what is your easiest way to wash hydroton?

[flyer]

hi washing hydroton is a pain the the butt! especially right after you pour them out of the bag, all the little pieces and sand falls out.
if you do not wash them well enough, they will dirty up your water pretty quick. i know you should wash them and soak them a few times until clear water runs out. but there has to be some way to clean these little rocks without leaving a bath tube full of sand cloaking up the tube!!
what is your secret? time efficient (cleaning 5L bags of these) way to wash these????

 

[BettaBudda]

I use a 5 gal bucket full of holes and rinse it all with the hose sprayer on high. Between the high flow of water and the agitation from the hose, it gets them clean pretty quickly.

 

[Rasta311]

I used to flush in the hydroton in the bag itself. I did this by making a few small holes in the bottom of the bag and insert a garden hose in the top. Obviously I did this outside in my backyard. Works like a charm.

 

[High Country]

hi washing hydroton is a pain the the butt! especially right after you pour them out of the bag, all the little pieces and sand falls out.
if you do not wash them well enough, they will dirty up your water pretty quick. i know you should wash them and soak them a few times until clear water runs out. but there has to be some way to clean these little rocks without leaving a bath tube full of sand cloaking up the tube!!
what is your secret? time efficient (cleaning 5L bags of these) way to wash these????

The hydroton comes in bags so poke a heap of holes in the bottom with a screwdriver or something. Then open the top and flood the bag with water from a garden hose until it runs clear out the bottom. That's what I do.

 

[stoney419]

I put a pump with a hose in the bottom of a trash can dump hydroton in then add water turn on pump until the water comes out clear used to poke hole with a screw driver then put bug in sink opened top and flooded but the trash can worked a lot better IMHO

 

[_Dude]

Sounds like you're in an apartment. In that case, I don't know. Time before last that I bought hydroton I washed it in the bath tub. GOD that sucked. Last time I took it outside and used the hose and it was a breeze.

I have a 15 gallon bucket I keep 'ton in. I filled it up and took it outside. Then I took out 2 five gallon buckets, one with holes near the bottom (from an old DWC setup), one of those big net pots lids that sits in a 5 gallon bucket, and a 1.5 liter net pot. Turned the other 5 gallon bucket upside down next to the 15 gallon bucket, for a seat. Parked my butt and used the 1.5 liter net pot as a scoop. 2 or 3 scoops (can't remember which) into the big net pot lid. It gets the hose for a minute or two. I like to rinse it until the water in the bucket starts to run clean, then shake it like I'm panning for gold while rinsing it for another minute. I went through two 50 liter bags of ton like this and it was pretty painless. Took maybe two hours max, but it wasn't even enough of a drag for me to really think about the time. Too easy. Maybe you can borrow a friend's yard and hose?

 

[stoney419]

I wash 20 50 liter bags so I can dump like 4 50 liter bags in the can at once then if your in a house an apt. ect. the just run your hose to the drain and when I said sink I use a a big utility sink in my room

 

[BadRabbit]

Throw it out and buy rockwool?

 

[_Dude]

Rockwool isn't all that great an alternative to expanded clay IMO. It's not as forgiving of watering, so there's a learning curve to watering rockwool. It's not reusable as far as I know, so it's a lot more expensive in the long term, and you have to constantly make new online orders or trips to the grow store. It isn't as versatile - with expanded clay you just pour it into the container you want. With rockwool you have to have the right size cubes, assuming they have the size you want, though I guess you could use the mini-cubes. I may be wrong about some of this because I only use rockwool for cloning but that's what I've gathered. The big one for me is reusability and expense. Fewer orders is a big deal to me too. If rockwool was reusable, I might consider getting over the watering learning curve.

 

[westfalia]

New: I take it outside and use a garden hose/colander to thoroughly rinse, then air dry.

Used: Dump in a 5 gallon bucket add water. Add a couple of cups of bleach to kill off any unfriendlies. swirl around a bit, let sit for 15 minutes. Rinse as above.

