Hi Sylvia 😍💐 thank YOU so much for watching, I appreciate your time and your comment! I am so glad that you caught that nugget of intel about leca being fired with paraffin when produced. Not ALL leca, but probably the cheaper brands, because the paraffin speeds up the heating process in the kiln, making the production faster and cheaper. Nasty nasty stuff! The smell in my kitchen was making my eyes water... absolutely crazy! BUT, thankfully, I found a garden centre that sells leca not fired with paraffin. However, their quality has dropped considerably as well, so, I am glad for my older stash 👍🏼 hope you are having a wonderful day, lovely lady!! Truly appreciate your support 🫶🏼❤️🌸
😍Tran, hi 💐 thank YOU for being here and watching the video 🙏🏼 you are so right about leca... there are the downsides that make using it very time consuming and I try not to focus on those, with the exception of evaporative cooling which is a big factor that can take my orchids out during the winter. I have to say though, the fact that I have not bought a bag of leca for the past 2 years, and have been recycling since 2018, I cannot tell you how relieved I am that I do not have to worry about the cost of substrate, replacing and shipping that in, because I cannot get proper organic media here in my garden centres. So.... I hear you, when you say that 'it is too much trouble'!! 👍🏼 ❤️🌸
Light expanded clay aggregate masterclass highly informative. Complacent with readily available charcoal and broken earthern tile pieces Nina. Feliz mier coles mi amiga Nina !
Jose, amigo mio 😍💐 hola!! ¿¿Como estas?? 😃 thank you so much for your comment, and your feedback, for watching and for giving another alternative to using leca as a media mixed together with other media. That is very helpful and appreciated!! I hope that you are having a great week, that your Wednesday was wonderful and I wish you a terrific Thursday 🥰 espero que vas a tener un buen día! I hope that you have a great day! Muchas gracias por ver el video, lo aprecio! 🤗🌸
Fran! HI! 🥰💐 its good to see you!! The pots are not a set, I am not sure if I mentioned that in this video. Basically, I found the masks, liked them so much I hunted for inner pots that fit the size of the mask. I am out of the small inner pots and my garden centre does not get that brand anymore, so, bit by bit I am shifting to square pots where the size is needed. Those are not a set as well. Find mask, and then hunt for inner pots 😅 its a thing! Maybe you can source a mask that you like, that you can get your hands on and then see if you can find inner pots that work? It took me months trudging from one garden centre to the other but in the end, the effort was worth it. While looking at plants 🫣😆 thank you so much for your feedback on this video, and for watching it! I really appreciate that! Hope you had a wonderful day 🤗🌸
HI Norman 😍💐 thank you so much! I feel as though this is a part one... but I appreciate your feedback very much, Norman! I hope that you are doing well and that all your preparations are fun and going smoothly ❤️ thank you so much for watching 🌸
I personally love how versatile leca is! I use in semi hydro, in a bark mix, or in a basket. I think the inert nature of leca has some similarities with growing bare rooted orchids. Both mediums don’t decompose, you can water heavily, and you can be highly specific about fertilizers. I love how long leca can last!
&yLand 😍💐 Leca is amazeballs 🤪 I had to use that word.. forgive me!! 😅 But yes, I love the stuff... and yet, my mind is going to get some orchids into bark that I cannot figure out the balance for leca and they are not doing well. Before I loose them, and gamble their existence simply because I haven't figured that part out yet, I am contemplating giving them a couple of years to recover in bark, and go from there. I can only get enormous chunks of bark and only in form of a big bag... OR, I may switch them to lava rock... not sure yet! Typical that they would be bifoliate candidates 🙄😆 thank you so much for watching, and for your comment! I appreciate the support very much 😘 hope you are doing well 🌸❤️
Nina, in order to divide leca beads from big to little, I took a plastic tray, I did a lot of holes of 1 cm of diameter and I just have to shake. It's sooooo fast. Thank you Nina, your video are soo interesting that I have to study them! Thank you for beeing here for us!
