Hydroton needs prep!!!...be careful ..!!...

I used to use the inexpensive/cheap grow rocks ...the ones that look like large gravel .. odd sizes and pieces and they produced killer grows ..i had a little extra cash so i sprung for the expensive pretty round marble sized Hydroton ...I washed it just like I washed the cheep rocks ...maybe a little more ...but it was not nearly enough it turns out and since my tap water runs at a ph of 9 I was adding insult to injury ...I have had nothing but problems..from soaring ph to sickly looking plants...combined with the fact that they spent a few day in one of those poison Hydrohuts... I have to say .." this grow is trashed.."...."Say la V"...lol.
I did salvage the grow rocks from a few of the first plants that bit the dust ...I washed them in flora shield and bleach water a million times and they were finally dust free...Im using them in bubble buckets now and the plants look ~Amazing...!!! ~...Im assuming all the Ph adjusting I had to do contributed to the poor health after I got them out of the poison Hydrohut...Anyway... I will throughly wash and ph this Hydroton that I will salvage from the current grow that Im about to trash.....and reuse it ...it cost a fortune so I guess it will be good for a couple of grows once it has been throughly Ph balanced.:pimp:

Just like rockwool, you have to adjust the water before you soak. I believe this is in the directions. Perhaps you should have adjusted your water before you washed. I don't think you should say a product doesn't work or it sucks when you can't follow directions. I have had excellent grows using this product.

Some people feel that way about Hydroton. But maybe your nutes are out of balance, causing your pH to rise. And how come your hydroton is coming into so much contact with your nutes? Are you using top-feed drip?

testing

Jefferson hit the nail on the head bro.
I have no probs. w/ it either once it's washed and soaked properly in ph adjusted water for 24 hrs.
Crispi :stoned:

and i didn't find it to be all that expensive either.

like jefferson said, of course you have ph issues, your using ph 9 water to soak the hydroton in.
balance your ph first, then soak the hydroton

It's not the hydroton; it's your prep method.
The stuff is the cat's ass; you just have to 'set' the pH before adding plants. Run your system with no plants for a few days, whcih you have to do anyway to check for leaks and determine your flood/drain timing. During that time, check the pH in the res 2x/day and bring it down to 5.8-6.0 with Nitric or Phosphoric acid. When it stops dropping, do a complete res change, add your plants and nutes, and rock on.

I've had no problems with Hydroton, and I'm a hydro-beginner, and a moron (ask anyone) :S2: ... but, ya gotta get that pH correct, and pre-soak first :thumbsup:

ya me too. on my first grow and loving it. you might want to purchase (or make) little covers for your net pots just in cast light gets through to your res water. :thumbsup:
peece

I was simply stating that i found the inexpensive grow rocks to be more user friendly...you dont have to ph the cheap grow rocks at all...i can stick a garden hose in the top of the bag made a trillion little holes at the bottom and could flush 50 litres in no time at all with the cheap stuff...but i had to do a lot more washing with the Hydroton.......and it was still dusty comparing to my years of using the cheep stuff.
i know exactly what i did wrong and it is all MY fault...i was just simply posting in case someone like me, who has grown for years in the cheap grow rocks with Killer results, doesn't upgrade without doing the correct ph balancing ...im sure the directions are on the bag, and im a stickler for directions... but because of the inherent similarity of material i did the ASSume thing ...and here i am...i plan to pick up 2 more 50 liter bags of Hydroton this weekend..
Just like my poison Hydro hut i had ...Very similar looking but drastically different results...I didn't know what was happening until i read a post ....Thank you Cannabis.com...!!!
If i had read a post like this i would obviously not be in this situation but you grow and you learn....... :smokin:

I've been a firm believer in using lava rock as a grow medium and it's worked fucking wonderfully. cheap too.

Thanks Stinky for the prep tips...ingenious as usual....Ive got 1 PPP in a bubble bucket now and she is Very very pretty ...just from the initial growth patern im already sold...she is perfect...she will provide tons of cuttings....!!.2 more weeks b4 12/12...not 1 hint of trouble of any kind..love that..!! :smokin:

Pssss Zoomatl....

I HATE hydroton. ;)

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Originally Posted by xcrispi

Jefferson hit the nail on the head bro.
I have no probs. w/ it either once it's washed and soaked properly in ph adjusted water for 24 hrs.
Crispi :stoned:

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I didn't have a problem with my hydrotron rocks after proper cleaning and they were pretty cheap a few lb bag for a few bucks

Yeah I got like a 20lb bag for 10 bucks.

