Need recommendations for LECA

[DTEguy]

Hello,

First of all, I would like to wish everybody here a wonderful new year!!

I was using prime agra and it was doing great. Suddenly I am having problem salt precipitation (both crystal and crusty white films) and that killed some of my orchids.

I did wash them thoroughly with epsom salt and repeatedly rinse them over a week's time before I used them. I think it could either be due to my filtered tap water (not softened) or it's just wicking too much in my culture.

I was wondering if the people here can share with me the type of LECA you use for your S/H and if you have a good source to get it from.

Since hydroton is now out of the market, anybody has experience with hydrokorrel from Gold Label?

[tucker85]

I don't grow in s/h but if I were you I would contact Ray at First Rays. He developed the s/h method of growing and he's the one most familiar with all the different products available. If I grew in s/h I think I would consider getting all my supplies from him, since he's the expert. Good luck.

[DTEguy]

Thanks Tucker!

But the LECA that I have (prime agra) is from him. Its just not working for me, could be my water quality or too much evaporation in my culture. Looking for an alternative to workout my s/h

[AnonYMouse]

There's still a lot of Hydroton online. Check what hydroponic growers are using.

[billc]

I use PrimeAgra from Ray and hydroton pellets from a local store and I've not experienced any extensive salt build up on either. I don't think it's the PrimeAgra itself but what you suspect, the tap water.
I use rain water and MSU at 65PPM and the only time or place I see the white crusty build up is at the very top layer of the pot, I think because that dries quicker in my environment. If I water every 2-3 days I don't get the build up.
Do you flush with plain water regularly? That may keep the salt build up down. Another thing to try is boil the leca for 10-15 minutes, I've found that to clean it up fairly nice.

Bill

[DTEguy]

Thank you for the replies.

I usually flush it with plain water and then flush it again with MSU fertilized water (assuming with lowered pH to dissolve calcium) every week.

I guess for now, I will repot them in fresh primeagra and use distilled H20 and see how it goes, while looking for an alternative LECA to try some dry runs with.

Please continue to share your recommendations for LECA if you have had success with them.

[Bef]

I grow all my orchids in Prime Agra, on windowsill ~28-32% humidity, 25-38 celcius during the day).

I used to have a lot of mineral buildup in the smaller pots, while the bigger pots didn't have this issue. I have replaced all the smaller pots for bigger ones, with big reservoir (about 2-2.5") and I have much less buildup now.

I water them once a week, using tap water and MSU at ~55-75 PPM. I always make sure that the water level in the reservoir never go too low (>1").

You can also replace the media on the top with some fresh LECA sometimes, since the mineral buildup is mostly on the top.

I have also used Hydroton in the past and switched to Prime Agra, and I get better results in my dry environment.

[Ray]

Bill is right, the buildup is unrelated to the brand of LECA. If you go with one that doesn't wick as well as PrimeAgra, all you will do is push it farther down in the medium.

Extreme buildup issues are caused by two factors - high dissolved solids in your irrigation solution, and rapid evaporation. Unless you're willing to take action on the former, you'll have to manage the latter.

The best thing to do is to increase the ambient humidity in the growing area, as that will slow the evaporation rate and give the plants a much more favorable environment. If that is not an option, you might consider a "cover" over the LECA to slow the evaporation. A friend in Europe cuts disks out of heavy plastic film, puts a hole in it and a cut to the outside, and places it on the medium surrounding the plant. He makes the disks slightly smaller that the pot diameters, so he doesn't remove them when he waters, and he tells me that the condensation on the film drips light back into the pot, keeping it fully moist.

[DTEguy]

Originally Posted by Bef

I grow all my orchids in Prime Agra, on windowsill ~28-32% humidity, 25-38 celcius during the day).

I used to have a lot of mineral buildup in the smaller pots, while the bigger pots didn't have this issue. I have replaced all the smaller pots for bigger ones, with big reservoir (about 2-2.5") and I have much less buildup now.

I water them once a week, using tap water and MSU at ~55-75 PPM. I always make sure that the water level in the reservoir never go too low (>1").

You can also replace the media on the top with some fresh LECA sometimes, since the mineral buildup is mostly on the top.

I have also used Hydroton in the past and switched to Prime Agra, and I get better results in my dry environment.

Thank you very much for the detailed reply, it is very helpful!

[DTEguy]

Originally Posted by Ray

Bill is right, the buildup is unrelated to the brand of LECA. If you go with one that doesn't wick as well as PrimeAgra, all you will do is push it farther down in the medium.

Extreme buildup issues are caused by two factors - high dissolved solids in your irrigation solution, and rapid evaporation. Unless you're willing to take action on the former, you'll have to manage the latter.

The best thing to do is to increase the ambient humidity in the growing area, as that will slow the evaporation rate and give the plants a much more favorable environment. If that is not an option, you might consider a "cover" over the LECA to slow the evaporation. A friend in Europe cuts disks out of heavy plastic film, puts a hole in it and a cut to the outside, and places it on the medium surrounding the plant. He makes the disks slightly smaller that the pot diameters, so he doesn't remove them when he waters, and he tells me that the condensation on the film drips light back into the pot, keeping it fully moist.

Hi Ray,

Thanks for the input. I checked the TDS reading from tap water and it's at about 150 ppm and my MSU fertilized (N: 125 ppm) tap water reads around 650 ppm. Contributing TDS at about 23%, tap water might not be the problem; counting out non-detectable compounds.

Initial TDS reading for water soaked with primeagra (pre-washed) is very high. I will soak it with epsom salt and wash it for several days, and then check again to see what is the level of TDS when it reaches equilibrium.

Unless the TDS is 10 x higher than my fertlized water (which I highly doubt), the salt deposit problem is most likely from my high evaporation/low humidity.

I like the ring cover idea as solution to prevent high evaporation, that's a really good idea.

One question, do you really think that using a slower wicking leca would contribute to deposits in the bottom layer instead? I was thinking since the rate is slower but uniform, wouldn't the deposit be minimal but easier to be leached out during watering?