Nope...Not dirtless potting soil. We have hydroponic sheds. We grow greenhouse style, without the glass...
We use pots in trays...that have to be scrubbed clean just like every tray grow should..Look at the post on my grow thread...
We grow in Soil...Sunshine Soil #4. This year we will grow in soil that is being mixed by a local nursery owner, who makes master soil mix with proper PH considerations, and all the additives necessary, similar to that which SubCool has on his organic soil thread.
We no longer use Pebbles...Because it was over a year of incredibly hard, time consuming work...We cleaned the pebbles thoroughly each grow, just as we do the trays....
We change our nutes with each change of tray. We do not keep old nutes in any resevoir.
The trays have a tubing frame around the borders of each tray. Each larger tubing has a small feeding tube coming out of it, nine feeding tubes, with the stakes to put into the soil.
They are all t-bar sealed in place with pieces that you would use in something like a drip system, which is basically what it is...The longer feed tube, feeds the middle plant in the center.
There are three trays on their own tables in the flowering shed, each has its own res and each resevoir has a pump in the tub....Other than that...we do not put any other aeration into the res itself.
We use RO water only for all the plants and plant sheds and cloner.
If it is time to flush a tray, that nutrient tub is dumped.
With your soil...like I said,,,we are in pots in the tray...You could also use smart pots..the smaller ones....
I am going to post a smart pot for you....on the next post here...
Read about these pots and you might be wanting to get them...
Okay so back to the soil....We have very little dirt get into the tray...but some does...and we brush that out...but it does not get into any of the tubing....
Since your soil should be sterilized..it should not be an issue of contamination in any way.....No soil ever got into our resevoirs...
Does this make sense..Don...cause I am doing my best for ya here....just let me know....
What I may think is simple is not always...even if you have grown forever..
You can purchase all the tubing and tiny joint pieces at a sprinkler type of store...that sells watering systems for gardening or stuff like that....and you can get all the tubing by the inch...or foot....and all the proper fittings...
The trays have a screened drain in them, so the dirt does not really pass thru in drainage into the resevoirs....