Episode 277: growing in leca with The Leca Queen
Nora Mutalima aka The Leca Queen.
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Transcript
I am joined by The Leca Queen Nora Mutalima to discuss all things leca - find out how to grow houseplants in this soilless medium, from prep to feeding!
If you’d prefer to watch my interview with Nora as a video, check out my YouTube channel for a slightly longer version. Patreon subscribers at the Ledge End and Superfan level can watch a bonus video with Nora discussing moss poles in An Extra Leaf 119.
This week’s guest
Nora Mutalima aka The Leca Queen is based in Melbourne, Australia and spreads her expertise in all things leca via her YouTube channel and Instagram account. You’ll find more useful links for Nora on her Linktree.
Chapters
0:01:38 Introducing Houseplant Royalty: The Leca Queen
0:04:08 Useful Information and Transcript for leca as a houseplant medium
0:06:26 Pros and cons of using leca as a substrate
0:09:03 Concerns about transitioning plants from soil to leca
0:24:04 Proper preparation of fresh leca before using with plants
0:33:00 Repotting in leca and pot size flexibility
0:35:22 Thriving aroids on moss poles in leca
0:39:12 Nora’s love-hate elationship with the maidenhair fern
0:41:51 Quickfire round: Nora's plantagonist and desert island plants
Read these notes as you listen…
Leca is a soilless substrate and it’s an acronym, short for Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate. If you’ve never come across leca before, Nora’s beginners’ video is worth a look.
When you grow plants in leca, this is called semi-hydroponics. Leca contains no nutrients so you have to add those nutrients in the form of a specialised feed - Nora uses Growth Technology’s Foliage Focus. Nora’s video on nutrients and pH is here.
Leca needs cleaning before it is used as a substrate for plants by being thoroughly soaked in water, then rinsed. Nora advises doing this outside to prevent the risk of blocked drains. Nora’s video on how to do this is here.
Effloresence is the white stuff that can build up on the surface of leca when used as a substrate - caused by mineral salts. Flushing pots with clean water helps to reduce this, as does cleaning leca thoroughly before use.
There are various ways of using leca as a substrate - Nora uses the submerged pot method. With this method, the nursery pot is sitting right at the bottom of the cache pot and is in direct contact with the nutrient solution: but the roots themselves start out in the top two thirds of the leca, so they do not start out in contact with the reservoir when first potted.
Other growers use a wick setup where the plant is sat at the top of the reservoir so the leca is not in direct contact with it, but connected by a piece of wick. But you could also have your plant with a wick setup.
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CREDITS
This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops, The Road We Use To Travel When We Were Kids by Komiku and Whistle by BenJamin Banger (@benjaminbanger on Insta; website benjaminbanger.com). The ad music is Part VIII by Jahzzar.