I absolutely love semi hydroponics. If you're skeptical of alocasia, I'd highly recommend putting them in semi-hydro. They love it! And the spider mites don't like the semi-hydro, so that also solves one of the main alocasia problems. I'm tempted to get my first hoya now. As always, thank you Nick, you are awesome!
Hi Nick, I grow all of my Hoyas in LECA in self watering, I use a microfiber wick in my pots and bring the wick up near the top and this helps keep the LECA moist near the very top of the pot!! My Hoyas are doing GREAT and this method is so clean, too!
Hi Nick, I so love your videos and honesty!Im struggling too myself so I get it, I rescue pets when I’m sad, and I have over 10 ! Surround yourself with positive people and get rid of the toxic people even if it’s family.I’m 62 and just learning how to put myself first.You’ll get there ! You’re so talented !💕💕❤️❤️
You're one of very few youtubers I can listen to all day. Usually I want videos to get to the point but when I watch yours, I actually enjoy the long tangents 😊💚
Hey fertilizer wise foliage spray may not be enough, and I’ve been told by ppl w horticultural degrees that spraying the under side of leaf will be more beneficial when it comes to foliage sprays. The way it was explained to me was, if you think of how these guys grow in the wild typically climbing trees and what not the rain hits em from the side getting the entirety of the leaf. Another point was most varieties hoyas when they’re super under watered they curl under turning the back of the leaf into a sort of cup to collect humidity/raindrops. In less sciency terms for epiphytic plants: the back drinks drink and eats the front breathes n sees But honestly I wouldn’t rely soley on foliage sprays the amount of nutrients is typically sooo little that most sprays don’t even tell you what exactly is in it or the amounts they just say “balanced orchid plant food spray” or something similar. And directions say to spray around leaves roots and soil generously weekly, which means if you use it properly and have more than maybe 3-5 decently bushy 4” pots of Hoya or the equivalent you’ll be buying bottles of orchard spray like a chain smoker buys his Marlboros and these sprays are NOT cheap! The cheap ones are basically tap water. I do like Cute Farms it’s from California you can get 3bottles on Amazon for a discount. And I just use mine kind of randomly. When I see new growth and can’t be assed to mix up fertilizer and do proper watering. I would highly Highly recommend looking into hydro nutrients, they have formulas made specifically for semi/passive/full on hydro. Organic isn’t always best, ive actually recently switch to using hydro nutrients for most, if not all of my plants especially ones in moss and I’ve notice a massive decrease in gnats fungus, rot, odd smells, etc. i just dilute the hell out of it. But I swear the funk levels are minimal to gone. Sorry for writing a book I just wanted to help bc I’ve tried Leica a few times and was only ever short term successful until recently. And what I mention above is what made the difference for me.
Nick your Retusa looks fabulous.💚 In spring I will try to grow this again using your method.Saw a soil scientist believe a Botanist & they have found that while little to no growth of plants leaves seem to appear in late fall/winter months what they did find was that the Roots grow like crazy. She said to keep fertilizing year round because when the plant makes its big spring/summer leaf growth push it will have tons of energy. She said that way you get great healthy growth not sad to none because the plant has 0 energy from not being fertilized all winter. Hope this helps.💚🌱🌲🍀🌵
I watched this video this morning. Tonight I’m checking all my struggling hoyas and ditching dirt for leca. And each that is struggling has just about no roots!! Rather than kill them softly and slowly, I’d like to give them a chance! Thank you!
Glad to see you.. hope you are doing better.. thanks for this video.. I struggled getting all the moss off the hoya roots.. I am sure semi-hydro will reduce fungas gnats 😉👏
nicely done.....I have recently got back into plants & chose LECA..so sick of soil, dirt, mold ugh.......it is very much learning experience, but with folks like you giving good instructions, i have been semi-successful!!!!
I’ve been experimenting with transferring some plants to leca. I love to watch them. I chopped and propped my Monstera D, and put them in leca. They have each gotten 2-3 new leaves!
OMG, I’ve missed you Nick! Lol! I see I’ve only watched less than2 minutes of this video last I watched you which was a YEAR ago! 😳 I’m here rewatching where I left off. I’m going to try and catch up! I’ve been way too busy. Know that I’m still one of your biggest fan.🥰
Nick, A really good source of info is The Leca Queen on UA-cam! She has also done a collaboration and a Q and A with a couple others that were useful. You should check her out! Her plants are amazing and she's brilliant!
