Fellow outlaws,

Is there anything I need to do to prep hydroton besides rinse off the dust? I've heard of submerging it in water with a bit of bleach for 24 hours and then rinsing it off before use. Is this overkill?

Thanks,

-the Corsican,

__________________
My grow journal: http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/cors...st-grow-15533/

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke.

"If at first you don't succeed, it wont hurt to smoke a little weed!"

Just rinse it off....

you'll still see some red for a few water changes....so don't freak if you see it....just change the water again.

ww

"Fellow Outlaws"

Gawd, you tickle me, sometimes, Corsicano!!

Hehe!

I'm a bit cheesy sometimes but what would life be like with a little cheesiness?

-the Corsican.

__________________
My grow journal: http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/cors...st-grow-15533/

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke.

"If at first you don't succeed, it wont hurt to smoke a little weed!"

Damn! Would a mod remove these two redundant posts please?

__________________
My grow journal: http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/cors...st-grow-15533/

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke.

"If at first you don't succeed, it wont hurt to smoke a little weed!"

Not for nothing, you're probably good to go first time around with just a thorough rinse as per windowpane watson's post. You will, however, want to do as you mentioned before reuse, i.e. the low concentration bleach water and/or a desalinating product like GH's Florakleen or similar products from other manufacturers, followed by a thorough rinse. There is a lot of value in these little clay pellets, and others who grow organically might have different advice, this is just what I've done with no adverse results. I've only got a handful of these run-throughs under my belt, but I haven't encountered any major problems doing as I've mentioned. Hydroton is a great medium from my experience, just a lot of prep if you're doing anything big. But the work is so rewarding it seems more like play to me!!

__________________
"A word to the wise is infuriating."
"No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master."
"In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity."
"Buy the ticket, take the ride."
- The Immortal Hunter S. Thompson

Thanks Jigsy,

I didn't think of reconditioning it after the first grow. I'm glad you brought that to my attention.

Thanks,

The Corsican.

__________________
My grow journal: http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/cors...st-grow-15533/

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke.

"If at first you don't succeed, it wont hurt to smoke a little weed!"

I have always had good results with just a good rinse.

After a grow if you plan on reusing them, i would suggest a chemical free soap. Give them a good scrub and then a good rinse.

The 24hr soak is usually used for rockwool, to balance the ph.

Yeah, rock wool should be ph'd in 5.0 water, at least that's what I've read. I've heard of people soaking their hydroton in ph'd water though. On a side note, how do you all pronounce "Hydroton"? I say it like this: High-drot-un and "drot" rhymes with "rot". Just curious. I'm a bit anal sometimes on the pronunciation of words.

You say tomato I say tomotto, you say potato I say pototo...Let's call the whole thing off!

-the Corsican.

__________________
My grow journal: http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/cors...st-grow-15533/

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke.

"If at first you don't succeed, it wont hurt to smoke a little weed!"

I say it Hydro-ton. But since I'm usually only saying it to myself or typing it on line, not sure how it is actually pronounced. LOL

In this case I say Tomato long "o". High-drow-ten, but I've heard it at least three ways. The ten at the end is dialectical for my area and perhaps it's a bit unique in it's erroneous level, at least we don't say idear. It's I-D-ah. That one hits a nerve along with ex-scape, aks, and off-ten.

__________________
"A word to the wise is infuriating."
"No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master."
"In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity."
"Buy the ticket, take the ride."
- The Immortal Hunter S. Thompson

I use mildly ph adjusted water for rinse, but soaking never seemed necessary. It might be overkill to rinse in a ph adjusted water to some I just wasn't taking any chances with my extraordinarily limited resources.

__________________
"A word to the wise is infuriating."
"No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master."
"In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity."
"Buy the ticket, take the ride."
- The Immortal Hunter S. Thompson

i go to store-
buy hydroton-
come home-
open bag-
dump in net pots-
rinse in bathtub/shower-
GROW!

thats just me tho... never had disease or root problems.

Keepin it green since 81'

__________________

Hehe!

Right on. I guess you can say it either way and be good to go. I like my way because it flows better for me. The other way sound too pronounced if that makes any sense? Kind of like pronouncing the T's at the end of certain words. Some people stress the T sound while others don't.

Yup, I'm a goofy bastard!

-the Corsican.

__________________
My grow journal: http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/cors...st-grow-15533/

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke.

"If at first you don't succeed, it wont hurt to smoke a little weed!"