There is a lot of conflicting information on Semi-Hydroponics and growing in LECA for houseplants.
This is normal.
We all have different goals for getting started with semi-hydroponics and growing in LECA. In addition, we all have different growing environments and care routines. What works for one person may not work for another based on a variety of environmental conditions, how the method is implemented, and care routine differences. Your success with Semi-Hydroponics has way less to do with the plant and more to do with your environment and implementation. You can begin with learning the basics of implementation and choose the method that aligns with your goals, your lifestyle, and your growing environment. Remember, the combination of your implementation, your environment, and your plant may work for you, but it may not work for someone else.
lecaaddict.com was created to capture my personal journey and learnings in semi-hydroponics. I’ve watched countless hours of YouTube videos and the more I watched, the more I was frustrated with the shallow depth of information and the misinformation that was out there. I’ve interacted with many other growers in forums and personal messages, some interactions are basic, but the ones I value the most are those who taught me something and explained the “why”. This type of information is not readily available in one place, so by creating this website I hope I can help you in your growing journey.
My environment is North America - Zone 4B (I experience all the seasons, humid and hot in the summer, cold and dry in the winter.) My home is heat and AC controlled, around 65F - 75F range. I do supplement some plants with extra humidity and light. If your environment is different than mine, you can still gain knowledge and insight here because the method and implementation do not change, but you may experience different results than me.
Before you start, ask yourself - What are my goals? Why do I want to do this?
There are a few reasons I started growing in semi hydroponics:
1) Reduce the mental burden of watering. I usually don't water on a regular schedule (lifestyle choice), so it's hard to remember when I watered something last. Most plants will give visual cues, but some plants will just die within a 1-2 day window of neglect.
2) Extend the amount of time I can go without watering (lifestyle choice). I tend to go on long vacations and work trips, sometimes up to 2 weeks of absence. Sometimes I have my husband water, but most of the time I end up with dead plants 😂
3) Reduce gnats and pests. I was sitting on my couch, attacked by a mob of gnats when I decided to go down the LECA rabbit hole.
4) And of course, I want to do the least amount of work for the most amount of gain. I want this method to make caring for plants EASIER, not harder.
Now, look at a plant like this Philodendron Rio and map it to my goals. This plant is a special variegated version of a Philodendron Brazil. It has a lot of the same characteristics, one of which is it hates being transitioned to LECA from soil. The watering requirements for this plant aren't crazy. I can ignore it for a week or two and it won't die. The amount of work in getting this plant into LECA is not worth the effort (lifestyle choice). You have to take cuttings and reroot the entire plant before you can safely transition it to LECA (in my experience, in my environment).
Revisiting my goals:
1) Low mental burden to water this plant. I spot it being slightly droopy, give it some water.
2) I can already ignore this plant for 2 weeks. It would be nice if it can be more but is it worth the trouble of keeping an eye on this through a 1-2 month transition?
3) Gnats can definitely be a problem but Bonide systemic granules can take care of that.
4) This seems like a lot of work to move it to LECA when I can just water it in soil when I feel like it…
This doesn’t mean that I will never transition this plant to LECA, it’s just very very low on my priority list.
I’ve also been exposed to some interesting goals when I talk to others. One LECA grower cited that they wanted more control over the plant and give it the best life possible, grow the biggest / healthiest plant they can. This goal is interesting to me because it’s not entirely feasible for me to perform all of the things he does to achieve this goal, but it’s further down the rabbit hole in achieving knowledge and understanding. I hope to gain more insights into these methods and share them with you.
Hopefully, this introduction gets you thinking about WHY you want to do this. Growing in LECA isn’t for everyone. It’s not necessarily easier, it’s just different. There is a lot to learn and know if you want to succeed, it’s a commitment to a different way of growing.