@@kkmeilicke I watch him also. But Nora has ALL of her plants in leca. She also has some great tutorials on moss poles as well as converting to leca. But, yeah, love Kevin. He's a hoot!
A nice extra hobby to do with plain glass vessels is to paint them with relief outliner (raised paint in a tube) and colour the pictures in with acrylic paints. You bake glass with the raised paint in the oven. You can trace a picture taped on the inside of the glass or freehand if you have talent. It’s a fun way to display your plants with your own art if you only have the drinking glass and want to obscure the net pot inside. 😊. Thanks Nick for tutorial on semi-hydro. I have lots of hoyas in leca (bottom) PON (top) combo and they do better than in soil for me. I collect glass from thrift stores during the year and then do my “art work” to the glass in the winter months. Cheap way to supplement plant hobby....
rgd pests, you can still get them except fungus gnat cos they need organic material. rgd fertiliser, you need water soluble fertilizers, the leca queen uses growth technology which I have adopted and works great for me or in the us region general hydroponics (from comments i've read). I do like leca/pon a lot, I don't have to guess if it needs water.
Ive been pondering about planting my pepp piccolo this way. It's just detoriated since I had it delivered. Ive tried allsorts but not this.Thanks so much for doing this Vidio. Excellent timing.xxlolSarah
Hi Nick! This was a very good video. I bought some LECA, but haven't transferred any plants to it yet. I have a Hoya Bella in water that I might put in LECA. Are you going to use any other fertilizer besides the spray. I used orchid spray on the leaves of all of my Hoyas, and use orchid fertilizer to water them. Also, Adam on Knot Dude videos, says to never rinse the LECA in your sink since it is clay particles that you rinse off and they will clog up the pipes. Thank you so much for sharing!
Nick this video was excellent, thank you for the information. One point, a light color shirt would make it easier to see the net pot. Otherwise, thanks again.
I really like this idea! Do you think an emerald ripple peperomia that wasn't doing well and when repotted (in desperation trying to save it!) had no roots, do you think this would work for that? How about a crimson princess hoya? This is really an exciting idea! Thank you, Nick. I love your videos!
Retusa is one of my favorite hoyas. But I definitely struggle with it. I had one that I killed. I bought another and it was doing really well for long time and then started to decline. I grow some other hoyas in semi-hydro, so I don't know why I didn't think to put that one in leca! Duh. I'm doing it. I hope to save it.
Smooches Nick love the video. I am just getting into hydroponics too. I notice you did not use any nutrient solution that I'm seeing all over UA-cam. Is there a reason for that?💋
I always get confused about water level. In no drainage, people often say to fill the water to the root level when first planting in leca. I know I have better luck with filling with more water until the roots get established.
Genuine question: what would happen if you propagated in orbeez? My thought is that the roots would be slightly stronger than water propagated ones because they’re pushing through obstacles?
I'm not a big fan of LECA and have removed almost all of the plants I kept in LECA into different media. I've had great success keeping Hoyas in my own soil mix. However I like to use seramis for rooting plants abd have noticed hoya cuttings root into it like crazy. Seramis (a german brand) has more wicking capability than LECA and I will give it a try for some new Hoyas I will be receiving.
Hey Nick! Have you ever done an unboxing from Peace Love and Happiness Club? Would like your professional opinion on their website. They do some great videos and would like your take on their plants etc. No am I not affiliated with them in any way and live a couple time zones away from CA.
I'm really thinking about starting the transfer process for my plants to LECA. Will you be moving all of your plants to LECA? Do you prefer LECA to soil overall?
many youtubers love Leca, I do too, BUT some plants in my experience aren't enjoying it, one is a Monstera Peru, which is not growing much, I'm going to try and transfer it in an aroid mix
Hi Nick…couple of questions, could you do this with aglaonema or philodendron? And, could you use the net pots with soil for these plants? Thanks…great channel!
got some type of hoya that had been reduced to all but a single leaf due to super water retaining soil from the grocers… I know they're infamous for being zombies when they're a single leaf, but I'm desperately clinging to the idea that if I just keep at it, it will eventually start vining again 😅
I put a hoya in sphagnum moss in a vanda basket based on your videos, are you now calling that a failure? What about the rhipsalis in the sphagnum in vanda basket, now I'm worried.