 

[Cannabean]

at $25 for a 50 liter bag of hydroton, I just buy a new bag.

 

[_Dude]

I pay double that including shipping. At a buck a liter, I can spend a half/hour to an hour washing it. Like being paid 25 or 50 bucks an hour. It takes me 2 50l bags just for one 1k. Plus where I live, I don't take anything for granted. One less trip to the store or online order per harvest is a good thing IMO.

 

[growshopfrank]

If you are cleaning between crops let it dry out and the roots come out much easier and rinsing with 1% virkon and water helps keep disease and pathogens away

 

[!!!]

I used to flush in the hydroton in the bag itself. I did this by making a few small holes in the bottom of the bag and insert a garden hose in the top. Obviously I did this outside in my backyard. Works like a charm.

I did this as well. You don't need to run pH adjusted water through the hydroton. Just plain tap water to clear out the clay dust.

I'm possibly making a full transition to rockshale from hydroton. It does need to be rinsed but once done, it doesn't constantly release dust into the res (at least not from my limited experience of it) and it doesn't roll around all over the place. It's cheaper and has the same performance as hydroton so far. I'll see if I'm switching 100% after my current run.

 

[Tonka]

I did this as well. You don't need to run pH adjusted water through the hydroton. Just plain tap water to clear out the clay dust.

I'm possibly making a full transition to rockshale from hydroton. It does need to be rinsed but once done, it doesn't constantly release dust into the res (at least not from my limited experience of it) and it doesn't roll around all over the place. It's cheaper and has the same performance as hydroton so far. I'll see if I'm switching 100% after my current run.

!!! Can you expand on your rock shale usage? Do you just buy large pieces of rock shale and break it up to fit in a net basket or bucket?

 

[Scrogerman]

there is no easy way, soak wash soak wash soak wash, then a further soak(for 24 hours) in PH adjusted nute solution, Low EC 0.4-0.6. works for me, my res is always crystal clear, no dust or shit. but i do wash the fk outa it!

 

[highonmt]

there is no easy way, soak wash soak wash soak wash, then a further soak(for 24 hours) in PH adjusted nute solution, Low EC 0.4-0.6. works for me, my res is always crystal clear, no dust or shit. but i do wash the fk outa it!

Yep scroggers got it , lots of work , but I love the fact I don't have to fork out cash every grow...so to reuse it I add an additional step at the beginning; I boil it in a big pot over an outside gas burner. Cooks all the old roots and makes um let go of the clay and float. I use an old strainer to stir with. The roots stick to the metal strainer and I spray them off repeatedly with a hose. Then back to soak/wash/soak as above.
Cheers,
HM

 

[MegaHermie]

use a 27 gallon storage tub with holes drilled in the bottom of it, then have a screen secured to the bottom of the tub ( inside), run a hose or a faucet threw it until clear

 

[MegaHermie]

also don't use hyrdoton more than 3 runs, it gathers salts up in the deep part of the pellet and will reduce yields from there on out.. no matter how much you wash it or sanitize it.

 

[BadRabbit]

Rockwool isn't all that great an alternative to expanded clay IMO. It's not as forgiving of watering, so there's a learning curve to watering rockwool. It's not reusable as far as I know, so it's a lot more expensive in the long term, and you have to constantly make new online orders or trips to the grow store. It isn't as versatile - with expanded clay you just pour it into the container you want. With rockwool you have to have the right size cubes, assuming they have the size you want, though I guess you could use the mini-cubes. I may be wrong about some of this because I only use rockwool for cloning but that's what I've gathered. The big one for me is reusability and expense. Fewer orders is a big deal to me too. If rockwool was reusable, I might consider getting over the watering learning curve.

Dead wrong on every single count except the "have to buy more" ...

You are seriously misconcepted ... which is why use pebbles I suppose!

But the 2 bags I buy a year way more than makes up for the drudgery and nonsense of cleaning little clay pebbles that don't work nearly as well as a grow medium as RW.