 👍. I don’t get much sun in my house :(. I have pothos but they don’t grow bright n beautiful like yours. You gave big pothos in small pot, mine is opposite of it :(. I don’t overwater, fertilize 3 times a year, use miracle gro potting soil. What am I missing, please guide. Thanks

As someone who started my plant obsession with aquaponics, I’ve never quite understood the appeal of leca in a houseplant system. I like the look, but I’m lazy lol

I submerge up to 2/3 of the pot in hydroponic solution. This causes the plants to grow very thick water roots and root hairs which maximize nutrient uptake. Change about every 20 days, rinsing not needed when using the right amount. Plants will have a quick growth rate with larger and more mature leaves.

I was debating trying leca for one of my calathea that isn't doing so great right now. I didn't know it was so much work. I would like to give orchids a go this summer and I'll go the leica route for that specific plant. But for now, I'll stick to soil. I don't have a whole lot of time to dedicate to my plants.

i was using hydroton in my lower 2 inches in hempy buckets with 100% coco coir on top. i found it annoying to clean all the dust off the clay balls and also the face you have to soak them in pH adjusted water etc. nice video! I switched my reseroir to a substance called fytocell

The fungus gnats joke was hilarious not gonna lie😂

To get around pH-adjusting you can use fulvic acid by Terra Aquatica. In America it's sold as "diamond nectar" by General Hydroponics. It will ensure nutrient uptake.

I'm lucky when it comes to fertliser, as I have a house rabbit haha. I just pop some of her poops in the soil plants, in the same way people add worm castings. My leca plants obviously can't have that, so I have a good liquid fertliser for them. Agree on the pests, the leca ones seem to not deal with half as much. The soil part of the lifecycles of many pests is impossible, so while they can still pick up thrips, generally, they don't become as infested. I like having both soil and leca plants, as it always gives me something to do.

Very helpful

What fertilizer do you use for your monstera in full leca

How offten do you add nutrients to the water? Everytime?

Love your graphics. 😂😂

Thanks!

Gonna stick with soil, thanks for the info 🪴

I didn't use those pots for leca, my biggest expense were chinese jars with wide rim, no strike that, looking at the jar, it has no rim, except for the rim itself. they are like glass tubes with flat bottom. I'm assuming this will complicate things when times come to "flushing" it, which I haven't done so far, so, we'll see. I have so far only moved alocasias, and my only sensaveria - well, I didn't move her so much, she was grown from the cuttings in water, so I figured, it's best to leave them in water... I'm also wanting to move begonia rex, but her roots aren't cooperating, so she's now sitting in jug of water, with her black soil roots, and while leaves are growing on it, I don't see any white roots showing up. well, of course plant with rex in the name was going to be complicated. at any rate, you don't have to move all your plants to leca, but move those that are struggling (alocasias) and you don't have to think about fertilizers all that much, by slow release fertilizers, ones that are applied every 6 months, and add a quarter of what's recommended to the water. you can literally add them in spring, when you remember, and that's it for entire year.

yeah, it's easier to repot them when in Leca/pon, but also because many plants don't grow much in hydroponics in my experience - too much hassle with fertilisers, I'm so regretting I bought so much pon ...

This is funny. I just watched a really great video offering a complete guide to leca, including transitioning plants. It looked like waaaay too much work and too much money for me! 😅 Maybe when my kids are out of the house, but def not now. I DO want to brag to all my friends about my plants until they stop answering my texts 😜 but the need is not that serious. 😂😅

What do u recommend for a pineapple plant

This info is so valuable , i think i will stay with soil😁

omg i'm your biggest fan!

I found leca works best for my variegated monstera cuttings transitioning from water

Leca is great, you just need to know how to use it. It works for me greatly.

In between solution changes, top off evaporated water with normal tap water. Otherwise you increase the concentration of the solution as the water evaporated but the nutrients did not.

I pray that I am consistent, I am in it for big growth and propagation and have about 50 plants so I am invested in lecca, I am making my own net pots out of 2 gallon jugs and 2 liter bottles maybe I should record and post someday

Doing some research on whether to use LECA, after I bought a small bag. After watching a few videos and then stumbling across your channel, I’m gonna say yeah, nah! I don’t like the waste of water around using LECA. WASH balls, SOAK balls, WASH plant roots, WATER top up, WASH balls fortnightly to remove salt build up. No thanks, I’ll just stick to soil 😊