From what I've seen, the leca is good for as long as the plant lives in it. It is good to flush the pot (with the plant) with water every once in a while because the leca will hold onto salts from your fertilizer. When it comes time to repot, you can boil used leca and use it again.
The advantage to the netpot or even the slotted clear orchid pots is that it makes it very easy to "flush" or rinse the leca periodically. I rinse mine every two weeks. Just take the net pot out of it's cover pot, hold it under the faucet and rinse. Put it back in the cover pot and refill the reservoir. I'm sure that you could get away with not doing it that frequently but that's just how I do it.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU DO NOT RINSE LECA IN YOUR DRAIN. The dust is clay and can build up in your plumbing causing problems. I rinse mine in a wire trash can outside with my hose and let it dry before storing away. Plants are flushed outside with a pitcher of water.
Probably not cacti! But I have a snake plant in leca that is thriving! I also have two ZZ plants that I am going to be putting in leca. I have seen other people put them in leca and they do very well. So far, all of my plants are doing very well in leca.
I tried Semi Hydro but always ended up with rotten roots. I don't know what I am doing wrong, could not figure it out. Now I grow most of my Hoyas in Pon without any water reservoir.
Nick I want you transfer a few hoyas I also have a retusa which hasn't done nothing since I have it. Now question is I though hoyas need to DRY OUT how does Sim hydroponics keeps it from drying? I'm confused with this😊
@@MaryGatdula don’t the roots grow out of the holes in the net pot? Do they tear when you take them out? Sorry for all the questions but I’m not familiar with leca. I was thinking that I might try it with a few of my plants. Thank you for the info and understanding.
@@lorirushin5712 Well, hopefully you can do a repot before the roots get too overgrown because, yes, they will definitely be harder to get out of the pot without damage. But you squeeze the pot a bit and gently turn the pot over on it's side while supporting the plants with one hand, then gently remove the plants from the pot. You don't have to worry about the leca that will be atrached to the roots. Simply put all back into a slightly bigger net pot and add more leca. Don't worry about asking questions! I'm happy to help if I can. I suggest also that you watch Nora's videos. Her channel on UA-cam is "The Leca Queen". She has a video showing how to repot plants from leca to leca and also from soil to leca. She can teach you everything you could ever want to know about growing plants in leca. The only downside is that she is in Australia, so the nutrient solution she uses isn't available to us in the states yet. But it is supposedly coming our way. But there are lots of other nutrient brands you can use! I wish you all the luck! I am having good success growing in leca, but it is hard coming up with enough cache pots sometimes! 😄 I have even resorted to using the bottoms of milk jugs and such as cache pots! Hey, whatever works, right? Not the prettiest, but it's only temporary.
The roots will start to grow out of the pot in a matter of months. You can cut the roots or destroy the pot (cut the plastic) when it's time to replant. You don't want to be repotting it constantly, so let them go where they want, they will anyway. It is okay for the roots to go to the water.
i have the least success transferring a plant from sphagnum moss to semi-hydro. you realllllly gotta get to moss off the roots which is a labor intensive task.
Oh I've read Lycra is really bad long term because it changes the PH value. There are better options, though. I don't know what the name of this mineral substrate is in English. But it's some mixed stones, one part is light blue so it even looks better than Lycra 😅
LECA does not change the PH. The nutrients that you put in the water is what changes it's PH over time. That's the main reason for changing the water/nutrients every week or two instead of just topping off the water.
I had many plants in leca for years, especially orchids. I did find that, eventually, the plants started failing. I hadn't learned about ph yet. I switched everything out when one of my orchids nearly died from root rot. I'm back to organic media. I never grew hoyas in semi-hydro.
They will rot. People are just constantly filling up the water in the reservoir. If you don't do the wicking string, it needs a wet/dry cycle just like soil. But you need to be careful because the roots will dry out faster. Hoyas will rot in about 6 months to a year. You can get off the rotten roots, but then you are disturbing the plant unnecessarily. The string method is easy mode. The same goes for Pon.
I was always told to soak your Leca for 24 hours prior to using it. Anyone else do that? Also, if you're an over waterer then this method is for you LOL.
