clay pellets?

ive never bought these and im wondering if they are hard like pots made of clay or do they release a bit of clay when soaked in water?

i wondering if this medium has any water retention. i also dont want a water resv. to be filled w. clay overtime.

planning on having an aero system similar to FF's 30min setup.

they are hard.
Switched on Gardener

You need to wash them several times before using and they will still give off some dust in the system thats why you use a filter bag for the pump or an inline isralie filter on external pumps.Make sure the netpot you use are fine mesh and not large meshed holes or they will fall in. they are small hollow clay balls made from same as clay pots then baked. They hold water quite well which is why they are used

thx FF. do u think if i run once thru the waster machine this will get rid of most of the extra loose clay? is the pellet deteriorating inevitable? also, re: the fine mesh net...wont this make it difficult for large roots to grow thru? i assume as the roots grow longer, the portion that is growing thru will need wider gaps...or will the root system just expand and create larger gaps withing the netpot?

They are not hollow and they will continuously deteriorate. There is nothing you can do about it.

ok, that's what i thought, im not sure i want to use these then. i dont want my water resv. to become dirty w. clay. thx fellas.

vandula said:

ok, that's what i thought, im not sure i want to use these then. i dont want my water resv. to become dirty w. clay. thx fellas.

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You're going to have to clean the res anyway. You can't get away from it. Hydroton is tops.

i looked up hydroton and it looks similar to clay pellets....are they the same? is it a different name for them? what do you mean they are "tops". i know i will be cleaning the resv. but im going to use a misting system in an aeroponic setup and i dont want to mist anything but water&nutes.

Hydroton is a brand name for clay pellets. Tops = the best

thx for the clarification.

I use these, they work great. I wash them really good, and them fill in around the plant plug and it holds them in place really well in the net pots. They also aloow the water to drip thourgh the net pot.

do i need to hand wash or can i run em thru the dish washer once?

vandula said:

do i need to hand wash or can i run em thru the dish washer once?

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I just put them in a strainer and ran them under water, just to take the dust and surface dirt off.

sounds good. thx.

does anyone have any suggestions regarding using hydroton (clay pellets) in combination with other soiless mediums, mainly perlite and vermiculite?

you can mix whatever you want together. u can grow weed in anything sterile as long as the plant has sun, nutes and water (and air, unless you're growing in a vacuum chamber).