What happens if the pellets dry out?

[hydroguy]

Hi nogreenthumbs. You've got it right. When planning a project, judge how much aggregate you think you'll need. Then 1) rinse those pebbles at the sink to wash off the dust from shipping 2) soak in water (or a rooting solution - no nutrients yet!) for a couple of hours or over night 3) plant with saturated pebbles.
What you don't use, rinse at sink again if you added a rooting solution and then simply dump them back into the bucket with the rest of your aggregate. They will dry on their own.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Rothrock42

Thanks Ray. The instructions I was referring to talk about drying out between the initial rinse/soak and use.

That's no problem whatsoever. The pellets go through a few wet/dry cycles before we even see them:

• Dry clay is mixed with water and binders at the factory.
• They are then pelletized and allowed to dry.
• Then they are fired, to bind them onto the permanent consistency we see.
• As the fired pellets exit the kiln, they are sprayed with water to cool them, and keep down dust.
• They are air dried, classified, and packaged.

The added binders, many of which are polymers based upon sodium salts, and (likely non-potable) water used will leave residues in the LECA, so that's why it's a good idea to soak it well before use, and extract them. I don't thinks it's that big of an issue,especially for less-sensitive foliage plants, but orchids can be a bit more sensitive. Adding Epsom salts and/or calcium nitrate (a tablespoon per gallon is adequate) to the soak water accelerates the extraction, and adds nutrients.