Cleaning Hydroton

[PieRsquare]

Let's remember also that hydroton is not just "clay balls". It's heat expanded clay pellets. It's way, way more porous that what plain old clay balls would be.

 

[DonJones]

LH & PieRsquare,

None of you seem to pay attention. Every comment I made was carefully qualified with the provision that IF you were using HIGHLY OXYGENATED WATER.

Both of you explained what I had already said about the dry period being to allow oxygen to get to the roots not to dry them out. IF THE SOLUTION/WATER IS ALREADY HIGHLY OXYGENATED THEN YOU DO NOT NEED THE DRY PERIOD TO PULL AIR IN TO OXYGENATE THE ROOTS!

To everyone else, Aeroponics does NOT mean intermittent spraying ONLY, but any kind of spraying of oxygenate solution on the roots, including fogging.


Now who was pouting off about what they don't know anything about?

Like I said, once you understand how it is supposed to be used, make your own choice but don't bad mouth a product for doing just exactly what it is designed to do. Also, maybe before bad mouthing me you need to research Sure To Grow's recommendations on using their product in ebb and flow settings to see if you understand what you're complaining about.
also, if I don't know how their systems were set up, neither do you or you would have said so rether than using maybe.

Why don't you all just let people who may think they are being picked on raise the issue them selves instead of mouthing off about something that exists in your own minds and doesn't effect you anyway?

This whole thread was nice and polite until you all started bashing me about posting factual information that you disagreed with, but chose to turn into a bash Don party instead of supplying factual information to counter what you though I misstated when you obviously either didn't read what I said or what I meant.

Great smoking.

 

[PieRsquare]

None of you seem to pay attention.Now who was pouting off about what they don't know anything about? Also, maybe before bad mouthing me you need to research...to see if you understand what you're complaining about. Why don't you all just...instead of mouthing off about something that exists in your own minds and doesn't effect you anyway?

Ha, this is easy to fix:

WTMIL

 

[jamexican686]

could you use a mixture of rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, I really dont have a root ball problem, the hydroton was on the bottom of my dutch buckets, so the root ball was all the coco and the roots were suspended in the hydroton. Could I run a water pump in a 5 gal. bucket with a mixture of hydr. peroxide, or rubbing alchohol?

 

[zem]

i tried few ways and found this method to be the least work, you get big metal buckets that fit in an oven, throw your rocks in, put in oven for 2-3 hours, wait till they cool down, take out and fill your pots, the roots mostly become ashes and get washed away, the remaining rootballs you can just remove as your refilling pots, the ashes get washed away when you flush the growrocks. it doesnt require much work only a wait till they cook and its clean. drowning them in liquid is a pain i dont advise you to do it, actually spreading them lettin them dry out for a day then handpicking the roots would be easier than drowning them IME, cheers

 

[LEFTHAND]

LH & PieRsquare,

None of you seem to pay attention. Every comment I made was carefully qualified with the provision that IF you were using HIGHLY OXYGENATED WATER.

Both of you explained what I had already said about the dry period being to allow oxygen to get to the roots not to dry them out. IF THE SOLUTION/WATER IS ALREADY HIGHLY OXYGENATED THEN YOU DO NOT NEED THE DRY PERIOD TO PULL AIR IN TO OXYGENATE THE ROOTS!

To everyone else, Aeroponics does NOT mean intermittent spraying ONLY, but any kind of spraying of oxygenate solution on the roots, including fogging.


Now who was pouting off about what they don't know anything about?

Like I said, once you understand how it is supposed to be used, make your own choice but don't bad mouth a product for doing just exactly what it is designed to do. Also, maybe before bad mouthing me you need to research Sure To Grow's recommendations on using their product in ebb and flow settings to see if you understand what you're complaining about.
also, if I don't know how their systems were set up, neither do you or you would have said so rether than using maybe.

Why don't you all just let people who may think they are being picked on raise the issue them selves instead of mouthing off about something that exists in your own minds and doesn't effect you anyway?

This whole thread was nice and polite until you all started bashing me about posting factual information that you disagreed with, but chose to turn into a bash Don party instead of supplying factual information to counter what you though I misstated when you obviously either didn't read what I said or what I meant.

Great smoking.