Dania 😍💐hi!! You see?? My thanks go to YOU! Here you are, watching another video, and it is so kind of you to be so generous with your time, thank you so so much 🤗 The past 48 hrs have been difficult for me, but wow, you really helped make things better 🙏🏼 That is a fabulous idea with the tray 🤦🏼♀️👍🏼 you see? Sometimes we need someone with ideas, thoughts and suggestions to help us with the little things that make orchid growing easier, so, thank you very much for that idea... I had not thought of that 🤪 meanwhile, if you see me reuse this footage in future videos, please do not think the I am ignoring you... I just have it as stock footage and will use when needed, IF needed 😬😉 I hope that your day was beautiful, Dania! I can assure you that your comments, and support have lifted my spirits from where they were a couple of hours ago! Thank you so very much ❤️🌸
Very interesting video I tried Nico once in my plants but I think it was to dry him my home or they didn’t like it one of them I don’t know but I stick to bark cause I know I like it. Thanks for the very interesting video. hope you are well. Yes I am hurt from a bad back. Don’t know what a cold weather expect getting into my bones a bit but Not too bad carrying on doing the work at home. Just to keep going. Hope you are well. The snow is still here hopefully after Sunday it will be gone we hope I’m freezing fog is well not very nice but what we can we do it is December, but they say we got a warm Christmas so might be able to get out and about and have a walk not very safe to walk about at the moment too icy. Catch you soon❤❤😊😊
Andrea, lovely lady, hi 😍💐 I watched some of the news feeds on the weather in the UK, and wow!! Winter wonderland 😍 but it must have been bad for commuting! I loved growing in bark 👍🏼 recently, I saw a bag of XXXL size bark for landscaping and I was so tempted to buy it, get the pieces down to size and grow some orchids in it. Especially ones that I am not getting to perform properly in leca because I have not figured out their balance yet. I did not buy the bag, because it is so big, and I do not need that much. I appreciate you watching the video, Andrea, even though you are not using leca! I appreciate you watching all my videos... you are so supportive and for that I am so grateful! Thank YOU!! I was afraid for my daughter driving home in the torrential rain and wind storm last night, so yes, I understand that the conditions are dangerous even to just go for a walk! I am glad to hear that you could stay home 👍🏼 Really appreciate you, Andrea, if I have not made that clear in the past, or today, know that I really appreciate you! Thank you so so much for your support 🙏🏼🌸 stay warm! stay safe! ❤️
Hi Nina... 👋🏻 How's the Rain 🌧️☔ in Spain? 😏 Just Cold 🥶 here, but that's normal 🤔 for this time of year. I liked this vid!! I've been tempted to try Leca for a few of my mini's. 🙂 Have a great evening Nina... Voo Doo Ta Ta ☃️
🦇💐😍 heeeey!!! The rain in Spain falls mainly ....EVERYWHERE!! At least the wind stopped! 👍🏼 right now, the rain has stopped as well, so... the drains can catch up! Two more days of this, and on Saturday the 'chiddos can go outside for a day. Thank you for the feedback on this video... mucho talk, not much footage 🥹 so, I appreciate you taking the time, thank you!! YOU have yourself that extraordinarily, fantastically, amazing rest of your day ❤️🦦😅😘
🦒🙌🌦🌦Hi Nina, good morning!!! Everything one needs to know about using leca for orchids 👋👋 It takes a lot of love and dedication to make leca usable with safety but then taking the benefits and rewards of your labor of love. Happy wednesday, hopefully not too rainy/windy, to you and yours 💖💖😘😘
FFF 😍🙌🏼🤸🏼♀️🥰💐 good evening, meine liebe Freundin!! Hope your day was dry 😬🤞🏼 just about everything... there can be a part 2, and possibly a part 3. I hope that I can break down the walls of leca being the devil when it comes to growing orchids. Leca is blamed for every problem, but isn't it like a computer programmer? It is the code you put in that will make the program work, and not the computer's fault! Right? I could grow in bark, and still loose orchids 🤷🏼♀️ people growing conventionally loose orchids 🤷🏼♀️ clearly the views show the lack of interest 😅 so, I appreciate that you were interested and supported me with your time! Thank you so much, amiga mia! 🙏🏼 we had a LOT of rain today, but the wind died down, which was great! Also, the rain stopped for a moment, and that is when I started moving orchids inside, and moved the phals under cover to see if they would dry off a little bit. But they didn't, so... they went inside soaking wet 😬🤞🏼 now... tick tock tick tock and see if they will be ok without the airflow and dry out slowly sans any damage! The reservoirs are empty. Thankfully the wind stopped though. It was driving me crazy 🙃 Loved your video today 🌈 beautiful!! Once again, thank you so much for your support! These dark nights are doing my head in. I checked the predictions for January through April, and 🥶 single digits at night... YUCK! Anyhooo ✅ another day ❤️🩹😘 have a cozy evening! I cannot believe that I am saying this, but I will be going to bed soon 😬😴
