As an experiment, i use coco actually.
I thought you did. Was thinking what else you could get locally that would be sustainable an cheap. Not sure what they grow in CR?
Ive heard of rice hulls and sand being used for hydro.
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Problem is very few people is doing that, and there is almost no info on the subject. Coco will do for now.
Can you believe when i bought my coco bales here locally, i did the measuring and after one whole night of soaking in water pH was at 6.9 and EC at 0.4. It doesnāt get any better than that!
Oh, i separated the fibers and pith to be left only with the chips, the ones running my Dark Devil auto in hempys.
Thanks man!
You could be the original source. Use up some old bag seeds.
I will have to buy weed just for thatā¦ HAHAHAHA!
Since i started growing all my dealers think i quit. LOLOLOLOLOL
EDIT, i got some very cheap seeds that i bought some time ago. I can use thoseā¦ I got some, Thai Skunk, Candy Kush, Buddhaās Sister, Kerala Cheese and Sleestack. I paid like $20 total w/ shipping for like 40 seeds and all they came in tagged and all.
Thing is they wonāt ship to the US. I did from CR and they got here. BTC only.
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I am positive it would work in a flood/drain system flooding very often or a top feed system but also watering very often but other than that I couldnāt see it working, in a hempy you would need to water 24 times a day until the roots reach the bottom but then your roots will be sitting in still un-airated water.
In a top feed or flood drain system where it would work iām pretty positive that you would not decide to recycle anyway (have you ever washed hydroton?).
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Yeah, itās not fun, the debris never comes out until the tenth watering or soā¦ Rinsing it.
Ive been testing various things for growing media and just tried some perlite to see if it will wick water up to the plants. Turns out it does very well.
I put 1/2" of water in the bottom of this jar, then added 3" of perlite. Didnt take but a few minutes for the water to get up to the cardboard tube. That tube is just sitting lightly on top of the perlite.
Im still debating using the plastic media or ceramic rings or just using rocks from my yard 
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Iāve said it b4 ill say it again, perlite is awesome!
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Letās do the plastic together or something, u know and measure outcomesā¦
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LOL I like that idea, butā¦
Im not sure how well that would work as far as testing how well the plastic performed or not. Im already going to be running three different type of hydro in the same tent on the same rez - ebb/flow and NFT (with a mat) and Membrane Meniscus (a sort of extreme NFT).
I dont think you could tell if it was the plastic or the technique that made the difference. Im kind of wanting to use a single media in all three totes just to eliminate that variable.
At the moment, Im leaning towards ceramic rings or stones. The plastic wont wick water up at all, and I need the media to do that I think for my NFT and Membrane Meniscus totes. What Im testing now is how well perlite and rocks wick water. I dont have any ceramic to test, but I know broken ceramic tiles wick water, so Im sure they woudl work at least a little.
I was going to go all perlite, but the bag I bought is mostly very small granules - almost like sand. That might work in the E/F tote, but I dont see how it will work in net pots for the other two totes. Its just too small.
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Gotcha brother, there are things i still donāt account forā¦ Thanks man.
Have you considered lava rock? They sell it at home improvement stores pretty cheap. It sucks very well and is inert. It is very affordable too.
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Finding untreated lava rock can b tough.
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Untreated? What do they treat it with?
I like the idea of lava rock. It has a very rough surface and is porous, and lighter than regular rock, so it should work very well. I will check that out if I can buy a small quantity to test - unless they are treating it with spider venom or toxic sludge!
Ive tested rocks from my yard - 1/2" to 3/4" or so regular aggregate used on driveways - and it is PH neutral after rinsing. Kind of heavy and not a lot of wicking though. Other than the weight, it would work great in the E/F tote.
I considered mixing in some perlite, but I think I will just sift through my bag for larger pieces. I made a sieve by drilling holes in the bottom of a plastic tub and that works ok for the amounts Im going to need.
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Hereās one thing i found
Hey all, just wanted to add something to this quote. Lava rock once it cools, as it ages turns from red to black. It can take hundreds of years to make this change. The darker lava rock is the better it is for inert applications. Very dark or black lava rock is non-toxic (and inert) it is normally more expensive then the red because it is normally below the red in the quarry and more difficult to collect. All aged lava rock is PH stable. Black lava rock is just as good as any other hydro media. Red lava rock is not. Red lava rock can still has trace sulfer compounds that when wetted can cause excess sulfer dioxide. Although sulfer is a trace nutrient in most nutes mixes - excess is toxic to plants.
Herbus
It was back in 2004 i did research on hydro media. Canāt remember what itās treated with. Now that itās commonly used in bbq iād just go with those.
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Interesting! Thanks for the info!!
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Red lava rock, scoria, is not treated. Itās sold at Loweās for about $3 For 1/2 cubic foot. Scoria has been recommended and used in no-till gardening for years and is perfectly safe IME. The stuff that may be treated is the stuff for BBQs, its also much more expensive.
I wonāt even go into the many uses a plant has for sulfurā¦
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I had a very bad experience with red lava rocks, i used them for my first grow with local soil, i made a bed on the bottom to assist with drainage and everything was ok, until the roots touched the lava rocks at the bottom, i know this now. Unless it has been treated and rinsed/buffered and all, do not use them straight out of the bag. I made that mistake too.
Check it out, it was @Herbie, @Uncle_Al and @ryasco who saved that harvest for me.
Go here ======> MadScentistās first grow failure.
The whole point of growing on plastic is not having to deal with pH fluctuations, which are so kindly provided by mediums specially like lava rocks. Not going againsāt you @ReikoX, i just donāt wanna see anybody go thru what i did.
I do know that on a no-till enviroment the lava rocks are used and produce great results, but i donāt believe they would work like hydroton or perlite doesā¦ On their own. Like the MBBR would.
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Ok, Google Krusty Buckets sometime and tell me lava rock wonāt work I hydro.
Here Iāll save you some troubleā¦
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