How old are you don?? cuz your acting like my 4 yr old son... i never bashhed you.. maybe poked a lil fun at the fact your like a sales person.. really big on the sure to grow.. i have reasearched it.. and for a "true ebb n flow" its not a "proper medium" maybe for those on drip.. or automated waterin systems but not ebb.. now shame on you if you by into or listen to most to all a grow shop has to say.. half the time they arent using the product like we do and dont even use the product period..
but thats your own being and doing to listen and gather facts from your local hydro store.. when i was at the store 3 days ago to pic up a few items.. they had it.. but funny thing is he rathered me to buy hydroton..why because its more applicable to my grow..
sorry to inform you... WTMIL
LH

 

[zem]

Hi Growin.
First of all wash them off with bleech and water like 1/3 bleach to 1 whole water. wash them off and or soak them keep repeating until they are clean, and then rinse them off with a lot of plain good water.
Is the hyrdoton stuck in the roots if so, just start shaking them out they should come out with out you having to pull each one individually. Its tricky and probably time consuming, you could cut them out in sections. Its gonna be messy i can see it already.

man when someone asks for a way to clean hydroton he usually means that he wants an easy way, this method is the hardest by far, you said it to be time consuming, i did it twice and it's as hard as trimming so you should multiply trimming time by 2 i remember i used to get frustated and angry with wet hands and bleach smell please dont give such advice any more

 

[LEFTHAND]

Hi Growin.
First of all wash them off with bleech and water like 1/3 bleach to 1 whole water. wash them off and or soak them keep repeating until they are clean, and then rinse them off with a lot of plain good water.
Is the hyrdoton stuck in the roots if so, just start shaking them out they should come out with out you having to pull each one individually. Its tricky and probably time consuming, you could cut them out in sections. Its gonna be messy i can see it already.

toally agree with ya zem..

alex if you can void using chemical to clean your hydroton then do so.. much nicer and so much easier..
LH

 

[GrowinGreen]

haha, lot's happenin' here ....so you're saying i should use hydrochloric acid?

 

[jamexican686]

Ok so I went a lil different route, I first ran the hydroton in a 5 gal bucket with some water and a lil rubbing alcohol, then ran a water pump to mix everything around and all the sediment fell to the bottom. I let it run in there for about an hour then scooped them out of the water mixture and place them on trays and put them in the over at 400 F for another hour. After this, i picked out all the pebbles with any visual salt build up and threw them away, and all the rest put them into another bucket lil by lil making sure there weren't any roots. After they were all in the bucket, I put some PH'd water and let them sit over night mixing them around once in a while. Finally I drained the bucket and rinsed it out then set all the hydroton in another 5 gal bucket full of PH'd water with a 25% mixture of my veg fertilizer. Then I was finished I saved me a lil denero but every little bit counts!

 

[zem]

:holysheep: least i could say is that its overkill, you can rinse your rocks with tap water as soon as you refill them in pots after cleaning then feed em with ph'd and ferts solution when plants go in there, i dont throw any rocks

 

[jamexican686]

I threw the rocks away cus they had alot of salt build up on them and I was changing nutes. But yeah I just want to make sure that there isn't anything that will throw my plants off focusing on a good grow this time around going to post a journal soon. I'm going to be growing some Hindu Kush x Skunk #1, Purple Diesel, Bubba Kush, Mendo Kush, Chocolope, and Super Grape Ape under a 1000w HPS in DWC buckets.

 

[zem]

Ok so I went a lil different route, I first ran the hydroton in a 5 gal bucket with some water and a lil rubbing alcohol, then ran a water pump to mix everything around and all the sediment fell to the bottom. I let it run in there for about an hour then scooped them out of the water mixture and place them on trays and put them in the over at 400 F for another hour. After this, i picked out all the pebbles with any visual salt build up and threw them away, and all the rest put them into another bucket lil by lil making sure there weren't any roots. After they were all in the bucket, I put some PH'd water and let them sit over night mixing them around once in a while. Finally I drained the bucket and rinsed it out then set all the hydroton in another 5 gal bucket full of PH'd water with a 25% mixture of my veg fertilizer. Then I was finished I saved me a lil denero but every little bit counts!

i'm visualizing an episode of "how it's made" :rofl:

 

[LEFTHAND]

I threw the rocks away cus they had alot of salt build up on them and I was changing nutes. But yeah I just want to make sure that there isn't anything that will throw my plants off focusing on a good grow this time around going to post a journal soon. I'm going to be growing some Hindu Kush x Skunk #1, Purple Diesel, Bubba Kush, Mendo Kush, Chocolope, and Super Grape Ape under a 1000w HPS in DWC buckets.

If ya would have tryed the boiling method.. that salt build up would have been gone ..always use the kiss princable..keep it simple stupid..not that im calling anyone stupid....
LH