How To Use Leca For Houseplants?

If you haven’t heard of Leca, you are not alone! It is actually an acronym, and it is a type of substance you can use to grow your plants in.

If you have been wondering how to use Leca for houseplants, you are not the only one… Join the growing number of people using this interesting substance to grow plants in!

How To Use Leca For Houseplants?

• Leca stands for Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate. It is a growing medium for your plants, but it is nothing like the soil you are used to!
• Leca are baked clay balls, which are soaked in water and then expand when they are wet.
• Leca is great at growing houseplants, especially those that don’t like to sit around in water, because the clay balls absorb the water so the plants’ roots don’t get soggy.
• It can also reduce the possibility of pests getting into the growing medium and damaging your plants.
• You can just plant your plants in Leca instead of soil, and grow them as you would normally. Once you get used to how different it looks you might quite like it!
• You will have to add nutrients to the Leca, as it doesn’t contain any naturally, like soil does. Check out each plant’s individual requirements to work out what they need.
• You can buy ready made liquid fertilisers from a gardening store to feed your plants; you can even buy dedicated ones for specific plants!
• Leca is widely available, so if you can’t find it at your local gardening store you will be able to easily order it online.

If you want to know more about leca, check out this article straight from their official website (this focuses more on the product itself rather than its uses in plant growing, but it’s useful if you want to know more).

Can You Use Leca For All Plants?

In a word, yes. You can use Leca for just about any plant you like! Some like it more than others, and there will be some that are happier in soil – but all plants CAN be grown in Leca.

Leca has a lot of benefits, including:

• Less chance of a pest invasion. Creepy crawlies will not be as happy living in clay pebbles, so you will have to do less insect firefighting.
• It’s completely reuseable. You don’t have to worry about swapping your plants between used Leca – just give them a rinse off and you’re good to go (the pebbles, not the plants!)
• Easy to take care of plants. All you need to do is water your plants in Leca, without having to worry about whether the soil is draining well.
• Simple to add nutrients. Although Leca won’t bring nutrients to your plants as soil does, it is super easy to add nutrients to this growing medium.

Some plants take to Leca better than others, but all of them will actually grow in these clever little pebbles.

It may seem strange, growing plants in what is essentially stones, but as you can see it is actually a great way of growing your favourite houseplants!

Succulents and plants that don’t like to get too wet are some of the best ones to grow in this type of medium.

However, any plant can grow and thrive in what is basically a pot full of pebbles! You will quickly see the benefits to it, and you may decide to move your entire indoor jungle onto Leca!

For some more information about growing plants in Leca, check out this informative video:

What Houseplants Do Well In Leca?

Although pretty much all plants will be happy grown in Leca, there are some that do better in it than others. Let’s look into which plants like pebbles!

Plants that do best in this medium are those that:

• Don’t require nutrients from soil.
• Like to dry out completely before watering.
• Can grow a large root system fast.
• Can handle being handled.
• Need oxygen rich conditions.

Some plants that can absolutely flourish in Leca include:

• Spider plant
• Monstera
• Begonia
• Alocasia
• Sanseviera
• Orchid
• Pothos
• Bromeliads

These plants are all used to growing in arid, desert conditions, so the pebbly medium of Leca is perfect for them.

If you have one of these houseplants currently struggling in soil, maybe switch them over to Leca? They might well thank you for it!

Remember that you can, of course, happily grow all your plants in Leca, as long as you remember to give them a little shot of extra nutrients that the pebbles don’t provide.

Can You Overwater With Leca?

The great thing about Leca is that it is hard to over water plants to the point that their roots rot.

This is because the clay balls absorb water, but the plants are not left sitting in it, so there is little chance of root rot.

The pebbles will take up the water, but the plants will only take the water that they need, when they need it – it gives the plants more control over their water intake.

This is completely different to watering soil, which can hang onto the water and mean that the plants’ roots are sitting around being soggy.

No plants like their roots to be too wet for too long, so Leca is the perfect medium, especially for plants that do not have high water requirements.

The clay pebbles will also not start to mold or rot, unlike some types of soil, meaning a healthier growing medium for your plants.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, learning how to use Leca for houseplants is more simple than you might imagine – and it’s a great fun way of growing your plants.

Leca has ups and downs, light any growing medium, but once you’ve tried it you may well fall in love, and never use anything else for growing your plants. Give it a try!