Weird white particulate when Ph adjust Hydroton

  • Thread starter TheCulture
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
T

TheCulture

7
1
Ok so i am a relatively new grower but have had good experience thus far. I learned that the hydroton (brand name stuff) need to be Ph adjusted or it is hard to control initial Ph as it will appear to go up and is resistant to lowering it , plus you need to rinse the fine particulate matter present. So i essential learned to after rinsing with tons of Ph adjusted water to soak it in a large volume of water and adjust the Ph until it stabilizes. This method has worked in past with good results.

Currently i am in process of doing exactly that. i also added some Orca to the water to inoculate it with some of the beneficial bacterial and myto -something or other.

Here is what im confused about:

i noticed i have some odd looking white strand like things floating on surface of where im soak the hydroton. Pictures included (red boxes help show where to zoom) but they are hard to see because just it is difficult taking picture of water film.
Does anyone have ideas of what those small whitish strands are? my guess is something to do with the beneficial bacteria and myto whatever.
Or is there a better way to adjust PH of hydroton. Thanks appreciate any help or advice i wont be offended.

pics:
Weird white particulate when ph adjust hydroton
Weird white particulate when ph adjust hydroton 2
Weird white particulate when ph adjust hydroton 3
 
Nugg

Nugg

702
93
Interesting..I've been using hydration pebbles for years and never noticed a pH flux..all I've ever done is rinsed off the dust when new and filter out smaller pebbles that would slip though net pot.. now I just rinse off old roots and such and reuse... maybe I'll check it out if I ever buy anymore.. interested in seeing if anyone else has the pH hydration..
 
T

TheCulture

7
1
Interesting..I've been using hydration pebbles for years and never noticed a pH flux..all I've ever done is rinsed off the dust when new and filter out smaller pebbles that would slip though net pot.. now I just rinse off old roots and such and reuse... maybe I'll check it out if I ever buy anymore.. interested in seeing if anyone else has the pH hydration..

I honestly don't know why the Hydroton which i thought was inert would be able to effect PH but it "SEEMS" like it does. I honestly am making a lot of assumptions so who know why Iv had a PH battle at the start on first hydro grow. Thanks for you opinion the matter. I just don't want to pretend i know for sure the expanded clay needs to be massaged to get in right PH more just something i kind of did after i had huge PH spikes during my first hyro grow and it seem to have helped when i did my second one.
 
BigCube

BigCube

2,676
263
Interesting..I've been using hydration pebbles for years and never noticed a pH flux..all I've ever done is rinsed off the dust when new and filter out smaller pebbles that would slip though net pot.. now I just rinse off old roots and such and reuse... maybe I'll check it out if I ever buy anymore.. interested in seeing if anyone else has the pH hydration..

Never even heard of ph ing hydroton. I'm pretty sure it's not a thing.
When new, just rinse it off till the runoff is clear. When reusing, clean it the best you can, then bake it in the oven for 15 minutes at 400c
 
T

TheCulture

7
1
Never even heard of ph ing hydroton. I'm pretty sure it's not a thing.
When new, just rinse it off till the runoff is clear. When reusing, clean it the best you can, then bake it in the oven for 15 minutes at 400c

ok so whats weird then also is if i file an 18 gallon container made to hydro gardening with PH adjusted water to 5.8 then leave it there over night it was 7.1. So i then drained off the water and move hydroton to another clean container built for hydro use. I then rinsed the 18 container i soaked them in to remove any residual particulate that was present. Repeated process again with 18 gallons of ph 5.8 water and after 24hrs it was like i think 6.5 or something its weird. i must be missing something.

edit: this is new hydroton i never thought i about reusing it ill keep that in mind. Also im using as reliable PH probe and i have tested it using refence calibration solutions.
 
Last edited:
BigCube

BigCube

2,676
263
ok so whats weird then also is if i file an 18 gallon container made to hydro gardening with PH adjusted water to 5.8 then leave it there over night it was 7.1. So i then drained off the water and move hydroton to another clean container built for hydro use. I then rinsed the 18 container i soaked them in to remove any residual particulate that was present. Repeated process again with 18 gallons of ph 5.8 water and after 24hrs it was like i think 6.5 or something its weird. i must be missing something.

edit: this is new hydroton i never thought i about reusing it ill keep that in mind. Also im using as reliable PH probe and i have tested it using refence calibration solutions.

What are you using to PH? Try just a bucket of water without the hydroton, it probably does the same thing.
 
BigCube

BigCube

2,676
263
Depending on your water, ph adjusting is mostly temporary. With good water, the ph adjustments last much longer, but even they are prone to drift back toward its baseline. In some water it happens faster.

I would suggest RO water. Or rainwater.
If you're dead set on using your tap, get a decent water treatment system.

You may also get results from just using the ph'd water right after ph-ing it. Only maybe though.
 
T

TheCulture

7
1
Depending on your water, ph adjusting is mostly temporary. With good water, the ph adjustments last much longer, but even they are prone to drift back toward its baseline. In some water it happens faster.

I would suggest RO water. Or rainwater.
If you're dead set on using your tap, get a decent water treatment system.

You may also get results from just using the ph'd water right after ph-ing it. Only maybe though.

yeah i use RO water it like a $2500 filter system...the 7 filters are replace on scheulde as manufacturer suggests. my meter also do ECC/PPM and it like 50 i think baseline ECC I wait 24hrs between tests of the water. I hate to be a pain im just confused cause i thought hydroton was inert. anyways maybe ill maybe make separate thread about the whole ordeal having to PH my hydroton. Appreciate the info though.
 
T

TheCulture

7
1
What are you using to PH? Try just a bucket of water without the hydroton, it probably does the same thing.

i have nutrient soltuion mixed up for 2 days before i use it all and PH is stable thats RO water with a PH altering buffered solution and it test same after 2 days.

edit wasnt sure if your asking about the actualy probe, its a blue lab combo meter and i do calibrate it and test it weekly with reference solutions
 
Last edited:
T

TheCulture

7
1
Ok last thing on the PH since i think i should create separate thread eventually it will stabilize at 5.8 and stay there. it just take like three day as you can see most of the clay has sunk. So in those pics that is stable at 5.9 but has that weird white stuff.

edits are due to horrible typing, lol
 
T

TheCulture

7
1
I admit i didnt read the rules if it ok to cotinue talking about the ph stuff in this thread thats fine i just dont want to violate the forum rules.
 
Top Bottom