It's literally impossible to have a bad day while watching your content, you're a king among men Nick.
I absolutely love semi hydroponics. If you're skeptical of alocasia, I'd highly recommend putting them in semi-hydro. They love it! And the spider mites don't like the semi-hydro, so that also solves one of the main alocasia problems. I'm tempted to get my first hoya now. As always, thank you Nick, you are awesome!
Hi Nick, I grow all of my Hoyas in LECA in self watering, I use a microfiber wick in my pots and bring the wick up near the top and this helps keep the LECA moist near the very top of the pot!! My Hoyas are doing GREAT and this method is so clean, too!
Great idea! Are you just cutting strands from a microfiber cloth or are there actual microfiber wicks that you buy?
Also do you put the wick in the center or off to the side?
@@celadonna237 Thank you!
Thank you Nick!!
You have read my mind.
I’ve wanted to try this but didn’t know where to start!!
I appreciate all the information and you!! ❤
TIP: Do NOT rinse your Leca indoors. The clay dust will mess up your plumbing! Rinse it outdoors or into a bucket that you’ll dump outdoors.
Hi Nick,
I so love your videos and honesty!Im struggling too myself so I get it, I rescue pets when I’m sad, and I have over 10 ! Surround yourself with positive people and get rid of the toxic people even if it’s family.I’m 62 and just learning how to put myself first.You’ll get there ! You’re so talented !💕💕❤️❤️
You're one of very few youtubers I can listen to all day. Usually I want videos to get to the point but when I watch yours, I actually enjoy the long tangents 😊💚
Hi Nick!! Just wanted to say keep pushing for your goals. I know it's hard right now, but it won't be hard forever. I'm proud of you!
Hey fertilizer wise foliage spray may not be enough, and I’ve been told by ppl w horticultural degrees that spraying the under side of leaf will be more beneficial when it comes to foliage sprays. The way it was explained to me was, if you think of how these guys grow in the wild typically climbing trees and what not the rain hits em from the side getting the entirety of the leaf. Another point was most varieties hoyas when they’re super under watered they curl under turning the back of the leaf into a sort of cup to collect humidity/raindrops. In less sciency terms for epiphytic plants: the back drinks drink and eats the front breathes n sees
But honestly I wouldn’t rely soley on foliage sprays the amount of nutrients is typically sooo little that most sprays don’t even tell you what exactly is in it or the amounts they just say “balanced orchid plant food spray” or something similar. And directions say to spray around leaves roots and soil generously weekly, which means if you use it properly and have more than maybe 3-5 decently bushy 4” pots of Hoya or the equivalent you’ll be buying bottles of orchard spray like a chain smoker buys his Marlboros and these sprays are NOT cheap! The cheap ones are basically tap water. I do like Cute Farms it’s from California you can get 3bottles on Amazon for a discount. And I just use mine kind of randomly. When I see new growth and can’t be assed to mix up fertilizer and do proper watering.
I would highly Highly recommend looking into hydro nutrients, they have formulas made specifically for semi/passive/full on hydro. Organic isn’t always best, ive actually recently switch to using hydro nutrients for most, if not all of my plants especially ones in moss and I’ve notice a massive decrease in gnats fungus, rot, odd smells, etc. i just dilute the hell out of it. But I swear the funk levels are minimal to gone.
Sorry for writing a book I just wanted to help bc I’ve tried Leica a few times and was only ever short term successful until recently. And what I mention above is what made the difference for me.
Can you do a follow up on this method, maybe a review of how the plants are doing? Thank you
Yes!
Always a great idea.
Nick your Retusa looks fabulous.💚 In spring I will try to grow this again using your method.Saw a soil scientist believe a Botanist & they have found that while little to no growth of plants leaves seem to appear in late fall/winter months what they did find was that the Roots grow like crazy. She said to keep fertilizing year round because when the plant makes its big spring/summer leaf growth push it will have tons of energy. She said that way you get great healthy growth not sad to none because the plant has 0 energy from not being fertilized all winter. Hope this helps.💚🌱🌲🍀🌵
I watched this video this morning. Tonight I’m checking all my struggling hoyas and ditching dirt for leca. And each that is struggling has just about no roots!! Rather than kill them softly and slowly, I’d like to give them a chance! Thank you!
