Why Leca and Soil?

Anthurium Dressler x Radicans was not doing well in plain leca and I thought it was dead. It was growing in plain soil when I first got it. Plain soil did not make it happy so I then tried plain leca. It never seemed to grow more than 2 leaves at a time. I was growing it in the grow tent so light or humidity wasn’t the problem. So I decided to try something different with an experiment.

I saw another grower on Youtube who was growing spider plants in soil and also soil/leca combo. I decided to give it a try. The plant looked pretty dead so what did I have to lose? I wish I could find the youtube video I watched but I have tried and could never find it again. If I am ever able find it again I will share it on this blog. The spider plant that was growing in plain soil was considerably smaller than the plant in the soil/leca combo.

How?

I simply took a plastic cup I bought at Target or you can use a recycled cup/pop or soda container. After that, I poked holes an inch from the bottom just as I do with my plain leca cups. I put leca in the bottom of the cup below the holes. After that, I put the plant in in the pot and filled the cup up with dirt. When I water, I make sure to water so the leca has some water in the reservoir. I put the plant back into the grow tent and waited. I plan to put the holes and leca up a bit higher next time.

Results?

The plant is looking the best it ever has, it is growing leaf after leaf. The leaves are healthy and I haven’t noticed any pests on it so far. The negative side is there is algae growing in the reservoir. It doesn’t seem to be hurting the plant so far. The algae is unsightly so I am making some leca/semi-hydro friendly ceramic pots to try out in the future.