I was wondering if anyone had anything they could offer in the way of information on home made LECA type material. I have all the clay I could ever want and was thinking of making a kiln to fire the clay. I am not sure, however, if there are any methods I could use to make the clay porous or if I had to seal the clay in any way before or after firing. Has anyone ever tried this themselves? Or does anyone have any ideas? So far I thought about possibly....using a melon baller and scooping them out individually, making a half sphere mold and filling/punching it out, or making long clay "ropes" and cutting the ropes into small pieces.

Before anyone tells me how long it would take to make a grow media myself and how much effort I would have to expend, let me just say that I live on a farm in the country. Here I have a lot of time and limited resources, so I am trying to do the most that I can with minimal purchases. Thus, I am exploring the idea of making my own grow media. Any information would be greatly appreciated!