cleaning hydroton

[Str8Dank]

this is a pain in the ass! everyone knows it but a few runs ago i came up with a really quick and easy way to clean hydroton and it worked out wonderfully for me.


1. take some big trash bags with you to the grow store when you go to buy your hydroton (I'll explain later).
2. go to a self service car wash and pull the bags out of your car/truck and set them on the ground.
3. pop a few holes in the very bottom of the bag.
4. use the water wand set on high pressure rinse and stick it in the hole at the top of the bag (hydroton brand).

the pressure from the water will make the bag expand fully and seal the hole at the top around the water wand. this hot pressurized water will agitate the hydroton and you can move the wand around. I've found it takes less then $2.00 a bag and just a few minutes and they are spotless! when done throw them into the garbage bags so the extra water does not leak into your car and as a double benefit when you carry them into the house they are covered so neighbors don't see what you are carrying.


this is by far the fastest and easiest way to clean bags of hydtoton I've found. hope it helps some fellow growers!

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I pour 2 bags into a 44 gal brute trash can. Installed a 1.5" valve on the bottom. I just fill my cans with hot pH water to 4.8. Soak for 2 days. Drain and refill with hot water. I use a 5 gal bucket to agitate the water maybe a total of 5 min.
Use the brute for bubble runs also. JK
Car washes recycle their water,how well they filter I do not know.

 

[theguapo]

I have a large SS pasta strainer that I use after soaking to rinse clean. quite easy.

 

[Str8Dank]

i don't soak mine i just get them clean from the car wash then run a few cycles in my ebb and grow, drain, refill and put in plants. i have not personally experienced any ph related issues with hydroton so i cant speak to the benefits of soaking in ph'ed water.

a lot of it just depends on your grow environment as to what will work best. JK has a great process but i could not implement that due to outdoor security concerns. theguapo's process I've done and it works BUT try doing that with 60 gallons (30 2 gal ebb and grow pots) and you will see quickly it's not efficient.

as far as the recycled water goes i would have to assume the small amount absorbed by the hydroton will get so diluted during the "flush" cycles i run before i drain refill and nute that it's got to be a minimal effect regardless of their water quality.

 

[Str8Dank]

on second thought i could totally do what JK is doing inside i don't know why i was thinking about that being a outside process. that sounds like a much easier way to reuse hydroton because personally i hate cleaning that shit so much i throw it away and buy new every run.

 

[420OGFarmhand]

Tips & Tricks Tried & True

The 1st time you use the Hydrotron there is a ass load of sand loose small chunks broken balls.
The only way to clean it is to toss them in a spaghetti strainer and physically pick out the broke and small Balls that will clog the root system on your plant.
Then run like 30 Gallons of water threw a new Bag to prevent tube & Nozzle clogging. Use a Hose & 5 gallon grow Container there's Holes in the Bottom
Put large whole balls around the roots. Small stuff on Top
Plants get Lock out because the sucked small balls and pieces in the middle of root system.
Also soak balls over night in Clearx with PH'ed water of 5.8
then drop the babies and start Feeding they take off in 24hrs

 

[SoCaler]

I like the trash can idea, but I don't see a need to pH.
But Jalisco Kid's probably been doing this longer than me.

Grow On

 

[Nobodynobody]

I have reuse my ball over 2 years now and still reuseing. rub the roots off. go to the sink and rinse and rub again. bleach 5-8% and use H202 1L 3% per 2.5G of water. let it sit for 1 1/2 hrs, rinse 2 time for 30mins. then reuse. Why even go out of your house to clean. or even spend money on it!

 

[TheBioMaster]

Ya, I dunno about the car wash method...the water is nasty and it doesnt seem like a good idea to hit "clay" balls with high pressure water....cant be extending the life of the clay ball thats for sure......not sure I understand the security risk of doing it in your yard outside.....but the public carwash is ok and secure??????:confused0054:

 

[Str8Dank]

the car wash i go to has very low traffic and my car is blocking anyone that pulls up from seeing what i'm doing AND no one at the car wash knows where i live. my yard is such that my neighbors would see me doing it. i don't care if someone driving by sees me they probably wont know what I'm doing and if they do who cares they don't know where i live.

i never thought about the water quality and i don't reuse hydroton that's a waste of time trying to get it clean IMO I'd rather just spend $120 and get new every run personally so the life of the hydroton isn't relevant to my application.

now with JK's setup i may build a tub like that and put it in my basement and attempt to clean a batch but so far i've thrown away my hydroton or sunleafs rocks every time because i just get tired of cleaning that shit and $120 is nothing right after a harvest lol.