Glad to see you.. hope you are doing better.. thanks for this video.. I struggled getting all the moss off the hoya roots.. I am sure semi-hydro will reduce fungas gnats 😉👏
Your comment about having no pests is absolutely true!
Hello Nick, I prefer Pon for my hoya’s and they love it… How is Sweetpea in your new home, I hope she has settled in ?
Rinse LECA outside, not inside your drains. The dust is clay and with long-term use it can cause sediment buildup in your plumbing.
nicely done.....I have recently got back into plants & chose LECA..so sick of soil, dirt, mold ugh.......it is very much learning experience, but with folks like you giving good instructions, i have been semi-successful!!!!
Will definitely try this!!! Thanks Nick!!! Hope you're doing well 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
Totally leaning towards leca. I don't like pests and it seems healthy and easier in a busy lifestyle. Thanks Nick
Wow. Would love an update on if you only feed your semi Hydro Hoyas with a spray. I have never heard this before
I’ve been experimenting with transferring some plants to leca. I love to watch them. I chopped and propped my Monstera D, and put them in leca. They have each gotten 2-3 new leaves!
Off to the hydroponics store today to gather necessary materials to give this a try.
OMG, I’ve missed you Nick! Lol! I see I’ve only watched less than2 minutes of this video last I watched you which was a YEAR ago! 😳 I’m here rewatching where I left off. I’m going to try and catch up! I’ve been way too busy. Know that I’m still one of your biggest fan.🥰
Nick,
A really good source of info is The Leca Queen on UA-cam! She has also done a collaboration and a Q and A with a couple others that were useful.
You should check her out! Her plants are amazing and she's brilliant!
Hakunalaplanta is another good channel on YT--he grows most of his plants in leca
@@kkmeilicke I watch him also. But Nora has ALL of her plants in leca. She also has some great tutorials on moss poles as well as converting to leca. But, yeah, love Kevin. He's a hoot!
A nice extra hobby to do with plain glass vessels is to paint them with relief outliner (raised paint in a tube) and colour the pictures in with acrylic paints. You bake glass with the raised paint in the oven. You can trace a picture taped on the inside of the glass or freehand if you have talent. It’s a fun way to display your plants with your own art if you only have the drinking glass and want to obscure the net pot inside. 😊. Thanks Nick for tutorial on semi-hydro. I have lots of hoyas in leca (bottom) PON (top) combo and they do better than in soil for me. I collect glass from thrift stores during the year and then do my “art work” to the glass in the winter months. Cheap way to supplement plant hobby....
@@lleo9703 Such a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Cotton rope wicks work great in this set-up with leca.😊
I never knew that's what LECA stood for!
So interesting
Your video was just what I needed. Cant wait to try this method. I have some really cool vintage glass vessels I can't wait to use.
rgd pests, you can still get them except fungus gnat cos they need organic material. rgd fertiliser, you need water soluble fertilizers, the leca queen uses growth technology which I have adopted and works great for me or in the us region general hydroponics (from comments i've read). I do like leca/pon a lot, I don't have to guess if it needs water.
I bought a Hoya on clearance at lowes. It’s been trying to die. Sooo, I might try this ! My other Hoyas are doing great.
Ive been pondering about planting my pepp piccolo this way. It's just detoriated since I had it delivered. Ive tried allsorts but not this.Thanks so much for doing this Vidio. Excellent timing.xxlolSarah
Hi Nick! This was a very good video. I bought some LECA, but haven't transferred any plants to it yet. I have a Hoya Bella in water that I might put in LECA. Are you going to use any other fertilizer besides the spray. I used orchid spray on the leaves of all of my Hoyas, and use orchid fertilizer to water them. Also, Adam on Knot Dude videos, says to never rinse the LECA in your sink since it is clay particles that you rinse off and they will clog up the pipes. Thank you so much for sharing!
Hey! When you feel like, give us an update on your SH plants, please! Thank you! 🤗
Wow beautiful Plants ^^
Like 739
My friend, thank you for good sharing
Thanks Nick! I've been wanting to look into Leca but had no idea where to start
This method is the only way I grow Hoya. All Hoyas I grew in soil died.
Please post an update on these in a month!
I have one hoya in leca but not in a net pot. I'm so getting them and more leca from Repot Me!! Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving!!
