Anyone Sanitizes their LECA for reuse with a Pressure Cooker

[Ray]

Originally Posted by zipykido

Seachem Flourite and Eco-complete aren't fine soil sand, it's expanded clay just like regular leca. They're just a bit smaller and not as uniformly round (more of a gravel size and consistency). While smaller particles may not be ideal, the substrates I mention fall into the "smaller expanded clay" and "readily available" category that the OP wanted in case they wanted to test it out.

Good to know. Thanks.

From their website, it sounded like "sand", which I used for years in marine tanks.

And for you aquarists out there, 8-16 mm LECA makes a pretty good substrate for aerobic biological filters.

---------- Post added at 08:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:40 AM ----------

Originally Posted by emmajs243

Personally, I Am grateful for all the alternative options given to me & for Ray not just staying silent and continuing to let me continue to struggle or fail with the s/h method but insteadd point out mistake so I can correct it!

I honestly had no idea 6-8mm in diameter LECA could cause such problems!

However, I am still very happy to know the small LECA alternatives because I was considering tryingvit out in my young seedling traditional bark based mix this year too!

I thoroughly enjoy being a sponge and taking advantage of any and all knowledge my fellow growers have to offer!

6-8 mm stuff is not likely to cause any problems. When I was importing a custom cut from Europe, I specified 10-16 mm (8-16 being more-or-less standard), as well as 4-8mm, which I soon discontinued, because I found it's used to be unnecessary.

In the VAST majority of the time, when folks have problems with semi-hydroponics, the issues are 1) poor timing for the changeover, 2) growing the plants too cool, or 3) trying to rescue a sick plant - or some combo.

Yes, low humidity can dry out the top surface of the LECA and kill root tips, but that's the nature of the beast, not S/H. A root tip coming into contact with a dry LECA pellet used in a bark mix will do the same.

[WaterWitchin]

I've used 8mm for at least nine years. For ALL my plants in SH. I've also used the 6-8mm, but prefer straight 8. I've never seen LECA the size of a marble. Interesting.

I repotted every orchid I had in straight 8mm last summer/fall as I was changing out containers. (found a great deal on containers). They're all doing just fine, other than recovery of a few new ones still in recovery phase from moving from bark to SH.

And now I know why I'm having trouble nailing up new pictures on recently repainted lath and plaster walls. Use a hammer instead of a screwdriver to drive the nail! Who knew! Thanks @Subrosa.

[emmajs243]

Ok good to know! I think there was just a tad miscommunication on what everyone's definition of small really is! That's why I decided to throw out a measurement!

I was going to say though, I didn't feel like I was completely over doing it and the moisture level seemed to stay pretty even throughout! However, I do think it would be much easier to wash dying roots and what not out with the larger size so I may need to experimenting to see what is and isn't necessary for me.

And WaterWitchin, I guess maybe depending on what size marble. I always find it funny when people use the size of a marble as a description because i don't know about everyone else but I use to have a big thing of marbles as a kid and I had like ten different sizes in there!

But question for you waterwitchin! Have you actually found a place to buy LECA that is really made up of primarily just 8 mm size LECA? Or close? or do you have to still kinda go through it and pick out the size you want?

The last regular bag of hydroton I bought seemed to have a pretty large size difference throughout the entire bag. But the company had messed up my order so i am wondering it if was just them....long story, won't buy from them again. BUT, I mean yes I expect some size difference but this was just huge. Some pieces were 3x larger at least of others. It's been such a pain!

[WaterWitchin]

If someone ever finds me sorting out LECA by size, please find me a quiet place to lie down. I've used LECA that was of numerous sizes and shapes. Worked just fine. Been using Hydro Crunch 8mm for quite some time. Very uniform size, very low dust/residue in comparison to most. And not super expensive in bulk.

Most either love it or hate it. It's VERY floaty. Some hate it for that reason. I like that it floats, as until the plant is very rootbound, if you water without overflowing it sort of bobs up and shifts around... helps displace and get rid of waste roots, etc, from transitioning to SH.

[emmajs243]

Lol mental note made! Sorting LECA means you've lost your mind. That's exactly how I felt....like I thought this was suppose to be faster and easier then traditional growing...but I also had read you don't want large size differences between the pieces so the smaller pieces don't fill the spaces of the larger pieces.

I swear most Leca comes with a 4 mm range tops it seems like but this LECA that I was sent most recently...had like 4 mm pieces and some nearly 18mm pieces and although they refunded me so I wanted to try and use it....it's been such a pain that I'm nearly ready to just throw it out. I'll have to look into ordering a bag of hydrocrunch or other leca That is actually ONE size for the most part....i only ever had found LECA with this nightmare size range so i didn't even know such LECA existed! I'll have to go searching obviously!

[rbarata]

Just my

I don't reuse LECA... it avoids potencial problems and it's cheaper than tap water...
Also, it's a lot more expensive to treat for reuse than buying new one.

[emmajs243]

That is a very good point rbarata!!!

[IngieBee]

Wow, I thought one of the points of using leca was that you CAN reuse it! Like other's have said, just soak in a bit of vinegar water to dissolve minerals, then soak that out later.

I don't have that kind of money to throw out the window! LOL

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by IngieBee

Wow, I thought one of the points of using leca was that you CAN reuse it! Like other's have said, just soak in a bit of vinegar water to dissolve minerals, then soak that out later.

I don't have that kind of money to throw out the window! LOL

If you re-use any medium, absorbed minerals are the least of your problems. Any treatment would have to be severe enough to kill fungi, bacteria, viruses. The potential cost of risking your orchid collection through cross-contamination of pathogens is far higher than any medium that you might buy.

[IngieBee]

Originally Posted by Roberta

If you re-use any medium, absorbed minerals are the least of your problems. Any treatment would have to be severe enough to kill fungi, bacteria, viruses. The potential cost of risking your orchid collection through cross-contamination of pathogens is far higher than any medium that you might buy.

And boiling isn't enough? I would have thought it would be :/ Hummm You're scaring me! Maybe it's a difference between people with a huge collection and myself with only maybe 25 plants tops.??