Hydroton cleaning question

[Indecent]

Hi everyone,
I'm just about to start another crop but am have a few questions about cleaning hydroton in between crops.

I had to leave my last grow for a few weeks unexpectedly (car accident) and all my ladies were dead when I got back. I was still laid up and didn't clean out the buckets for several weeks after the plants were dead.

Now that it's time for my next grow, I'm having a lot of trouble getting things clean. The hydroton smelled awful after be left to sit for so long, and the roots were very difficult to pull out. I've been very thorough in cleaning roots off the hydroton, and used a light bleach mix to kill anything bad that may have been growing in there while I let it sit.

The problem I am having now is I am finding it impossible to remove all the root remnants from my previous grow. I am using a sort of gold panhandling system with a screen small enough to let roots/etc fall through but will leave the hydroton on top. This has removed most of the roots, but if I sort through by hand I am still finding portions of roots (1/2 long or shorter) that are stuck to the rocks.

My question is do I need to remove every single little piece of root to insure I won't have any problems with root rot/etc? I'm hoping the bleach solution and use of h202 daily during the grow will be enough to kill any problems, but I don't want to risk it. I would much rather spend the extra time going through each bucket by hand, but I have 24 5-gallon buckets to go through and I'd rather not do it unless I have to. If that's what it takes, obviously I'm willing to do it to insure a successful grow.

Any advice?

 

[dubwise]

I don't think a little bit of dried root mass will harm you. Clean it through a few more times and rinse rinse rinse....then get back to growing. You wont go wrong cleaning it all the way.

 

[Indecent]

Thanks for your response.

I wasn't too concerned about the few root remnants leftover either, but it seems silly not to put in the extra work to make sure it succeeds. I'll take your advice and give them one more run through. Thanks!

 

[Macster2]

dude i hardly clean mine at all (what do plants grow in the wild)just clean it up enough to be practical.

 

[cactusjack]

Boiling - Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.

Boiling - Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.

I rinse and strain several times, skimming off the floaters, but I don't use chlorine or H2O2 to sterilize. I worry about getting all the chlorine out and H2O2 is both expensive and gets you on a watch list these days.

I've never seen boiling mentioned on the boards, but I put mine in a big pot full of water and bring it to a boil on the stove for 30 minutes. Boiling does an excellent job of sterilizing and it is very cheap. Flush with cold water for a couple minutes to cool it down and you are ready to go.

Careful not to get it down the drain. It makes a hell of a racket in the disposal!

 

[HASH GORDON]

Been using hydroton for years.....I try to get rid of as much root material as possible.....and on occasion I do hit the whole shabang with a bit o' bleach......then rinse thoroughly. Treated like that you should have no problems whatsoever.
I would stress that if you've had issues with powdery mildew, thrips....or any other nasties...you may wanna be more dilligent and clean/rinse more frequently. Good luck brotha!

 

[PuReKnOwLeDgE]

I put my hydroton in a large trash can, add some water, some benefical bacteria like hydroguard, give it a nice acidic PH, add a bubbler stone, stir vigourously several times a day, scoop out with spaghetti strainer, rinse well

 

[Indecent]

Been using hydroton for years.....I try to get rid of as much root material as possible.....and on occasion I do hit the whole shabang with a bit o' bleach......then rinse thoroughly. Treated like that you should have no problems whatsoever.
I would stress that if you've had issues with powdery mildew, thrips....or any other nasties...you may wanna be more dilligent and clean/rinse more frequently. Good luck brotha!

No issues with those thankfully.

I'm usually insane about keeping the room clean. This is hopefully a one time thing as I wasn't even well enough get to my room for a few weeks, let alone clean it up! Thanks for your help and the well wishes!

I put my hydroton in a large trash can, add some water, some benefical bacteria like hydroguard, give it a nice acidic PH, add a bubbler stone, stir vigourously several times a day, scoop out with spaghetti strainer, rinse well

I like this, certainly less labor intensive then my approach. I'll have to do that next time. Thanks!

dude i hardly clean mine at all (what do plants grow in the wild)just clean it up enough to be practical.

I'm a bit of a neat freak in the grow room, but I'm guessing that's why I haven't had any major bugs/etc problems. (knock on wood) It's good to know that you haven't had any major issues with your approach, thanks for sharing!

I rinse and strain several times, skimming off the floaters, but I don't use chlorine or H2O2 to sterilize. I worry about getting all the chlorine out and H2O2 is both expensive and gets you on a watch list these days.

I don't use much chlorine and prefer h202. I hadn't heard about any watch lists.... I always buy 4 or 5 and always from the same place. Sounds like a good time to drive a little further away for a while... Thanks for the tip!

 

[Lazyman]

Physan20 is your best friend, kills algae, bacteria, mold, mildew, etc and no nasty residue. Smells good, is cheap, and very low application rates. It's what commercial greenhouses use to clean their floors and walls. It will save a bucket/recirc crop if algae/pythium take hold.

