LECA Clay Balls

Why growers choose LECA

Firing the clay is what gives these pebbles their job. Each one comes out with a hard ceramic shell around a porous core: the core holds water and feeds it back to the roots as the medium dries, while the spaces between pebbles stay open for air. Porosity sits around 70-80%, so air and water can both move. Across a crop they do not compact and they do not rot. They are pure mineral — no fibres, no solvents, nothing of their own going into the solution. A decent bag also carries a low inherent EC, which matters: a medium that leaches salts will fight your reservoir readings.

The clay balls we stock

One grade, three bags: 8-16mm. Professor's Nutrients and Grow Kings cover the 10L, Green Planet the 25L, and Accent Hydroponics the 50L Colossal bag used to fill larger systems. Green Planet's bag is 100% expanded clay — pH neutral, sterile and non-degradable, with high air-filled porosity for root growth and microbial activity. The 50L bags ship as bulky items and may attract additional shipping.

Systems clay balls suit

Recirculating systems default to clay balls because the pebbles are round and even. The gaps they leave drain fast and empty fully — exactly what a flood-and-drain table needs between cycles. In deep water culture they hold the plant firmly above the reservoir while the roots hang below. Under drip the free-draining structure stops solution pooling at the crown. They fill net pots without falling through, and a layer over the surface of a soil or coco pot works as an evaporation barrier.

Pair them with net pots and hydroponic pots and flood and drain systems. Inert medium means the reservoir, not the substrate, sets the numbers — pH in a hydroponic system covers that side. Coco, soil and the other substrates sit on the full grow mediums range.