Replacing hydroton with water beads.
- Thread starter Keyown1
- Start date
Skunkle Justin
Active Member
I’ve seen this done with all kinds of other plants. The beads will eventually get kinda slimy, but maybe the regular water changes will prevent that. I was gonna do this a few months ago but didn’t want to risk the clone and chickened out
TheSadVeryBadMadGrower
Wait...what?
People have even used cut up pool noodles.
Keyown1
Super Active Member
you think so? even for a roughly 3 month grow cycle.
Keyown1
Super Active Member
never thought of that one
inthetrees
Active Member
Cheaper alternative to hydroton? I'm confused lol. How much are you paying per bag dude?
I pay $30 CAD per big bag and then wash and reuse. Bought x2 bags and I have x40 6" netpots full in circulation between my flower and veg room. Still have a pile left over.
I pay $30 CAD per big bag and then wash and reuse. Bought x2 bags and I have x40 6" netpots full in circulation between my flower and veg room. Still have a pile left over.
Keyown1
Super Active Member
roughly $40 a bag shipped. Lets just say everyone's grow size is different. You wash several hundred pounds of hydroton by yourself every cycle and you'll be looking for cheap disposable alternatives too. But, as always I appreciate your input and happy growing.
ChronicWonders
BTM
I think the time it’d take to cut up the pool noodles into crouton size etc for containers would have me going back to the hydroton.
superman123
New Member
I want to try this but I still have like 90% of my 50 gal bag
Skunkle Justin
Active Member
Between the flushes and short grow cycle, I think it’s gonna work
inthetrees
Active Member
No i get it dude... I spent a fair amount of time running a x36 light setup with next to no help from my "partner". After spending the first few rounds packing in pallet after pallet of soil just to dispose of it and repeat the process, we switched over. Washing hydroton was a cake walk compared to the previous workload. Enzymes ftw.
Interested to see how this pans out for you and hopefully it's the solution you're looking for.
Best of luck.
Nobighurry
PICK YOUR OWN
Did you give these a try?
Keyown1
Super Active Member
I got busy doing other things and forgot about them. When I did check on them about 2 weeks later pots were full of green algae.
Nobighurry
PICK YOUR OWN
Thank for the response, I was given a big box of them been tying to find a use...
dlbMedication
Member
But I'm interested for sure. I'm always looking for a better substrate for my recirculating hydroponic setup. I currently use only #4 perlite so it's like large gravel, works great.
Here4theparty
New Member
Ive done this successfully. It's based on science of energizing water. A fascinating rabbit hole. Also, mix with platonic solids to further enhance. I ran the nutes in an outboard rez through a container holding the stones and solids, then used the enhanced nutes to flood and drain back into the rez
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BREWTUS
Cheers
I'm interested in what kind of enzymes you use and what your process is? I usually boil the shit out of them with a little vinegar, then pop them in the oven at 425° for 45 minutes to dry out and kill whatever remains. Granted my setup isn't huge, I'm always looking for ways of doing this faster and easier.