 

[Indecent]

Physan20 is your best friend, kills algae, bacteria, mold, mildew, etc and no nasty residue. Smells good, is cheap, and very low application rates. It's what commercial greenhouses use to clean their floors and walls. It will save a bucket/recirc crop if algae/pythium take hold.

I just saw another post (I believe by you) with the same suggestion.
Researching where to buy it from now, thanks for the tip!

 

[cactusjack]

Indecent - the watch list thing is not a problem if you are buying a couple bottle of low grade in a drug store, but the FBI has recently sent out yet another flier to beauty supply and health food, and chemical supply houses, to watch for potential bad guys buying quantities of higher concentration H2O2 or asking stupid newbie questions about how to make dangerous things with it.

Its kind of comical since it goes to some length to make sure you don't interpret it as an invitation to profile customers. WTF is profiling if its not looking suspiciously at someone becasue they are interested in a particular product?

 

[Indecent]

Indecent - the watch list thing is not a problem if you are buying a couple bottle of low grade in a drug store, but the FBI has recently sent out yet another flier to beauty supply and health food, and chemical supply houses, to watch for potential bad guys buying quantities of higher concentration H2O2 or asking stupid newbie questions about how to make dangerous things with it.

Ah, gotcha. It's probably not a bad idea for me to change it up a little anyway, but thanks for clearing it up.

 

[W.P.]

I put my hydroton in a large trash can, add some water, some benefical bacteria like hydroguard, give it a nice acidic PH, add a bubbler stone, stir vigourously several times a day, scoop out with spaghetti strainer, rinse well

Second this here....

Actually small changes.
I use Hygrozyme and Aquashield/ Hydroguard.

I custom made a 'frame ' about 2 x 4' put over some metal screening , added sides to keep in rocks. I just lay that over a double wash sink and run water while sifting or rinsing. Made life ALOT easier....

Oh one more I try to keep P.H. @ 5.5 to 5.8 because I noticed that Hydroton will take on a Ph of there own. And cause more drifts if not conditioned.


Great tip here

Physan20 is your best friend, kills algae, bacteria, mold, mildew, etc and no nasty residue. Smells good, is cheap, and very low application rates. It's what commercial greenhouses use to clean their floors and walls. It will save a bucket/recirc crop if algae/pythium take hold.

 

[W.P.]

Ah, gotcha. It's probably not a bad idea for me to change it up a little anyway, but thanks for clearing it up.

Dude you can get the 35% commercial grade at any grow store, it's way more economical and contains no by products like the 3% does.

 

[OgreSeeker]

I usually go through about 5 to 6 large bags of hydroton per grow so I try to reuse as much as possible.
First I remove as much of the root debris as I can then it all gets dumped into a large container and filled w/ water and about a cup of bleach. I mix it (stir it) several times over the next hour or so. Then I use a strainer to move the hydroton to another container filled with just water. After that I just strain out the rocks and let them sit for a day or so. It comes out clean and sterile every time and I've never had a problem.
And don't fret over the small roots that your unable to get out...doesn't hurt a thing.

 

[h&r]

i used to just let my old shit sit in bleach for a week then rinse it out, the next plants went fucking ballistic, plants love bleach

 

[FLoJo]

just add an enzyme in your res and all the dead roots will be dissolved in a week...hygrozyme is best imo

 

[superultramega]

Second this here....

Actually small changes.
I use Hygrozyme and Aquashield/ Hydroguard.

I custom made a 'frame ' about 2 x 4' put over some metal screening , added sides to keep in rocks. I just lay that over a double wash sink and run water while sifting or rinsing. Made life ALOT easier....

Oh one more I try to keep P.H. @ 5.5 to 5.8 because I noticed that Hydroton will take on a Ph of there own. And cause more drifts if not conditioned.


Great tip here

I do the same thing. But before I rinse them over the screen I wash them in 5 gal buckets. I fill up the bucket to about 3 inches below the top and then fill the bucket with water. I put a drywall mud mixer on my drill and spin it for a few minutes. All the hydroton bang against each other like clothes in a washing machine knocking off all the stuck on roots. Then the bucket gets poured over the screen box in the laundry tub about two layers of pebbles deep. I rinse with a hose and sprayer attached to the laundry tub faucet. It works exceptionally well.
Also Every time I transfer from screen back to clean bucket and into my planting bed I do a quick sift through to see if I can spot anything in there.
This method works fantastic. I can do about 200 liters in 2-3 hours. Cheaper and less time consuming than getting new (and washing the dust off) and finding a place to dump the old.

 

[Macster2]

if you all want to neat and tidy thats one thing but I assure you its not necessary

 

[superultramega]

so just chop off your old plants and put in the new clones?

you need to wash the roots out dude.