Using Red Marbles in Hydroponics.

I came up to the conclusion that pebbles were a bad investment with my dwc bucket. They are a hassle to keep clean and smell good. I was brainstorming and was thinking some crazy stuff to substitute with. Like BBs, Marbles, Rubber Bouncy balls, things along that line. Marbles are red ( or I can get black for better root protection from light. ) Idk what do you guys think?

I wouldn't use BB's because of corrosion issues, but any of that stuff will work, the rocks are MAINLY to anchor the plant, but they also hold some moisture and nutrients, but not much. If you used something like marbles you will jut need to make sure that the spray from the water is thoroughly wetting them because they won't retain any moisture.. I was looking at bags of river rocks , and also marbles at the dollar store, 2$ will fill a 6" net pot.

Finally someone replies. Haha. Yeah pebbles are great, but I just don't want to deal with them anymore. I will probably have two air stones in my bucket to really get a good source of water pushed up against roots and I'll use my drip ring so the marbles will he constantly wet. I have plastic neon green BBS. Like for air soft guns. You think the marbles will be a good retainer for rootslime?

I agree with rolando...
Why not just get some hydroton clay pellets, they are cheap. I picked some up from amazon last year for $4 I think it was...
But if its a matter of trying to go "cheap" you could use stones. You know small pebble size. They are natural and free. They also clean up well.
You could also use crushed sea shells. (I have used them before) I have also used frog moss.
Just a few thoughts.

Almost anything will work, really....
Just remember to have fun in the process...

I've heard to use those. Might give it a try.... And no its not about being cheap, I have clay pebbles. But on my dwc setup I have right now, they are starting to piss me off. Haha. So I want to stop using pebbles in the future and I wanted to know if the next set up I'm about to run would be a waste of time and money if I used marbles. To only have to maintain one pebble plant instead of two.

i switched to growing in rock wool cubes because the hydroton or clay rocks gave me a real problem keeping a stable ph.. i washed them, soaked them in ph perfect water for days, as soon as i used them my ph was all over the place,,i hate grow rocks!!! been using rock wool blocks for 20 years now,,no problems, co-co fiber works well to, but grow rocks are garbage in my opinion..

Would you say rock wool over marbles?

Rolando Mendoza said:

Would you say rock wool over marbles?

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Personally I have never used it. I believe its fiberglass cubes, they are toxic, well fiberglass is said to be...
However I do know that it is a popular item in hydro grows...

So really, its all about what you might like to try, seeing what works best for you. And what's cheapest...
I'm sorry I can't be much help about rockwool...

fayo420 said:

Personally I have never used it. I believe its fiberglass cubes, they are toxic, well fiberglass is said to be...
However I do know that it is a popular item in hydro grows...

So really, its all about what you might like to try, seeing what works best for you. And what's cheapest...
I'm sorry I can't be much help about rockwool...

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Have you tried peat pellets?

Toxic? Wtf? Haha. Marbles it is.

Never have heard of peat pellets. Heard of Pellets yo shoot. Those kind?

I think imma go with marbles. Appreciate the input.

You could always go medium less

How would you do that with DWC buckets?

fayo420 said:

Personally I have never used it. I believe its fiberglass cubes, they are toxic, well fiberglass is said to be...
However I do know that it is a popular item in hydro grows...

So really, its all about what you might like to try, seeing what works best for you. And what's cheapest...
I'm sorry I can't be much help about rockwool...

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Mineral wool can be made from different materials but "Rock Wool" is made from rock/stone. it is not toxic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_wool
Stone wool is a furnace product of molten rock at a temperature of about 1600 °C, through which a stream of air or steam is blown. More advanced production techniques are based on spinning molten rock in high-speed spinning heads somewhat like the process used to produce cotton candy. The final product is a mass of fine, intertwined fibres with a typical diameter of 6 to 10 micrometers. Mineral wool may contain a binder, most often phenolic but for environmental reasons now sometimes replaced by food-grade starch, and an oil to reduce fiber emission and improve moisture sensitiveness.

Wow thanks for full setails. Okay so Rock wool is how much? And would you say its a better medium than marbles? Screw pebbles they are for sure crossed out.

Rolando Mendoza said:

Wow thanks for full setails. Okay so Rock wool is how much? And would you say its a better medium than marbles? Screw pebbles they are for sure crossed out.

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yes it would be much better than marbles. that's why it's used and not marbles. Rockwool is very cheap!

I dont like rockwool, for me it holds too much water. I just switched to hydrotron. Now is much better. I dont remember brand, but it is for hydroponics. Ph is stable, it took about week to move from 5.5 to 6.5

Rolando Mendoza said:

Would you say rock wool over marbles?

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Rockwool is great. I've always used it in drip hydro, never in DWC but it's cheap and throw away when you're done.

I think you can even get loose stuff instead of cubes which is more suitable for potting.

OR

You could just start in rockwool and then use less hydroton as rockwool cubes come on 2" 3" 4" cubes and would take up more space in your net pots.

Just a thought
But yeh I like rockwool

Jbonezz420 said:

Rockwool is great. I've always used it in drip hydro, never in DWC but it's cheap and throw away when you're done.

I think you can even get loose stuff instead of cubes which is more suitable for potting.

OR

You could just start in rockwool and then use less hydroton as rockwool cubes come on 2" 3" 4" cubes and would take up more space in your net pots.

Just a thought
But yeh I like rockwool

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Got any pictures of the setup?