4 Key Benefits Of Growing House Plants In Semi-Hydro Soil
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Chris Dosser
- January 12, 2021
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Caring for houseplants is an enjoyable past time, but did you that there are also many health benefits to keeping your home full of plants? For example, house plants can help to naturally filter the air within your home, making it healthier and easier to breathe. For this reason and many others, it’s no wonder why so many people are keen to keep their home green.
However, sometimes caring for plants can be a little more complicated and time consuming than our hectic schedules allow.
Thankfully, products like semi-hydro soil can make growing and maintaining house plants much easier than you think.
To summarise before exploring each point in detail below, the key benefits of growing indoor plants in semi-hydro soil are:
- Semi-hydro soil saves water
- Watering duties takes up less time
- Using semi-hydro soil is more sustainable than regular potting soil
- Damaging pests are less likely to make a home in your plant pot when semi-hydro soil is used
What is semi-hydro soil?
The term “semi-hydro” refers to semi-hydroponics or hydroculture. In short, it means that you grow plants in a material that isn’t organic, such as a clay aggregate or something called LECA (Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate).
This is a low density, high in strength substrate that is much more porous and absorbent than potting soil and other organic materials, which makes plant care far easier.
Semi-hydroponics differs from hydroponics because the process of drawing water up into the plant is more efficient and effective.
In short, using semi-hydro soil will allow you to avoid traditional mistakes in plant care like overwatering. It can also allow you to care for more finnicky plants (like orchids) with much less frustration, thereby making it possible for you to branch out with your house plant habitat!
What are the benefits of using semi-hydro soil
There are a wide-range of reasons why people opt for semi-hydro soil in place of traditional potting mix or other organic materials but the following are the ones that we feel are the most pertinent.
Semi-hydro soil saves water
If you live in a drier region of the world that places a lot of importance on conserving water, you’ll be happy to know that semi-hydro soil can help you do exactly that while caring for your house plants. When you use traditional soil, you are usually instructed to pour water into your plant’s soil until it starts to come out of the drainage hole in the pot.
Of course, you can always collect this water drainage and reuse it for the next time you need to water your plants, but this is a fairly involved process and doesn’t totally avoid wasting water. In fact, this waste can be totally eliminated if you replace your potting mix with semi-hydro soil.
When using semi-hydro soil, you simply fill a reservoir at the bottom of the pot with water and the soil/LECA wicks it up, stores it, and slowly releases it back to the plant. Thus, you are never in danger of putting too much water into your house plants’ soil and risking root rot.
Watering takes less time
When caring for house plants with traditional soil, the traditional watering method is to check the soil every single day for dryness and water the plant if necessary. Of course, there are many plants that can go longer than a day without watering, but careful plant maintenance does require regular check-ins with traditional soil.
On the other hand, using semi-hydro soil allows you to fill up the water reservoir at the bottom of the pot and not have to worry about checking your plants every single day. Most times, the reservoir will stay adequately full for a week or more, meaning that you can assume a more hands-off approach in the watering process.
This is also extremely beneficial for those who love house plants, but who don’t have a lot of free time in their schedule to go checking their plant’s soil every single day. Using semi-hydro soil means that you might even be able to leave your plants unattended for a few days if necessary, giving you more freedom to pursue other important things like your career and/or leisure.
Semi-hydro is better for the environment
Semi-hydro soil and LECA are made from clay that is extracted from the earth, a process that has proven to be very sustainable and environmentally-friendly. More amazing that that, however, is the fact that semi-hydro soil is completely reusable. Traditional soil and potting mix breaks down over time.
This makes semi-hydro soil a great option for those who are environmentally conscious because there is no waste involved in usage. All you have to do when you want to reuse your semi-hydro soil is rinse it with boiling water and then you’re good to go!
It’s also better for the planet to use semi-hydro soil because it allows you to avoid being a participant in harmful soil-extraction practices. For example, there has been a lot of research done on the harmful effects of harvesting too much peat moss from the Earth, as this has been known to disrupt entire ecosystems. You’ll have no worries about contributing to that when using semi-hydro soil.
Pests are less common
Of course, one of the more unfortunate aspects of having a lot of house plants is the reality that it will likely lead to pests inside your home. While these pests are usually relatively harmless fungus gnats or spider mites, they can still be fairly annoying and are definitely unwanted in most homes. Traditional soil and potting mix are the ideal breeding ground for pests like that.
Some have argued that semi-hydro soil is totally pest proof. While this isn’t absolutely true, it is definitely arguable that semi-hydro soil is a much more difficult environment for common house plant pests to thrive in. Furthermore, semi-hydro soil is easier to wash out (and reuse, as mentioned previously) without the mess of typical potting mix.
In general, using semi-hydro soil for your house plants makes the reality of little pests much more easier to manage. It’s just another reason why using this type of soil over traditional kinds can make your life much more simple when it comes to caring for house plants.
Final thoughts
Overall, growing your house plants in semi-hydro soil is a more efficient and less costly approach to plant care than using traditional organic mediums like potting mix, peat moss, and mulch. While growing and maintaining a plant using inorganic matter might seem like a strange concept, it actually has many benefits that you shouldn’t ignore.
The benefits of growing house plants in semi-hydro soil includes the fact that it allows you to conserve water, save time in the watering process, and avoid significant pest activity in your house plant ecosystem. Furthermore, using semi-hydro soil is better for the environment because the harvesting process is sustainable and the product itself is completely reusable.
All in all, it’s no wonder why so many people opt for semi-hydro soil in place of traditional mediums. In a society where saving time and money is sometimes one of the most sought-after benefits of using any product, semi-hydro soil really delivers. In short, you basically have nothing to lose by switching your house plants from potting mix to semi-hydro soil.
Chris Dosser
Co-Founder of Eden Indoors
Chris is a self-taught horticulturist with over a decade of experience caring for houseplants and creating lush, thriving indoor oases. He specializes in Monstera, and by self admission has a serious problem with buying and propagating rare indoor plants!
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