Hey Zoo ,
Before I even start washing the stuff I pour it all out on a 3ft square sifting tray I made out of 2x4's and 1/4 inch sq. holed chicken wire and roll it around a bunch = Helps get rid of alot of the inital powder, w/o doing so here it makes literal mud the 1st rinsing .

Then into a laundry tub full of ph adjusted water and "GENTLY" swish the stuff around . The texture of hydroton itself is abbrasive , the more you move it around , handle it , and let em rub up against each other = the more dust your gonna get again = counterproductive .

Make sure to use ph adjusted water to wash / rinse too. Not just soaking in it .

I'd like to try hygromite myself but have limited use of my hands . The stuff weighs twice as much as hydroton and I prob. wouldn't be able to pick up or move buckets around much / run the grow myself anymore . :(

Stinky - cycling the system empty is damn good info and plays a big part of my success w/ hydroton too .

Peace bro.
Crispi :stoned:

i agree with the hydrohut. i just found out about the toxins it produces. i am hoping it's the reason why my baby garpe apes are turning yellow, because i am going crazy trying to fix this damn problem.

has anybody heard about what the hydrohut replacment is liek? i am turning mine back in to the hydro guy i bought it from. he is gonna replace it with whatever hydrofarm is replacig theirs with.

Man you guys make me feel bad for not washing my hydroton and not having a problem. What methods are you using that is getting your nutes into such contact with your Hydroton?

i may be wrong but all hydroponic applications call for consistent contact with nutes and the medium...in this case hydroton...even bubble buckets require moist hydroton for the roots to grow down and thru and into the bucket...i just top fed by hand just to make sure im on top of everything...once the roots hit the bubbling nutes ...there was CRAZY growth...the new hydrohut deluxe they gave me looks just like the old one but the light blocker for the top zipper is on the inside of the hut ...the poison one i had had the zipper cover on the outside.

here is my first go at bubble buckets...[attachment=o191040]

[attachment=o191041]

I ph'd some of the rocks from the fatal grow and used them in my bubble buckets ...im very impressed with the growth of this PPP and my Kush plant,,,very very bushy..:smokin:

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Originally Posted by zoomatl

i may be wrong but all hydroponic applications call for consistent contact with nutes and the medium...in this case hydroton...even bubble buckets require moist hydroton for the roots to grow down and thru and into the bucket...i just top fed by hand just to make sure im on top of everything...once the roots hit the bubbling nutes ...there was CRAZY growth...the new hydrohut deluxe they gave me looks just like the old one but the light blocker for the top zipper is on the inside of the hut ...the poison one i had had the zipper cover on the outside.

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This is a bit of a misunderstanding. Yes, at the rooting stage, if no roots extend below the hydroton, then you should touch the very bottom of it (technically just to touch the rooters) with nutes.

However, once the roots extend out, you need to lower the nute level to give the roots an "air zone" between the nutes and the hydroton.

Setting that aside, keeping the hydroton moist does not mean flowing nutes through it that pollutes the nutes. I don't agree with top feed drip because you eventually, always get toxic buildup of the left over nutes on the hydroton.

The problems i had with the Hydroton occurred on my 4x4 ebb and flow/flood and drain table....and yes through out the grow the Hydroton will come in contact with the nutes...3-4 times a day...lol.. capeesh ...:smokin:
The exact same table and system i used to grow the plant in my avatar...in the same white pots...lol...only difference is i was using the cheep lava type grow rocks...which did not required Ph-ing....

I know its a rip!!!! ...but my local hydro store is charging $60 bucks for 50 liters of the Hydroton..$ 26 for the cheap rocks...But in his defence he does price matches the internet pricing dollar for dollar on the best deals i can find, on hardware, so i dont haggle over the media or the nute pricing. Plus he is usually pretty honest and up front and does give great advise...!!

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Originally Posted by zoomatl

The problems i had with the Hydroton occurred on my 4x4 ebb and flow/flood and drain table....and yes through out the grow the Hydroton will come in contact with the nutes...3-4 times a day...lol.. capeesh ...:smokin:
The exact same table and system i used to grow the plant in my avatar...in the same white pots...lol...only difference is i was using the cheep lava type grow rocks...which did not required Ph-ing....

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You're flooding TOO high. capeesh?

kapiscoooo