Thank you for the information. Can begonias grow in leca

i put all of my plants into leca around half a year ago and i have so mixed feelings. some of my plants like monstera adansonii or philodendron burlemarx variegata loves leca and all of my plants grow BUT... i encounter SO much root rot, no matter what i do. i use hydro fertilizer, i ec and ph balance, i have good airflow, i keep temps in check... it gets so annoying to a point i have to trim back dead roots every 2 weeks or so so keepo the plants healthy. especially the roots that grow into the reservoir allways rot away. BUT i think there must be a way to resolve that issue, and i m sure i can find out a way. the main issue however i m having with leca right now is maintenance and how freaking time consuming it is. with a chunky aroid mix, you just store it in a box, want to pot a new plant, grab some, put it in, some water over it done. i cant do that with leca. leca even tho the concept is more simple, requires so many more steps, brainwork, equipment and money that i spend like 2-3 times as much time as i had with soil. i need to prepare leca, rinse it, cook it, soak it ph balance it... so i can pot up a plant in a couple days. you constantly have to measure and mix nutrients and fertilizers and i have so many bottles around the house of stuff to buy, and additives and whatnot, you need so many more pots and so much more expensive pots aswell. with soil, i ll just go to the local gardencenter and buy lets say a 15cm pot from elho for like 99cents, put a saucer below for 30 cents and call it a day. With leca, i need new pots, preferably clear ones, i need to put extra holes into them and prepare the pots, i then need decorative cachepots for... ALL OF THEM as a reservoir and those pots are so expensive and such a limiting factor. combined with how fast i need to repot in leca, i hit a point where i need to repot but i cant because i dont have any cachepots and most of the cachepots i have dont 100% fit in size either. and oh boy... not gonna lie, i hate flushing and watering them so much. since they all sit in decorative cachepots, i have to take out every single plant one by one out of the pot to check the reservoir, the run all plants into the bathroom one by one and emptying it and flushing it and then rewater them and if you have a lot of plants next to each other you have to basicly pull put all plants. comparing this to just put some water over your plants until you see it coming out at the bottom and then forget about for a week or so... its insane how much more work leca workflow is. oh and you need to buy this and this and this. and another bottle. and then in case you use mosspoles and you take a cutting, those cuttings are basicly useless because their roots have moss all over and rot in leca anyways. i dont HATE leca. in fact i still like the idea, but i intitially started with leca because i thought its easier and it will save me time... it does not, it requires way more time and attention than soil does and it gets so technicly and overwhelming and it makes me consider going back to soil again because i genuinely miss those easy times, where you just bought a plant and you dont have to convert it or anything and you just put in some soilmix and be done.

I’m a lazy plant parent. Leca is not for me. My cousin uses leca and she spends so much time on her plants but they are beautiful!!

You know, I was on the fence about trying leca. You made valid points about why I should not. I am also over PON as well. Thanks for this video.

I only use Leca on my orchids and when im rooting in water.

I saw this video and my hardheaded a** listened to everything you said but did the exact opposite. My plant is doing fine but I'm totally uncomfortable with LECA because I'm not familiar and definitely unwilling to transfer the rest of my plants. I was just trying something but will definitely be going back to soil in the spring. Listen to Lee, Folks. he won't lead you astray! lol

Fed Ex just dropped of my first bag of Leca. Great video!

I recently got into leca as it looks way nicer, and I don't have to worry about fungus gnats lurking around my room, although I'm leaving a few in soil as its mostly monstera I feel will do the best in leca due to their thick roots. I bought 3 self watering pots off of Temu for £15, and some No.1 Powergrow Nurture system hydroponic and soil fertiliser, shown on another youtubers channel, I have just recently transferred my plants to the leca, although before watching this video I didn't realise the unused nutrient's would build up in the leca, and If I was to forget to clean the leca would this cause serious harm to my plants?. I also didn't realise changing the pH of the water was so important, that's if it really is.

I want to do leca so bad!!! I want my plants to be huge and gorgeous but I tried it before and failed. Especially my scindapsus plants. They went into shock. I have ALL the material but I am scared. I really don’t want over 30 plants in my house but I want them huge haha. Especially my alocasias. Should I start again? How do I start if you recommended I do so? FYI…. My husband would like my plants more if I didn’t have fungus gnats. He HATES them so that’s why I started it in the beginning. 😅

would you have the same issues if you combined leca with soil? i was planning on using it in a soil mixture just to keep oxygen in the soil

Thanks Darl, I’ve been considering converting to Lecca ,now it’s a no from me

Where can we contact u for advice !?😭i feel like my monsters is going to die on me

I have put about 40 plants into leca over the last year and i use a wick system which I find much easier and no flushing required. But I havent used it for my monsteras or any of my older more established plants. I find the younger I transition the plants the better. I do put them straight in from soil, thorough very gently clean....and I havent had any problems but I want to transition some older larger plants now and Im very nervous. ALSO what poles and supports do you use in leca??Im finding this a problem -metal..plastic..tricky !

I've been thinking about going to LECA because I've tried everything to get rid of fungus gnats, and two of my plants have root rot so id love to get out of soil.

Is there any way you could use a few drops of neem oil in the fertiliser solution to avoid pests? 🤔

but if i want a mini business and start with leca, that means the buyers will have to keep them in leca forever as well, right?

I use a bottle called Thrive ……………………for nutrients ..I hope that it works in Leica

I love lecca.

Me: well I had some pebbles for my fish tank and so that’s what she got. LOL 😂 she’s doing just fine. Roots look great.

Hey there :) The jug where everyone is mixing their nutrient water, how long can you let it sit for? Ive read that it should not sit for more than 1 day, is this true? Or can i have nutrient water, have it sit on the side until I need it for the next feeding? I only have 1 plant that I will transfer into LECA. Its a monstera albo, it was in water for a very long time right from when I got the propagation. I was always scared to do something with it, so its only been in water and its starting to turn yellow after 2 years assuming due to lack of nutrients. It makes sense, it has just been water! It has a huge root system, she was happy until the last 3-4 months. So as you can see i wont be needing an entire gallon of water which is the usual everyone is mixing.

Why do plants grow faster in Leca? Because they can get the nutrients faster than in soil? :)

soooo im new to the plant game and have grown up with plants around me (that i never took care of) Funny enough they all seemed to Thrive with no pest issues. It is only when I got my own place and started buying plants did i learn what a damn fungus gnat was. So i ran out and bought all the leca in the world. Then i heard about Spidermites, Thrips and all hte other BS pests UGH. welp my leca is still in the bags ahahahaha. hopefully I have the same luck my mom has had over 20 year old plants and not one pest

i Can buy only one bottle , which one for house plants? thanks

you got me at fungus gnats

4:15-4:17: Itemization, please.

How can you still get pests using leca? Do they come in the bag like mists soil pests?

did brian return text or turn off silence yet?