LECA Addict Starter Kit
This is the LECA Addict Starter Kit! This guide will walk you through the steps of using the kit. It can get pricy to get started between buying the LECA, the pots, and the nutrients. I wanted to make this kit so it’s more accessible to begin, and this guide will give you the information you need for success.
If you have any questions or need help troubleshooting, please send me a message on Instagram @leca.addict.
Purchase this kit at the MN Alumni Market
Self-Watering Pot
This self-watering pot comes with a black inner pot, a white outer pot, and a wick. Nutrient water will live in the reservoir and will be wicked up to the LECA. Between this pot and the Deli Pot, you’re now exposed to two very typical ways of setting up a plant in Semi-Hydroponics.
Deli Pot & LECA
The deli pot has a drainage marker about 1/3 from the bottom. This is a very typical configuration in semi-hydroponics setups. This pot is used as a temporary pot for the plant, the transparent sides allows you to keep an eye on the roots as the plant transitions to LECA.
Nutrient Solutions
There are four solution vials that comes with the kit. They are concentrated and must be mixed with water.
Kelpmax Liquid Seaweed (Light Brown)
General Hydroponics FloraMicro (Dark Brown)
General Hydroponics FloraGro (Green)
General Hydroponics FloraBloom (Red)
LECA Addict Starter Kit - Usage Guide
LECA Preparation
Prior to use, the LECA should be rinsed and soaked for best results. Click here for more information on why this step is important.
1: Rinse the LECA by filling the deli container with water over the sink and use the lid to help drain the water out. Repeat until the water looks clear. You can collect the water and dump it outside if you don’t want the clay dust down your drain.
2: Fill the deli pot with water and let the LECA soak for 2 days. Change the water mid-soak if you remember, our goal is to soak the impurities out of the LECA prior to use.
3: After soaking, drain the water away from the LECA and it’s ready to use!
Transitioning your plant to LECA
Choose the plant you wish to transition to LECA. I recommend starting with a Monstera, Syngonium, or a non-trailing Philodendron like a Birkin or Prince of Orange. Avoid Pothos, Peperomia, and Hoyas for your first plants. Click here for in depth information around transferring plants.
4: Remove the soil from your plant. Unpot it and remove most of the soil, then use your kitchen sprayer to pressure wash the roots as best as you can. Sometimes using a small toothbrush can help. If your LECA is still soaking, you can put the entire plant in a jar of water. This can help excess soil fall off. If you’re using a water rooted plant, you can plant straight into LECA in the black and white pot and skip the deli pot. Usually (90%+) water root to LECA transitions are very easy and painless.
5: Fill the Deli Container (Temporary Pot) with LECA a little past the black water line marker. Older starter kits will have a drainage hole into the plastic, newer kits will have a black marker line. It’s common for people to drilling holes into glass containers for LECA plants. This is really unnecessary and can be dangerous if not done correctly (shattering glass, or glass particles getting into your eyes). I would encourage you to eyeball the water line as much as you can instead of drilling holes into glass, or burning holes in plastic.
6: Place the plant in the pot above the black line marker and fill with LECA. If you can, position the roots so they are not touching each other. Some of the roots can be moved towards the edge so you can see them through the pot. This is why using a clear pot helps when transitioning a plant, you can keep an eye on the roots. You can use a chopstick and poke at the LECA to ensure it’s packed well. Fill the deli container to the top.
7: Fill the white cache pot with tap water up to the marker - this is about 1/2 cup of water. Add 2 squirts of rooting enhancing solution (light brown). Stir and mix well. Pour the solution into the deli pot up to the drainage hole. You can keep the rest of the rooting water for later or toss it. Your plant is now potted in LECA!
Rooting Phase
After you transition the plant, use the rooting solution and keep an eye on the roots and adjust accordingly.
8: Place the plant where there is adequate light and leave it alone for 2 weeks. Avoid cold and drafty areas. We want the roots to adapt to LECA, and the best way is to offer warmth and humidity. If you have a seed-starting mat, or a humidifier, it will help the adjustment period. If not that is fine too. Keep the plant as warm and humid as you can.
9: After 2 weeks, examine the roots through the pot. By now you should see some new root growth through the clear sides of the pot. LECA roots are a little hairy and fuzzy, and can come out of existing roots, or new roots grown from the plant. You should also see the water level decrease in the pot. Take the pot to the sink and place your hand on top to prevent the LECA from falling out. Fill with water, tilt and dump it out - repeat for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Drain all water after the flush. Fill the pot with more rooting water.
10: Continue the 2-week cycle until the plant has developed strong LECA roots. Some roots may extend all the way down into the reservoir. That is great! You can let those roots stay in water, they’ve grown into it and will have adapted to that environment.
Feeding your Plant
Now that your plant has strong roots to survive in LECA, you can begin using the nutrient solution.
11: You can transplant from the clear deli container to the self-watering pot for better aesthetics. Remove the plant from the deli container. Check the plant for any rotted roots and clip them off with freshly sterilized trimmers. There may also be some leftover traces of dirt that you couldn’t get off earlier on in the process. You can use the kitchen sprayer again to remove the soil.
12: Ensure the wick is in place in the black inner pot. (If your inner pot is clear, that means you have one of the kits that were sold in June of 2021. The clear inner pots didn’t ship very well, so we are back to the black inner pots.) Place your plant into the black inner pot and fill with LECA like you did before. You don’t have to line the bottom of the black pot with a layer of LECA because your water reservoir sits under the inner pot.
13: Fill the white cache pot up to the mark with water. Add 4-8 drops the brown solution, same of green and red, in that order. 4 drops for light feeders and 8 drops for heavy. Mix well after every solution added. You can continue to use the light brown rooting solution to encourage continual root growth.
14: Put the inner pot into the cache pot and you’re done!
Flushing and Maintenance
When you see signs of excess salt buildup (white powdery looking stuff on top of the LECA) it’s time to flush. Some will recommend flushing weekly but I find that tedious and unnecessary for most plants.
15: Flush by running tap water through the black inner pot for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Dump out the nutrient water in the reservoir and repeat step 13. Examine your plant for any irregularities such as pests or signs of decline.
16: Buy more LECA and transition another plant! :D
