hydroton sucks to clean this shit.
- Thread starter bdt1981
- Start date
superstoner1
Well-Known Member
my happiest day growing was when i took all my hydroton and tossed it in the trash. i hated cleaning it, and then accidently stepping on one, ouche.
Murphio
Well-Known Member
I've boiled them in a turkey fryer, it worked nicely but was a pain in the ass and requires propane.
Last time I just took two 5 gallon buckets and drilled holes smaller than the pellets in the bottom. I then put those buckets into another non-drilled bucket, so that way they will still hold water. Fill the buckets about 3 in. from the brim with pellets, give them a quick prerinse without the non-drilled bucket to get some of the solid debris out. Then place preferated bucket in the non-drilled bucket and fill with enough water to cover the pellets then let sit for about 5-10 min. Lift buckets out and let drain, you will see how much nastiness has already been removed in your non-drilled bucket, discard that water. Repeat process, however this time pour small bottle of hydrogen peroxide in with it (about 50 cents from wal mart) and let sit over night.
After you let it drain completely the next day give them another quick rinse without the solid bucket underneath.
It gets them pretty damn clean, and have used them with no problems. It's pretty much impossible to all the old roots out, but I wouldn't worry about it, the h2o2 should have killed any problematic bacteria. The only shitty thing with this method is that if you use a ton of pellets then this might be time consuming, unless you use something bigger than a 5 gallon bucket...Goodluck 😁
Last time I just took two 5 gallon buckets and drilled holes smaller than the pellets in the bottom. I then put those buckets into another non-drilled bucket, so that way they will still hold water. Fill the buckets about 3 in. from the brim with pellets, give them a quick prerinse without the non-drilled bucket to get some of the solid debris out. Then place preferated bucket in the non-drilled bucket and fill with enough water to cover the pellets then let sit for about 5-10 min. Lift buckets out and let drain, you will see how much nastiness has already been removed in your non-drilled bucket, discard that water. Repeat process, however this time pour small bottle of hydrogen peroxide in with it (about 50 cents from wal mart) and let sit over night.
After you let it drain completely the next day give them another quick rinse without the solid bucket underneath.
It gets them pretty damn clean, and have used them with no problems. It's pretty much impossible to all the old roots out, but I wouldn't worry about it, the h2o2 should have killed any problematic bacteria. The only shitty thing with this method is that if you use a ton of pellets then this might be time consuming, unless you use something bigger than a 5 gallon bucket...Goodluck 😁
Clown Baby
Well-Known Member
i pour it in a flood table w/ reservoir filled with bleach, water, and pesticide and circulate it for a few hours. Gotta make sure you kill all the root aphids and fungus gnats. They will haunt you....
If you're growing on a larger scale, just throw out your old hydroton as a landscape rock and buy new bags. Expensive but you wont ruin a crop.
If you're growing on a larger scale, just throw out your old hydroton as a landscape rock and buy new bags. Expensive but you wont ruin a crop.
drgreentm
Well-Known Member
Agreed, I went 100% perlite and won't look back. I was just dumping money in hydroton and basically buying new every time, half the price for perlite and half the weight.
MrMeanGreen
Active Member
Same...... chuck some zymes in new grow to take care of any bits of root ya missed.
It is worth the 3-4 hours it takes to clean a few hundred litres of hydroton, you try getting rid of 40 x 5 gallon tubs of soil and root balls out of the building. Then bring in the same amount of new soil. For me, hydroton was a god send.
NewHiddenGrower
Well-Known Member
Can you use PURE perlite in ebb and flow system? Perlite in 6inch pots
drgreentm
Well-Known Member
if you can find a fabric insert to go inside your pot then yes. im doing it, or just go with straight smart pots filled with perlite that will work just the same.
linky
Well-Known Member
I use perlite and 6" grodans in 4 gal bucket flo n gro with net pots. grodans hold a ton of water.. only water once every couple days in early veg, then move up to once a day in later veg and flower.
I would like to find an alternative to the grodans, something similiar but holds a little less water so I can flood a few times a day.
I would like to find an alternative to the grodans, something similiar but holds a little less water so I can flood a few times a day.