Once your plant water is rooted, and in LECA, it’s time to consider fertilizing. Grab a liquid fertilizer; my go-to is Dyna-grow. There are many other fertilizers; generally, look for a concentrated liquid fertilizer. Follow whatever instructions your particular fertilizer recommends for the amount of liquid to use for hydroponics.
I generally do 1-2 drops of Dynagrow in a 2qt pitcher. I do this about half the time when I water my plants. You do not need to fertilize every time you refill the reservoir; in fact, it’s better if you don’t.
If you over-fertilize, you will have to flush your plants more. Flushing just helps remove the mineral buildup on the leca; the leca can’t absorb as the soil would. You’ll start to notice white crystals or a white coating on top of the LECA; usually, that means it needs to be flushed. It involves removing the cache pot and letting the water run through the LECA in its nursery pot.
It’s a huge pain, even more so if you’re not using a cache pot. And if we’re being honest, I almost never do it, but I also don’t fertilize regularly or in large amounts. Some people are religious about flushing at least once a month, but I don’t flush if I can avoid it.
If a plant is struggling, then flushing it could help, but it likely isn’t the underlying cause of the issue. The white coating of minerals is largely just cosmetic; it shouldn’t hurt your plants unless you fertilize them constantly.
- Click here for details on how take cuttings
- Click here for different ways to propagate your cuttings
- Click here for info on fertilizer and flushing
- Click here for help transitioning soil plants to LECA
- Click here for quick start guide to LECA
- Click here for help with root rot
- Click here for more details on me and why I love plants
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Feel free to message or DM me with questions. Love to talk all things plant and will gladly help you on your plant journey.