Hint..... To sort size of Leca, use wire hardware cloth the size you want small Leca to pass thru, tacked to a frame of your choosing, and keep larger sizes separate. Also gold pan shops sell pan size grading/shifting equipment or pans that will do the same. 😁
😳🤯💡🤦🏼♀️🤪 genius!! D'oooohh!! I think may be able to find something cheap that I can shape into something I can use without leca flying everywhere! Wow! 😅 thank you!! Not only 🦇 but a genius as well! A man of many talents 😍😍
@@robertforrest7956 gotta find me a kind of hardware cloth ... its not something that would be easy to find, not even in hardware stores. At least not for the quality of a general consumer. When I get the cojones to leave the home to scavenge, its on the top of my list 🥰❤
I didn’t realise there was a stigma about leca. There certainly isn’t when it comes to houseplants. Most nurseries I’m in contact with won’t use leca in their nurseries due to the expense vs something similar like scoria but they certainly down look down on it. In my circle, it’s just one of many good non-organic alternatives and what one prefers, is entirely down to persona preference. Funny I was at my orchid society Christmas dinner last night - side bar: I won the raffle!!!! 😁💅🏼🎉 - and I brought up Leca in a discussion. Turns out no one at my table had even heard of it, let alone used it. Funny how that is sometimes. Another exceptional video with a lot of fantastic information as usual. Well done Queen Nina 💚🌸💚
🌸🥷🏼Sharon San 😍🙌🏼🤸🏼♀️🥰💐 hey beautiful!! The stigma is about it being a fad, that people who grow orchids in leca and semi hydro set up are doing it the lazy way... roots need air etc etc etc. I don't want to disparage anyone in this reply, but I would venture to say that those are opinions of orchid aficionados that have a very traditional mind set. 🤷🏼♀️ The house plant / leca combo has been around so much longer, so maybe the whole thing of leca and orchids still needs time to 'grow' on people with that mindset. 😬 honestly, I don't know why people give any set ups other than the traditional ones, a side eye. Consider water culture... it goes against everything the classic method of orchid growing insists is a MUST to not loose orchids to root rot. And well, *cough... says who? 🤪 🤫😅 does scoria sink after it has been saturated with water? I would assume it behaves like pumice, but I have never had the pleasure of dealing with scoria. Congratulations on your win 🥳👏🏼👍🏼 NO ONE had heard of leca at your table in an orchid society? Wow ... 😳 send them to my channel 😉😃 I would love to join an orchid society and see what people do in my area, but we don't have one anywhere near to where I am. The closest are Madrid or Valencia... 8 hrs drive for both. Maybe one day I can go to Madrid or Valencia for an orchid show. Not that I am in any hurry to do so, but it's nice to think about. I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas dinner amongst other orchid lovers. Lots of stimulation and inspiration, I am sure 😃 thank you so much for your kind feedback, 🌸🥷🏼, I appreciate the encouragement and your time watching the video. 🙌🏼 hope your day was fabulous and that your Thursday will be a continuation of the same ❤️🌸
@@RareRootsOfJoyMelbourne My local Orchid group doesn't use leca either. However, I've checked all of my local nurseries & hardware stores and none of them have it in stock.
reduced earth pressure refers to a drain on natural resources. Since it is reusable, you're not drawing as many resources from the environment as bark, sphagnum, etc. Less of it also ends up in a landfill. So it is more environmentally friendly, assuming a person isn't buying it, not reusing it or just tossing it out when it doesn't work out the way that they want. Also, totally unrelated, but do you have a Laelia/Cattleya lobata? It isn't small like your stocking stuffers but it is rupicolous and probably one of the highest light tolerant Cattleya species and one of the most temperature tolerant (both high and low). This was new information to me.
