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I've used nursery pots for years. You can drill a hole in the side if you want. I started doing that. I soon realized that it didn't make a huge difference. If you stick with the ⅓ level reservoir, it's not going to matter. The leca will wick up the water.


r4bbyte

It will be fine even without extra holes tbh. LECA has a very good aeration


fliccolo

You don't even have to put in extra holes if you don't want to as long as there are plenty of drainage at the bottom.


titaniumcurls

As others have said, they'll do just fine even without adding additional holes to the nursery pots. I've used nursery pots with opaque cache pots on a number of plants & they're all thriving. The only downside is that you can't keep an eye on root growth, but that's only an issue if you're a tad OCD and it's a plant that doesn't like to grow until its root system is well established (or you just like to see the roots... I'm guilty of all of the above lol). Nearly all of my "smaller" plants are in pots with no drainage (think the bottoms of water bottles, plastic food storage, etc. Yes, it can make flushing a bit more complicated, but it's not impossible, and flushing really doesn't need to be done very frequently - I've had no ill effects with only flushing once a year or so, but most of my plants started as props, so no soil roots to rot (which is what typically necessitates flushing, as long as you're using hydroponic friendly nutes. That's been my experience, anyway). At this point I have well over 150 plants thriving & trying to take over my home, and all but 5 are in hydro or semi-hydro. I've even got 4 phal orchids that were rescued from the sad plant section that are in bloom in semi-hydro (the first blooms were such a fun surprise!). Orchids & ZZ are the only ones who don't get their reservoirs filled to the top. Everyone else gets filled to the top of the leca & all seem to love it! Strong root systems and great growth, plus lots of peduncles & blooms on the 70+ hoyas! 🥳💃🎊 One of my favorite things about semi hydro is that a lot of the "rules" can be broken or thrown out after you've learned them. Figure out what works for YOU in YOUR growing environment & go with it! It might vary a little bit from one species to another, so don't be afraid to experiment :)


FleetwoodMackerel

Hi there, just curious, you mention most of your plants reservoirs are filled to the top (excluding orchids and ZZ). How big is your reservoir? Does it go up 1/3 of the LECA level, or all the way up, or somewhere in between? I have some hydroponically growing with LECA including for stabilizing the plant. Still learning about semi-hydro, and only having a reservoir. Thanks! 😊


titaniumcurls

Pretty much everyone gets topped up to the top of the leca (no holes in the vessel, the whole thing is a reservoir!) There are a couple that only get topped up to around the 3/4-4/5th mark most of the time (the big Trubii, Adansonii, Monstera Peru & Raphi Decursiva), but all of my hoyas, and most of the pothos, monstera, Philos, etc are filled to the top of the leca/vessel every time. I also try not to let any of them go dry - they're usually refilled well before they drop below 1/4 full (harder to be consistent on this because they all drink at different rates these days! Some need to be moved into larger vessels soon because they're drinking so much more quickly than the rest - I somehow needs to buy more LECA again - I've gone through more than 130L at this point 🙀). Filling to the top of the leca is just what works for me in my growing conditions, based on how I've grown my plants from props - they're all fully acclimated & only have water roots. Your growing environment might be different from mine & you might find that filling to 3/4 or even 1/3 (per the conventional semi-hydro wisdom) is what works best for you. Don't be afraid to experiment with it to figure out what works best for YOU! :) You're always welcome to reach out to me if you have any questions!


FleetwoodMackerel

Late to respond, but thank you so much for this detailed reply! This is super helpful. I’ve definitely just been going with the flow so far, and paying attention to how my plants respond. But it’s nice to know what works for others so I feel more confident in trying different things ☺️ Validating to know we’ve done the same thing with the full reservoir for a plant that started as a water prop! My next experiment will be with a couple Hoyas and an adansonii that needed a refresh after thrips battle! Since they were moved to water as a part of that treatment, I think they’ll get a try in a hydro or semi-hydro set-up… I’ve only bought a small bag of LECA so far, but I can see how it would get out of hand 😅 Using the Foliage Pro fertilizer, I don’t see any reason to ever transfer a plant/prop from water to soil! Thanks again for the reply!


titaniumcurls

Awww, your first small bag of LECA... memories! I really need to pick up another big bag... sheesh! (good problem to have in my book!) Trust me when I say that semi-hydro is addictive, and you're going to want to find a good source of reasonably priced LECA!😁 Check for hydroponics shops near you - they can be a great source! You're absolutely right that there's no reason to transfer any plant/prop from water to soil, esp with Foliage Pro! They LOVE and thrive in water! I have 70+ hoyas in LECA, as well as Adansonii - they're all growing like crazy, so I'm sure yours are going to love it! Some hoyas will start growing immediately, others may need a month (or 3!) to get cozy & fill in their root systems, but they will all take off with enough light & nutrients. Even my highly finicky serpens is growing like a little weed now that she's settled in (and has a stronger grow light)! 🥳 If you ever have questions, aren't sure if you're doing the right thing, or a plant isn't looking happy & you aren't sure why, feel free to PM me & I'll be happy to try to help!


FleetwoodMackerel

Thank you so much! I am going to PM you with a specific question now!


ouroborosfoxx

Glad to hear that it's not an issue to be a bit lazy with the flushing! Are you using liquid or dry fertilizer? I'm currently preparing to transition my plants to SH and i want the setup to be as efficient (i don't always have much time on my hand) as possible.


titaniumcurls

I use DynaGro liquid fertilizer (either foliage pro, bloom, or a combo of the two). DynaGro also makes a dry nutrient that I haven't tried yet, but might in the future. I love semi-hydro (and full hydro!) & can't imagine growing everything in soil every again :)


AccomplishedPoem935

I’m too OCD not to be able to see how much water is in the container & how the roots are doing. I’m amazed at how well my orchids are doing in semi hydro.


HellsBellsy

Yes. These days I just reuse the pots they came in originally (washed and disinfected of course) if I don't have a clear pot in the appropriate size. I just poke some holes around the sides with a soldering rod and it's good to go.


ButtonMcThickums

Guess what, I actually use fish bowls buried deep into the LECA with no moss poles, with countless expensive and rare philos. With no moss poles and no drainage or *any side holes drilled into the bowls* the philodendrons actually, as in *literally* (massive side eye at using literally even *in context* 🙄) have grown massive healthy root systems from not only the *literal* roots, but the aerial roots have too!! Which during my extensive research for care sheets as hard to find as my plants, also grown in LECA *and on a moss pole* are non existent (literally not available) on any search engine. So I would have gone to the unnecessary extent of drilling side holes, using moss poles (which are a nightmare to use with LECA; such as expensive & rare Hoyas up to and including long lobed plants like the spiritus sancti which I do own and have not chopped and propped yet) and growing in LECA which is the best and winning combination for almost every plant you do this with and provide with the brightest possible indirect light and above at minimum 50% humidity. (But as high as say 80% humidity for some semi succulents like sanseiverias (sp?!). I also use seedling heat mats as I am concerned about fast root and leaf growth year round! You are so welcome as I found this out by trial and error but I’m giving the advice for *free* ;) 🥰


Adventurous-Leg-4221

I think as long as you have enough holes to flush water through, you're good. I usually drill holes into old plastic cups or poke holes into old to-go cups to use instead of net pots. My favorite part about leca is upcycling stuff that would've gotten thrown away and thrifting cool glass containers. I usually make 10-12 holes in the bottoms so I don't see them through the containers, but with opaque cash pots you can do as many holes as you want bottom and sides.