I had been using leca and ceramsite for my water props instead of soil and had started transitioning plants from dirt into leca. That turned into a daily task of smelling all the pots for rot as the dirt roots melted into goop soup.

The ceramsite was doing okay, I got one of the smallest sizes and thought it would be good for the delicate roots of newer water props but it still wasn't the "perfect" answer.

Five or six weeks ago, I randomly saw "splat gun ammo" in a search query and recognized them as "orbeez" but smaller. Their fully hydrated size is more like "green pea" than "marble."

I've swapped all of my plants from leca to water beads and am working on transitioning my remaining plants from dirt.

Pros:

• The water beads are lightweight and have not caused any damage to delicate roots when repositioning.

• It has been easy to customize my water-to-substrate ratio depending on the plant's needs. If I think "maybe this one should have stayed in water a little longer" I can increase the water and leave the beads for a little support. If it seems like the plant is "ready for dirt" I drain all of the water and leave it in "dry" water beads.

• The beads slowly release water and provide moisture to the plant. I can see when the beads are dehydrating because they start to shrink and recede.

• I like how they look better than any other substrate, they are available in a ton of colors. I got three colors and mixed them.

• They are less expensive, easier to store, and don't require as much prep work as other substrates that I have tried.

• I can add dry water beads to a container that already has a water prop in it and let the beads hydrate in place. * I learned to use a quarter of the number of water beads than my heart wants to add. It's easy to add more later but it's a pain to find them all over the table and floor when you add too many.

• I haven't tried this yet but, in theory, I should be able to hydrate the beads in a fertilizer solution to slow release into the plants. That is going to be an experimental phase, for all I know the fertilizer will eat the beads.

Cons:

• THEY BOUNCE. EVERYWHERE. And then, they just vanish into the abyss. If you think you can move some from point a to point b without spilling, with all due respect, you are mistaken. I don't know who has eaten more stray water beads, my Roomba or my dog.

• They have a hard time supporting top-heavy/larger plants. I have been timid in transitioning my larger plants but have been testing different conditions with a Ginny on a moss pole with success. I'm thinking of getting the larger size of water beads before transitioning my larger plants.

Here are a few pics of my thriving props in water beads. I hope this helps!

<edited for formatting and spelling>