Don Miguel 🥰💐 hola jefe! Thank you for the definition of reduced earth pressure!! In hindsight, I could have looked that definition up, but... keeping it real, keeping it real! My mind went into the direction of something to do with physics, and I could not make sense of it 😅 I do have the lobata yes, and her current growth is a beast compared to what she grew in previous years. I size jump that is totally NOT the same 👍🏼 she was inundated with rain, is inside now and I hope I have not lost the growth. Time will tell. and well, it is pitch dark in the grow space while this weather is over us, so, it is not as if she is getting enough light or fertilizer for that matter. Still, I am hoping to get her, and the others through 🤞🏼 I knew she was temperature tolerant but seeing as mine isn't mature, I have not exposed her to what she can handle. I have been dealing with her as a warm grower. Not once has she spent any nights outside that were lower than 15ºC. Same with the light. Obviously, now she is not happy because she is in the dark, but during the growing season, I have her in bright shade in the blooming alley. I need 'them' to live... and I hope that I can make that happen for what I have left here. Saturday will be sunny, but that will be the first day after another 3 days of darkness. I can't take anyone outside anymore because it will continue to rain, and the nights are dropping below 53º, so... yeah, until Saturday its darkness in the grow space. Sunday rain, and Monday they can go outside again, and then... for the remainder of the following week.... its lights out again! Mucho rain ... MUCHO! IF the forecast stays as it is today. I hope that maybe you will get some of those drops as well? 🤞🏼 thank you so much for watching, Michael!! Your support is very much appreciated ❤️🌸
Thanks Nina for this very informative video. Only one thing I want to say….I wish I had seen/heard this sooner. I realise that I went into the “growing in leca” completely blind and should have researched the subject. (Typical of me most of the time). Anyway, I am learning on the run, but unfortunately have lost a few orchids on the way. Thankfully I didn’t give up when things got tough and most of my phals have come out of ICU and back into leca. No more overwatering! Thanks again Nina, I needed this video to confirm what I’m doing the correct way as well as make me change a few things that I’m not. (If that makes sense)
HI Renate 😍💐 I wish I had this information sooner as well, lovely lady! I can assure you, that, maybe I would still have some orchids in my collection. Still, I hope that bit by bit, my losses serve a purpose and the puzzle is easier to assemble for anyone watching these kinds of videos. I am glad that you didn't give up, Renate! I lost many phals for 2 years straight and could not figure out why some had no issues, and others just collapsed. So, I am glad that you didn't give up. It makes perfect sense, and as I put other pieces of the puzzle into place, there will be a part 2 and 3 to this video, just so that the growing is easy 🥰😉 really appreciate your support, and feedback, Renate, thank you so very much! I hope that all your holiday preparations are going well and giving you much joy! Thank you for watching ❤️🌸
Hi Nina ... my current comment has absolutely nothing to do with your subject. Just to let you know that I just "planted" a Dendrobium Bigibbum on a "sea fan" (it. has been well washed and cured) turned upside down, and hung up. So far, it seems happy in that the roots are still pushing out and are still green!! Yes, the rains are still around.
