Goodbye hydroton and lava, bio balls work

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tree farmer

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I'm about to buy some bio balls 0ff ebay. I found a deal on 3000 of them. for 174$

TREE FARMER,

How many 1.5" balls does it take for you to fill a ten inch net pot?

I can't find any balls that specificly say weighted. Arn't they all weighted? I think they are made for the bottom of fish tanks right

thanks

heres alink that shows the floating and wieghted ones (sinking)



dont know how many cause havent counted them but when i get a moment ill count them as i throw them into a netpot and get back to ya.
 
billy liar

billy liar

85
18
hi guys,
just thought I'd share a thought, a few years ago when making a "trickle filter" for my aquarium, I was having a bit of hard time finding "bio balls" and spoke with some1 very knowledgeable on the subject. He recommended not using bio balls, as there is a product that supersedes them in surface area and sustains thousands of times more bacterial life both aerobic and anaerobic.
The product in question is called "pond Matrix" from an American company called "SeaChem".But is way too expensive to use as a hydro medium, but it does suggest on the packaging to use as a support for aquatic plant roots!!!!!! From what I can gather tho its very similar to Diatomaceous Earth or DE or Dia-Hydro..
So although the bio balls look great (and that often swings things for me..hehehe) I'd expect better results from DE or pond matrix if anyone can afford to fill up a 10" net pot.. LOL
peace and no disrespect intended
BL
 
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OregonMeds

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No problem billy, better ideas always welcome.

I've been thinking about many different options since bio balls anyway or to use in combination with them or just cover them and would be happy to hear all experiences in this thread that have anything to do with alternatives

PVC shavings or twists was my next thought actually after bio balls, if you wanted more surface area and water holding. There are a lot of things out there people have been using or could use but we just don't hear about it.

All the extra plastic from making your grow system could be recycled into the media or used to cover your balls.
 
billy liar

billy liar

85
18
No problem billy, better ideas always welcome.

I've been thinking about many different options since bio balls anyway or to use in combination with them or just cover them and would be happy to hear all experiences in this thread that have anything to do with alternatives

PVC shavings or twists was my next thought actually after bio balls, if you wanted more surface area and water holding. There are a lot of things out there people have been using or could use but we just don't hear about it.

All the extra plastic from making your grow system could be recycled into the media or used to cover your balls.
I remember an article, saying just this, that plastic shavings like the ones you get from making a system are a great tried and tested medium.....


Peace
BL
 
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SoCaliSmoking

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these things look awesome!! I need to try these instead of the lava rocks!
 
S

SkyHi

764
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No problem billy, better ideas always welcome.

I've been thinking about many different options since bio balls anyway or to use in combination with them or just cover them and would be happy to hear all experiences in this thread that have anything to do with alternatives

PVC shavings or twists was my next thought actually after bio balls, if you wanted more surface area and water holding. There are a lot of things out there people have been using or could use but we just don't hear about it.

All the extra plastic from making your grow system could be recycled into the media or used to cover your balls.

you can cover your balls in plastic i like mine in cotton thank you very much
 
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TyKaycha

352
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Just ordered some bio balls, should be here in a few days. Looking forward to playing with my new balls, might have to get my girlfriend to help..... :D
 
HG23

HG23

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Has anyone with an MPB setup tried these yet? Looks like it could really save some rinsing and might yield more "open space" for roots in the net pots
 
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legalizethis

Premium Member
Supporter
31
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i bought a bunch of balls too. i was hoping i would get the weighted ones that sink. but i got the ones that float :( hopefully i will be fine. but soon i will have my girls transplanted in the bio balls.
 
Crysmatic

Crysmatic

529
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balls certainly have a great deal of humour value :) the smaller the better - better interlocking, more surface area?

pond Matrix is filtration media...they absorb nitrogen. at the very least they need to be soaked in nute sol'n.

what about plain perlite in smart pots?
 
F

Farmer Jon

Premium Member
Supporter
412
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I'm reading this and lego's come to mind...might have to give it a go.
Easy to clean, i think there heavy enough to remain submerged and im almost positive
there inert...hmmmm
(sorry son i have no idea where your lego's are...shrug)
The cost may be a bit much for enough to fill 10" net pots though.
 
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OregonMeds

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Technically just about anything would work, legos, empty prescription bottles, milk jug caps, scraps of cut up small lengths of pvc pipe, pallet strapping, any kind of rocks, marbles, hair brushes, tooth brushes, little plastic troll dolls or those green plastic army men or barrels of monkeys, whatever.

As long as it doesn't pollute the water or poison the plant.

The only way to actually know if any is better than another would be compare, but the more root space and surface area left in the media the better. Plus some things just don't stack leaving as much root space, and some things wouldn't allow water to flow to all parts of the media as well or at all or could trap water like lego's or prescription bottles unless you drilled many holes in all of them.
 
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