Nick this video was excellent, thank you for the information. One point, a light color shirt would make it easier to see the net pot. Otherwise, thanks again.
I really like this idea! Do you think an emerald ripple peperomia that wasn't doing well and when repotted (in desperation trying to save it!) had no roots, do you think this would work for that? How about a crimson princess hoya? This is really an exciting idea! Thank you, Nick. I love your videos!
Retusa is one of my favorite hoyas. But I definitely struggle with it. I had one that I killed. I bought another and it was doing really well for long time and then started to decline. I grow some other hoyas in semi-hydro, so I don't know why I didn't think to put that one in leca! Duh. I'm doing it. I hope to save it.
Thank you, Nick! Great video! Learned a lot today!
They look great ,so much easier too !👍
💚🌵☘️🌱
Smooches Nick love the video. I am just getting into hydroponics too. I notice you did not use any nutrient solution that I'm seeing all over UA-cam. Is there a reason for that?💋
I always get confused about water level. In no drainage, people often say to fill the water to the root level when first planting in leca. I know I have better luck with filling with more water until the roots get established.
Genuine question: what would happen if you propagated in orbeez? My thought is that the roots would be slightly stronger than water propagated ones because they’re pushing through obstacles?
my coworker said that that’s what she does & it works super well for her
I'm not a big fan of LECA and have removed almost all of the plants I kept in LECA into different media.
I've had great success keeping Hoyas in my own soil mix.
However I like to use seramis for rooting plants abd have noticed hoya cuttings root into it like crazy. Seramis (a german brand) has more wicking capability than LECA and I will give it a try for some new Hoyas I will be receiving.
Hey Nick! Have you ever done an unboxing from Peace Love and Happiness Club? Would like your professional opinion on their website. They do some great videos and would like your take on their plants etc. No am I not affiliated with them in any way and live a couple time zones away from CA.
I still have mealy bugs on my Hoyas in leca that I can’t get rid of. Maybe you have tips on a leca friendly systemic?!
I'm really thinking about starting the transfer process for my plants to LECA. Will you be moving all of your plants to LECA? Do you prefer LECA to soil overall?
Not every thing grows in Semi Hydro.
many youtubers love Leca, I do too, BUT some plants in my experience aren't enjoying it, one is a Monstera Peru, which is not growing much, I'm going to try and transfer it in an aroid mix
@@celadonna237 try Miltoniopsis.
Hi Nick…couple of questions, could you do this with aglaonema or philodendron? And, could you use the net pots with soil for these plants? Thanks…great channel!
Both will love leca! Mine do. The net pots work great!
Thanks for such a quick response! I think I’m going to try doing it. More vids like this, please.
Are you using just water or the leca products to plant 😅your plants? Love your channel
Wonderful! Thanks, Nick!
got some type of hoya that had been reduced to all but a single leaf due to super water retaining soil from the grocers… I know they're infamous for being zombies when they're a single leaf, but I'm desperately clinging to the idea that if I just keep at it, it will eventually start vining again 😅
I put a hoya in sphagnum moss in a vanda basket based on your videos, are you now calling that a failure? What about the rhipsalis in the sphagnum in vanda basket, now I'm worried.
Do you need to clean the Leca every so often? Or as long as you just change the water
Hope you’re doing well ❤🇨🇦
From what I've seen, the leca is good for as long as the plant lives in it. It is good to flush the pot (with the plant) with water every once in a while because the leca will hold onto salts from your fertilizer. When it comes time to repot, you can boil used leca and use it again.
The advantage to the netpot or even the slotted clear orchid pots is that it makes it very easy to "flush" or rinse the leca periodically. I rinse mine every two weeks. Just take the net pot out of it's cover pot, hold it under the faucet and rinse. Put it back in the cover pot and refill the reservoir. I'm sure that you could get away with not doing it that frequently but that's just how I do it.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU DO NOT RINSE LECA IN YOUR DRAIN. The dust is clay and can build up in your plumbing causing problems. I rinse mine in a wire trash can outside with my hose and let it dry before storing away. Plants are flushed outside with a pitcher of water.
plants living in coco pebbles yummy!
Yay !! Good video ! Is semi hydro good for all 🪴 plant?
