Neoprene puck instead of hydroton medium for RDWC?

[Jerd]

hello,
I am having an incredibly hard time finding out what i need to buy/build in order to eliminate the need for hydroton. i want to be able to pull pucks straights from my cloner and put them right into their new buckets within my RDWC system. I currently have 5 gallon buckets and pretty big baskets (probably like 10-12" if i had to guess) Is this something that goes overtop of any basket? ive done a lot of research but cant find anything. i know such things exist on websites like horticulturesource.com but they have so much stuff it can be hard to navigate through.
I appreciate everyones input. thank you so much!

 

[mjab702]

I took the thick 24 inch neoprene foam snap together gym floor tiles and a 3 inch hole saw bit. 1 tile and i got dozens of the pucks for around $15

 

[Jerd]

I took the thick 24 inch neoprene foam snap together gym floor tiles and a 3 inch hole saw bit. 1 tile and i got dozens of the pucks for around $15

is there anyway you can show me a picture to help me understand better?

 

[Moe.Red]

May I ask why neoprene? Personally I would steer clear of this for a few reasons

You will likely see some damage to the stalk after being stuck in there for 3 months and no access to air - its a spot for fungus to grow.
The stalk size in a RDWC should be quite large. Like 1.5" in diameter at harvest. Especially when running silica products. I'm not sure the typical neoprene is going to handle this well.
As the plant gets big, you really need some anchor points for roots so the plant does not fall over. This means you want a net pot with enough in there to provide structure or you are going to be jumping thru hoops supporting the plant.
Finally, if using bubblers (which you should in RDWC) the root zone needs gas exchange. If you seal it up tight with neoprene, you will see issues with the roots, unless you are somehow super charging the water with O2.

Just my $.02

 

[Moe.Red]

Here is a pic of the common result of RDWC

I don't see a way that neoprene is gonna hold that up.

 

[TomH]

That's nucking futz!

 

[Jerd]

very nice! there is a system called gaspack hydro which has a metal rod that acts as a tie down point as well as lifting the basket so youd never have to touch the plant.
i appreciate the feedback!

i want to use neoprene becuase i want to transfer pucks directly from my ez cloner to the rdwc system.
ill have to do some research on fungus growth.