 

[Str8Dank]

I have reuse my ball over 2 years now and still reuseing. rub the roots off. go to the sink and rinse and rub again. bleach 5-8% and use H202 1L 3% per 2.5G of water. let it sit for 1 1/2 hrs, rinse 2 time for 30mins. then reuse. Why even go out of your house to clean. or even spend money on it!

nobody how much hydroton you cleaning? i dont know about your setup but personally after spending all that time harvesting and cleaning crap out of my room the last thing i want to do is clean some hydroton before i get plants back in the pots. your process sounds good but i'm using 150-200 liters of hydroton every run and cleaning that much is a pain in the ass.

 

[Buddy Flowers]

i just buy new shit

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I pour 2 bags into a 44 gal brute trash can. Installed a 1.5" valve on the bottom. I just fill my cans with hot pH water to 4.8. Soak for 2 days. Drain and refill with hot water. I use a 5 gal bucket to agitate the water maybe a total of 5 min.
Use the brute for bubble runs also. JK
Car washes recycle their water,how well they filter I do not know.

I meant this is how I clean new hydro. If I was going to reuse it I would soak it in something like Carefree's Pond and fountain protector for 2-3 days first. Then spray/soak in some peroxide.Chlorine needs too much rinsing.
I pH my water so I do not start off with any pH swings.
I unload my used chow mix at my local nursery where they blend it into their top soil mix. JK

 

[Nobodynobody]

oh my i go threw 4.5 bag of 50L bags ever mo.I am useing the Cap Ebb and Gro 2.5G X 27buckets. It takes me a week to clean and move my veg in the clean room while clipping.

I got 1 person that like to bum greens. Because he is broke i tell him to clean all that shit. He is now getting half the load done in the 1 week. Then the roots dry on the balls and take a bit long. I also veg 13 weeks under 1000w Talk about super root porn when he cleans it. I go and do the washing and cleaning the bleach off because his hand dont like the water bleach.

At the end i dont have money to spend, its all my meds also. This is why i am made to reuse. my system run clean with no sand. I see vary vary little Fine clay in my drum and bottom of my buckets when it comes to clean up to move my next girls over. Now that he has a job interview i might lose my cleaner :( I will have to say only way to get away from mess to clean up is useing H20 as a medum. If i did not have power failures from the snow and bing a small town far away that ppl dont care, for I keep away from systems that needs power 24/7 too.

 

[Str8Dank]

how the hell are you using 4.5 bags a month? i have the same setup a ebb and grow with 30 buckets and i can fill it with 4 bags (i was wrong when i said 3 earlier) but after the 4 bags i'm good for veg and flower which is much more then every month. i used sun leafs "rocks that dont roll" this run and it only took 4 bags as well. are you filling them to the very top? i just fill them above the flood line.

 

[Str8Dank]

nobody do you have a journal? i'd like to see some more E&G stuff. in fact that's the only reason i ever went to RIU because they had a good userbase using them and a really good thread on the system itself. how many lights are you running and what are your yields like?

i'm running 3 rows of 10 buckets at my new spot and i have 3k over them in a row in magnum hoods. i'm thinking about trying to squeeze a 4th light in for this winter run.

 

[Nobodynobody]

I fill each bucket on the cap ebb and gro, each one all the way to the vary top like point of over flowing after they grow a few. I reuse the 50L bag they came in because of the good bags they come in. I place 9 under each 1000w or 3x3 if you want to say. Turn them every day in veg. Funny part is i only got sealing 6f 2in Max. I also dont have a journal since i am new to the site still. When i was doing 3x 1000. i was veging 20 under 1000w and keeping 18 for 2x 1000w when time to bloom. the extra 2 you pull out clone from.

true story. when i had 16 under 1000w i got KO by the stairway and fell on 1/4 leaveing me 12 to move from veg to bloom. got 1.7p for falling on that much. Luckly i found a friend that wanted to trade some meds for the but load of clones i made after i got knoted out. imagine that, no c02, no ac, no dehumidifiers.