LAVA ROCKS

[THEDOO]

going to switch from hydroton to lava rocks my question is are the lava rocks you guys talk about on here the same ones they advertise at lowes for gas grils and such or are they different

 

[MIway]

i bought mine from the landscaping section of the depot... just rinse it nice & good before you recirc it. why are u switching? not the easiest of shit to work with... heavy.

 

[THEDOO]

I was assuming there wasnt much of a difference in growing in them compared to hydroton and i am sick of washing hydroton for the price of the lava rocks i would just by new stuff every cycle instead of washing it. please let me know if the growing is alot different then hydroton because i might just stay with it in that case why change something when it works i guess unless you find something easier to work with

 

[MIway]

i liked growing with the lava rocks... more porous & the varying size, but that was last playing with it & coir... great stuff, just really fucking heavy... so u'l still have the backbreaking work of lugging & rinsing... no way around it.

i'm like u tho... just tired of doing the bs work associated w most hydro systems. why not just go compressed coir or promix hp in a d2w... 'easiest' overall with all the trade-offs/benefits...? still gotta lug it tho. ;-)

 

[THEDOO]

Is there a link on that stuff you talk about (compressed coir or promix) would like to read more about it are the watering cyles the same? Im a pretty big guy so i dont mind lugging around some stone its just the little bs work

 

[MIway]

i dunno bout a spefic thread to recommend... but there are sure to be several here that you can draw from... it's just so easy to run.

~ just hydrate w pH water for the first go, then feed from there on out... varying preferences by diff folks here, but which ever works for you
~ feed d2w every 3-5 days to start, depending on pot size/room conditions/girls, just let the tops go a little flaky
~ every once & while add in some finely ground dolomite lime to hold the pH
~ don't need to cut it w anything or nothing, just lug it in & out w done.

EDIT... that's promix... coir is a bit different, but they come in compressed bricks/mini bales which makes em easy to work with... requires a bit or pretreatment though, so there's an added step w the coir. hell, some peeps don't even flush the coir & if on a d2w, then it's easy to get away with.

 

[FreezerBoy]

going to switch from hydroton to lava rocks my question is are the lava rocks you guys talk about on here the same ones they advertise at lowes for gas grils and such or are they different

I wouldn't bet on it. Apparently there's good and bad lava rocks. I tried some from HD that grew weed that tasted like gasoline. Bleech!

 

[Haps]

Yeah, you want landscaping rock, or even better lava pebbles, smaller than lava rock, perfect for us. I use a mix of lava rock, pebbles, and hydroton. Your point is to save labor, and in that you are wrong, it will not do that. You have to wash new lava rock at least as much if not more than inbetween crop cleanings, so using new would increase your work.

 

[bobman]

if your looking at new reusable mediums, straight perlite has to be the easiest all around medium to use. I really don't understand why more don't use it.

 

[elmanito]

Lava split 0-3 mm is used in cacti cultivation a lot and it mix well with potting soil.In hydro the root system has a better grip thanks to the structure.Side effect it is heavy!! but it rocks

Namaste

 

[growshopfrank]

around here the landscape stores call it volcanic shale and if nothing else the stuff doesn't roll around everywhere like clay pellets those little fuckers get everywhere

 

[dubwise]

I went from hydroton to perlite/vermiculite and it is a lot easier. It's a lot easier to clean than hydroton...and it's pretty inexpensive for a reusable material.

 

[THEDOO]

im basicly looking for the lava rocks that bigtoke uses in his bio buckets i have been reading his thread but havent found a size description of his rocks but i thought it would be bigger than the stuff in the picture above please let me know

 

[HOVAH2.0]

They also harbor beneficial bacteria.... and they were cheaper

 

[hazydreams]

i use the stuff for the gas grills from home depot. Just rinse the hell out of it before you use it. I have not had any gasoline taste associated with it. what it will do is dye your water red because of the dust and crap from packaging and handling. so your going to want to really make sure you wash that crap out.

When your done toss it and buy another bag. Or you can rinse it off, either way, less work then hydroton in my experience to clean it and get the root matter out of it. I hate hydroton because of the cost and the mess that shit makes. ever drop a net pot loaded with that shit. youll be stepping on pebbles and finding shit under your fridge for years. to each his own.

 

[budshoteyes]

I use a lot less hydroton when using rock wool....I've always wndered if rock wool holds benificial bacteria and I can't see why not? My thinking is...if it holds water it has to be holding everything else including nutes and beneficial bacteria!

Am I correct?

 

[mister_terious]

Yes, that's correct. Home Depot also carries them tool Rinse well, the make a great home for benificials. M_T

 

[mister_terious]

Yes, that's correct. Home Depot also carries them tool Rinse well, the make a great home for benificials. Grow rocks also do the same thing although they are a tad bit more expensive. M_T