Best way to clean of hydroton in bulk?

[mikecar312]

i have 10 50L bags of hydroton from the last harvest. i've been using a large 10" net pot in the tub to rinse the roots off. i would like to figure out a more efficient and quicker way of cleaning/rinsing them. i read somewhere that some people use cement mixers to wash them. does anyone have any experience with that or a better idea?

 

[yamaha_1fan]

I use big garbage cans with holes in them to clean the rocks. Doesnt work too well as I cant get the small root bits to settle. I get most of the roots off when I pull the plant and shake the hydroton out

 

[Daemon]

IME a manual(i.e. hand crank), cement mixer is gold. If you don't want to buy one many equipment rental places will rent them for around $6 a day.
Cheers

 

[mikecar312]

daemon - that sounds like it will do the trick. there was another thread that said the power mixer breaks the hydroton into pieces. do you have any experience with the manual cement mixer? how hard is it to crank?

 

[Daemon]

I'm very new to indoor MJ, but I have been doing hydroponics for some time(mostly veggies). The manual mixers work well, though they can be a bear to crank. If you're in good shape it shouldn't be a big deal, but running 100l at a time can get tiring.

 

[Green Force]

k keep it simple get all ur hydro tron into a bin with holes not to many so it fills up with water a bit the trick is to agitate the hydro tron in the water and mix it a lot and wash it a lot its gona take a long time took me like 1 - 2 hrs but my rocks r clean

 

[RedXIII]

Do the cement mixers get all the little bits of roots that are mixed in with the hydroton? That would be sweet.......

Another good idea I remember reading on here before was to let all your hydroton mixed with bits of root dry out and be placed in a tub. Then take a shopvac, tape a 3" netpot on the end of the shopvac hose, and use that to suck up all that dry root material out of the hydroton. Then the hydroton can be washed/sterilized for your next use.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

Do the cement mixers get all the little bits of roots that are mixed in with the hydroton? That would be sweet.......

Another good idea I remember reading on here before was to let all your hydroton mixed with bits of root dry out and be placed in a tub. Then take a shopvac, tape a 3" netpot on the end of the shopvac hose, and use that to suck up all that dry root material out of the hydroton. Then the hydroton can be washed/sterilized for your next use.

That may be a really good idea. I may try that

 

[phattybudz]

Do you guys use h202 or bleach to clean your hydroton?

 

[Illadelph]

I hear you should boil them. Let me know if i'm wrong?

 

[wafflehouselove]

Hey guys i use to go shrimping and this is what we clean our batches of shirmp with.

A multifunctional basket that is 17” tall and 19” in diameter with a 10 gallon capacity. this thing will clean almost a whole bag of hydroton, except for maybe 1gal.

Just run water through it and shake it a lil. That's like a large netpot for anyone that wants to grow trees also lol.

 

[Dankstarr]

h2o2

h2o2

Get a rubbermaid container: 30 gal fill the the 30 gal container (half way) with some warm water( Atleast add enough warm water to cover the top of the hydroton). Add 1 cup of h2o2 (hydrogen peroxide). Then add your hydroton(Note you can add the hydroton 1st) Use a Clean brush to stir the rocks. Then let the rocks sit for an hour or two. Then stir again... Last, pour the h2o2/water out.. then use some hot water for the final rinse..


Ds

 

[dubwise]

dankstarr-i think i will try that h2o2 method....how many times do you need to you need to do this type of flush?

 

[Budweiser13]

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=6341&page=10&pp=15......scroll down......

 

[bongorilla]

walmart

walmart

get a $7 wicker laundry basket...fill it up about a 1/4 of the way and spray it with a garden hose w/nozzle...and shake it....and spray it...

have an empty reservoir close by and start chuckin the basketfulls in there...

fill the reservoir with water and I add clearex and hyox (h202) and strir it around really good and let it soak at least till the hyox stops fizzin..

then reverse the process and they're ready to go without any salt buid ups or bacterias and shit..

i use dynarok and hydroton and I think my reused mix works better than my new stuff....