Probably not cacti! But I have a snake plant in leca that is thriving! I also have two ZZ plants that I am going to be putting in leca. I have seen other people put them in leca and they do very well. So far, all of my plants are doing very well in leca.
Thank you ❣️ Happy Thanksgiving
1
Squeeze box
I tried Semi Hydro but always ended up with rotten roots. I don't know what I am doing wrong, could not figure it out. Now I grow most of my Hoyas in Pon without any water reservoir.
Nick I want you transfer a few hoyas I also have a retusa which hasn't done nothing since I have it. Now question is I though hoyas need to DRY OUT how does Sim hydroponics keeps it from drying? I'm confused with this😊
Also did u wick it?
How do you remove the plant and all the roots when it outgrows the net pot?
Just as you would do a plant that has been living in soil.
@@MaryGatdula don’t the roots grow out of the holes in the net pot? Do they tear when you take them out?
Sorry for all the questions but I’m not familiar with leca. I was thinking that I might try it with a few of my plants.
Thank you for the info and understanding.
@@lorirushin5712 Well, hopefully you can do a repot before the roots get too overgrown because, yes, they will definitely be harder to get out of the pot without damage. But you squeeze the pot a bit and gently turn the pot over on it's side while supporting the plants with one hand, then gently remove the plants from the pot. You don't have to worry about the leca that will be atrached to the roots. Simply put all back into a slightly bigger net pot and add more leca.
Don't worry about asking questions! I'm happy to help if I can. I suggest also that you watch Nora's videos. Her channel on UA-cam is "The Leca Queen". She has a video showing how to repot plants from leca to leca and also from soil to leca. She can teach you everything you could ever want to know about growing plants in leca. The only downside is that she is in Australia, so the nutrient solution she uses isn't available to us in the states yet. But it is supposedly coming our way. But there are lots of other nutrient brands you can use! I wish you all the luck!
I am having good success growing in leca, but it is hard coming up with enough cache pots sometimes! 😄 I have even resorted to using the bottoms of milk jugs and such as cache pots! Hey, whatever works, right? Not the prettiest, but it's only temporary.
@@MaryGatdula Thank you so much!😊
The roots will start to grow out of the pot in a matter of months. You can cut the roots or destroy the pot (cut the plastic) when it's time to replant. You don't want to be repotting it constantly, so let them go where they want, they will anyway. It is okay for the roots to go to the water.
Like the idea of using leca but isn’t there other items… liquid…to be used with leca?
Yes, the plants will eventually need liquid fertilizer since there is nothing in the substrate
I'm confused on how they don't get root rot going directly into basically just water from soil
Thank you for the info.
These slotted plastic pots at re potme are $2.00 each. Not less than a buck.
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What nutrients do you use when using leca ?
I was wondering this also
i have the least success transferring a plant from sphagnum moss to semi-hydro. you realllllly gotta get to moss off the roots which is a labor intensive task.
Soaking the moss first really helps to loosen it in my experience ☺️
Changing the vessel = changing it's dress. That simple!
Oh I've read Lycra is really bad long term because it changes the PH value. There are better options, though. I don't know what the name of this mineral substrate is in English. But it's some mixed stones, one part is light blue so it even looks better than Lycra 😅
Never heard of that! Interesting!
lechuza pon
LECA does not change the PH. The nutrients that you put in the water is what changes it's PH over time. That's the main reason for changing the water/nutrients every week or two instead of just topping off the water.
I had many plants in leca for years, especially orchids. I did find that, eventually, the plants started failing. I hadn't learned about ph yet. I switched everything out when one of my orchids nearly died from root rot. I'm back to organic media. I never grew hoyas in semi-hydro.
They will rot. People are just constantly filling up the water in the reservoir. If you don't do the wicking string, it needs a wet/dry cycle just like soil. But you need to be careful because the roots will dry out faster. Hoyas will rot in about 6 months to a year. You can get off the rotten roots, but then you are disturbing the plant unnecessarily. The string method is easy mode. The same goes for Pon.
I was always told to soak your Leca for 24 hours prior to using it. Anyone else do that? Also, if you're an over waterer then this method is for you LOL.
TIP: Wet your sphagnum moss to help it loosen and separate from the roots more easily 🙌🏻
Love checking out yore great plants and thank you so very much for all the tips n tricks!😃👍🫶
Leca. Nooooo use pon