One of the biggest trends taking over the houseplant culture these days is going soilfree. Wait—did I just say growing houseplants in no soil? Yup, sure did. Plant tubers and influencers everywhere are encouraging plant owners to ditch the dirt, falsely suggesting that soil is the root of all their problems. Currently there are two main mediums on the market that people are choosing over soil: LECA (lightweight expanded clay aggregate) and Lechuza Pon. This rant covers LECA.
LECA-lovers are very quick to tout all the reasons one should switch to LECA: a reduced risk of pests, plant care is easier, and there’s less maintenance. None of those things are true.
First off, LECA is an expensive endeavor. A 50-liter bag of LECA costs $42.90 on Amazon. The same amount of soil would be anywhere between $5 and $20 depending on how fancy you want to get. Additionally, you generally need two pots for a LECA planting: one without drainage and one with. A nursery pot could suffice for the inner pot, but some like to purchase net pots, which are a little extra.
Once LECA is acquired, both the LECA and the plants need to be prepared to transition from soil to LECA. Imagine a plant growing its entire life in soil only to go through the traumatic experience of being unpotted, having all its soil washed away, and maybe even having its roots scrubbed so all organic matter can be removed before putting the plant into LECA. If one can’t remove all the organic matter, it is suggested to just cut off all the roots and treat the plant as a cutting. This is crazytalk.
In addition to LECA itself being expensive, one requires special fertilizers to keep plants growing, because LECA itself has zero nutrients. One must continually purchase different fertilizers and use them in almost every watering to make sure the plant is getting what it needs to grow. There is no “one size fits all” nutrient and LECA-lovers’ cabinets are generally stuffed with dozens of different types.
All those nutrients build up over time, as do water minerals, so that requires flushing the LECA. Which leads us to our next myth-bust: LECA is most definitely NOT less maintenance (or easier) than plants planted in soil. It is advised by LECA experts to flush LECA frequently to avoid the white specs of mineral buildup on the LECA balls. If one has many plants (and houseplant collectors can have hundreds), this is a messy and time-consuming process. Often those little coco-puffs end up all over the place and boy do they hurt when you step on them.
One of the LECA methods suggests keeping plants with a reservoir. This allows the LECA balls to stay moist and encourages roots to grasp onto the balls as they grow. The problem with this, though, is that eventually the roots will seek out the water. Often, people don’t switch out the water in the reservoir frequently enough and this leads to root rot and plant death.
The last myth I am going to bust with LECA is the claim that there are little to no pests when using LECA. Again, this is not true. Even though there is no soil, one can still get all the houseplant pests, even fungus gnats—which seems to be a driving factor to people switching away from soil. One can still also get mealybugs, scale, aphids, and, well, all the pests (see above).
I think one of the reasons why LECA is popular is that many feel it has a cleaner, “nicer,” appearance than soil. And in a houseplant culture where appearance is more important than actual plant care, trends are everything. Hopefully, some of these folks will realize that plants have been growing in soil just fine for centuries. Here’s a plea to stick with what works.
For some orchids, I like using LECA for a technique called semi-hydroponic (https://firstrays.com/free-information/basic-orchid-culture/semi-hydroponics/). A big advantage is that you can’t overwater your plants, which is helpful when someone else is taking care of your plants if you go on a long vacation.
Yes it can but if people do not empty the reservoir then they can potentially rot the roots.
Thanks. So-called influencers (a hideous word and concept) are a menace because they either don’t know or don’t care about what they’re being paid to shill for. The only worse menace are the naive or reality-adverse or image-obsessed who follow ‘influencers’ advice rather than taking the time to learn from those who actually know about plants.
I admit, every now and then I read or see youtube about hydroponics, wonder if maybe I should try it, then realize the incredible time, money & mined/manufactured stuff needed to grow plants well. And then there’s the trash (generally plastic) when it fails. Not for me.
Hi Wynne! I agree “Influencers” are a disgrace. Some of the companies sending people these products are predatory and will pretty much prey on people’s self esteem. People feel obligated to say how wonderful a product is because they are getting it for free. Then people are watching these videos and they think these are good products when it couldn’t be further from the truth!
Thanks for great info, well-presented. I’m assuming all the myth-busting had a basis in real or observed experience of you and others.
Thank you! I am happy to hear that you found it helpful
I have used the LECA in orchid mix (never by itself, though) and it is a good amendment for that medium. But I hadn’t heard about using it exclusively for houseplants and can’t agree with you more! What a shock to the plant to shake it all apart to pot into this. And all I can think is what a great time my cats would have digging that out of the pots and chasing it all over the house. Plus, what happens when you bump a pot over–I will assume loose balls will roll under the nearest large, unmovable piece or furniture or appliance, and water will spill out. Give me a well-rooted plant in soil anytime–less likely to spill soil and water.
Thanks for a good read!
I completely agree that it is a great amendment to chunk up soil and I have used it as such. I have also used it at the bottom of terrarium set ups and then put the soil mix on top of that to give it a little bit of drainage and keep the humidity up. It has its uses but definitely not as a sole medium.
And yes when those balls get out and get everywhere its such a mess and they hut when stepped on!
“And in a houseplant culture where appearance is more important than actual plant care, trends are everything.” So wickedly true — though I think that this could be mostly ascribed to the influencers intent on clean, minimalist inspo, and not necessarily the plant lovers who follow them only to have plants sicken and die. – MW
Yes! True…I would like to see how many of these people are still way into plants years to come though. It’s interesting to see how people can be plant hoarders and still claim to be minimalists as well
Reminds me of the old saying that once influenza was a disease, today influencer is a profession…
I well remember my mom in the 1960s experimenting with soil-less media for her houseplants. Not surprisingly, that didn’t last long. Today, it’s the latest trend once again. And only proves once more how far removed from our natural roots many of us are. If people fall for useless, dangerous and potentially toxic advice like this, how then can we really save our environment? And one more lament: Why don’t we teach kids in schools how to take of plants and how to live with plants? Isn’t that, considering all the environmental challenges we face, one of the most important things to learn these days?
Ikea has clay balls very inexpensive
Good grief! Cut off the roots? No pests if no soil?? Do people not realize that plant-eating bugs are in fact attracted to plants, and not their growing medium?
It’s like capitalism has been inbreeding for too many generations – first we had consumerism, where you pay for goods you don’t need, and now we have this, where you pay to have the goodness removed and then pay again to get it back. Madness.
I have been using clay pebbles as a growing medium for my plants long before this leca term was coined so I agree somewhat with you about some of things you said about leca.
However I have never (nor would I ever) use it to transition a plant from soil. This is absolutely the worst way to use it. I typically take cuttings and plant those in clay pebbles that I have prepared for it. The primary reason I use clay pebbles is to reduce the number of times I need to water which can be really helpful with my thirsty plants if I end up in a situation where I am not able to water them as often as I’d like to. There is a way to fertilize your plants with hydroponics that is economical, easier and very beneficial to the plant however these methods aren’t common knowledge.
I have other plants growing in my yard or potted in soil so I am knowledgeable of using both.
Hydroponics using clay pebbles works quite well but requires a different method to use them effectively and works best with plants that you plan to harvest later. I mainly use clay pebbles for my herbs (basil, mint, lemongrass, rosemary, etc.) although I do have some pothos planted in it.