Lyn!! 😍💐 great mount! A pretty mount!! And with the rains, it is going to take off 👍🏼👍🏼 I have a faux sea fan holding a slipper orchid up, it looks pretty, but it isn't the real deal like your's is! Very inventive 👍🏼👍🏼 nice to be so creative and using your climate to your advantage!! We are getting hammered here ... now that the temperatures are dropping, it is not going to be such a nice feeling to have the cold and wet outside. But, the rains will be around for a considerable amount of time, IF the forecast comes true. Rain yes..... but with cold temperatures, NOOOOO!!! 😵💫💆🏼♀️💆🏼♀️ thank you so much for watching, Lyn!! ❤️🌸
Thanks, Nina, for such an informative video! I have encountered that “stigma” regarding LECA that you talked about. Older orchid growers really look down on us LECA growers. Oh well! 🤷🏼♀️ I do have a question about storing the LECA in water. I store mine dry in my garage which gets very hot in the Summer and close to freezing in the Winter. I would like to begin storing it in water as you suggest. Of course, I would bring it to a more moderate temp before using. Question: Will the temperature of the water matter and does it affect the LECA? Thanks again and have a great week!
Barbara, hi 😍💐 thank YOU so much for your feedback 🙏🏼 they really do!! I am sorry that you are experiencing that kind of 'side eye'! If they only knew what it took to grow orchids in leca, the understanding of which orchids need what to make them happy! I find that growing in bark is so much easier 😅 the temperature of the water will not affect the leca, no. It will hold up to being frozen, should that ever happen, and once defrosted... nothing will have changed at all. If the water were to get too hot, and the leca has too much residual debris on it, then you will smell that when you open the container because if there is too much organic residue in the water, that will decay and the water will have that classic 'off' smell. But... temperature will not affect the leca and getting it to room temperature as you mentioned, is advisable. For both temperature extremes. Sometimes, when you get leca out of the water, the disturbance will make the water a little murky, but that is normal as well. My container was moved from where it normal has it's place and you can see the water isn't crystal clear. That is because the leca will leach more stuff the longer it is stored. A quick rinse with clean water and hakuna matata! 👍🏼 I would love to break that mindset that people have towards us that grow orchids in leca. We are open minded to how others grow their orchids....soooo ... same energy, no? 😅🤷🏼♀️ really appreciate you watching, Barbara!! Thank you so very much 🙏🏼 your comment was also a source of encouragement, much needed this time of year, much needed!! Thank you! I hope that you are having a beautiful day ❤️🌸
Diane, hi 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a massive thank you for being here, for watching the video and your comment. So, going by my limited experience with what I have available as far as options is concerned, anything that has a grey look about it, is not a sinking form of leca. Leca that sinks has the terracotta look, maybe a little darker brown going away from the 'orange' tinge in the terracotta colored one. But those are the colors to look for to ensure a sinking leca. I don't know where you are at, but in the rest of the world, it is harder to find floating leca than sinking leca... so your chances are higher to get the right product straight away. I hope that this helps you with sourcing what you are looking for 🤞🏼 have yourself a wonderful rest of your day, and once again, welcome!! 🫶🏼🌸
@@dianeconway293 you are welcome! I dont know if if IKEA still stocks leca in the UK. I know that it used to. Their leca brand was really good from what I could tell on websites. Its called Oodla on the bag. IKEA in Spain never stocked it. Maybe a starting point?
Hi Larry. It’s definitely there. Just above the 2nd set of hashtags. Each linked video has the RU-vid play button next to the name. The 2nd set of hashtags is just above the flower 🌸 emoji. Hope that helps
HI Larry 😍💐 oh my goodness... I did not hit save when I put the links in, and the fields after the titles stayed blank. 🤦🏼♀️ I am so sorry!! As soon as I woke up this morning, I corrected it. Too late though, you had already looked and could not find. No, you are not blind, ... dumb dumb here closed the window out without hitting save. I can't stand it when that happens, especially when I say it in a video 'link is in the description'! Rookie error! I apologize for the blank spaces. Really appreciate you watching, and letting me know though! Thank you so much! Hope you had a fabulous day and are heading into a relaxing evening 🤗❤️🌸
❤️🌸🥷🏼thank you!! I made a rookie error... closed the window out without hitting save! Like our 'after stream' experience 2 weeks ago 🤦🏼♀️ I need to stop hitting the X!! thank you for checking for me, because... early morning, correcting the description, who knows if I didn't make the same mistake again 🤪🙃😵💫
