I like the 3 bottle combo from General Hydroponics. My plants have been doing better since I started using it.
Master a basic grow before you jump into Organic. But it doesn't even matter, the plants will use Organic and Inorganic in the same way.
5 Gallon Black Bottom Tote/Bucket + airstone & pump + nutrients + net cup/media
I started my plants in soil in February and carefully moved them to hydroponics. Eventually I moved them outside into five gallon buckets. I use General Hydroponics Flora series. I referred to their website to mix the three nutrients as the plants grew, bloomed and produced fruit. I over did the nutrients for a time when the tomatoes first appeared. I got a rot on the bottom of my tomatoes. I do not monitor pH. I should consider doing that.
General Hydroponics GH Flora Series 32oz Quarts Trio FloraMicro FloraGrow FloraBloom https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HG98GX0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_1G08NYPNZXQ1MHTN3KDA?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Right, Leca itself has no nutrient value for the plants. It's just a substrate that allow the roots more oxygen and which absorb what you use for watering so that the roots can drink it off the Leca balls as needed. You need to offer the plants nutrients, not just plain water. Although I suppose water would work for a long while. I use they General Hydro mix, link below. There a thousand YouTubes on how to properly mix them. I refill the cache pot with this mixture every time it's empty, and I flush the leca balls with water each time I do that, just by running it under the sink for a minute or two. Welcome to Leca world.
I find Leca to be more of a hassle in terms of watering them, but I have a system and do it once a week since I just refill and flush out all my plants that day it makes it easier to not have to check water levels of each plant as meticulously. I use fertilizer for hydroponic plants specifically that I saw on TikTok and have been loving it (I pasted the link to the Amazon listing down below). I’ve barely gone through any of it and it’s been almost a year! I also use superthrive as well when I fertilize the water.
I think Leca is a great option for people struggling with pests (I had a TERRIBLE fungus gnat problem) and now that I only have a few plants in soil I don’t have any. Leca is also really easy to clean up when spilled vs soil.
I recommend water propagating the plants you want in Leca first before you actually put them into the Leca. I’ve had a difficult time with the transition from soil to Leca in the past and some of my plants almost died so it wasnt worth the stress (for me).
I have “self watering pots” (which I also pasted below) that have a net and a catch pot that fits perfectly together. I usually poor the water over the plants until the net pot is touching the water (about 1/4 of the bottom of the net pot is submerged). I also make sure that I rinse the Leca every week to avoid mineral buildup and to flush the old water off the roots. I don’t ever take the plant out of the Leca I just run water over the net pot.
Leca is super great and most plants will survive in it I just put a fiddle leaf fig cutting into it a few weeks ago and it’s starting to grow new leaves! Experiment with it and have fun! But it takes trial and error to get your perfect routine down.
Also if you have any other questions I strongly recommend watching planttok videos on TikTok! They have so many plant enthusiasts who share how they use Leca and the best practices they’ve found.
GH Flora Series' General... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HG98GX0?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
T4U 4.5 Inch Self Watering Pots... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PW4TZ8C?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
id go with ikea totes, some led lamps and nutrient solution... you can do a kratky setup for salads/lettuce and similar sized plants (ikea totes are like 2$ each lamps 50-60$ solution 40$)
nutrient https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HG98GX0 lights https://www.amazon.com/Barrina-Equivalent-Spectrum-Reflector-Greenhouse/dp/B07ZJLWXFR totes https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/uppsnofsad-storage-box-with-lid-black-s99393107/