HydraFiber?

[MrBreeze911]

Has anyone ever heard of or used hydrafiber shredded wood grow medium in their soil or soilless mixes before? I know it can be used with coir or peat or by itself in indoor non-organic grows. I am wondering if anyone here has ever used this product in any capacity growing marijuana because I cannot seem to find any information about it on this site. Dr. Bruce Bugbee mentions using HydraFiber in one of his youtube videos about maximizing yields with cannabis. i am considering using it to amend some of my 200 gallon smart pots with organic soil with it along with EWC, ph stabilizers, dry ferts, and compost year after next.

 

[MrBreeze911]

 

[Creeperpark]

I have use wood in mixes before and found that they can tie up nitrogen. That's not to say it's not good, because it is good for the soil and plant roots. Hydrafiber is a super product that one can use outdoors or indoors to help with water Porosity. Vermiculite and perlite can be replaced with the right soil to fiber-ratios. The only drawback is wood needs nitrogen to decompose. IF there is not enough nitrogen to decompose and feed the plants at the same time the plants will suffer a Nitrogen deficiency. When a plant enters flowering the Hydrofiber can help with Nitrogen reduction for better flowers. .

 

[Switcher56]

^^ what creeper said ^^
Decomposed (partially) works great. Used it in Bonsai but never ever use "raw wood" with anything that's in a pot

 

[X15]

Has anyone ever heard of or used hydrafiber shredded wood grow medium in their soil or soilless mixes before? I know it can be used with coir or peat or by itself in indoor non-organic grows. I am wondering if anyone here has ever used this product in any capacity growing marijuana because I cannot seem to find any information about it on this site. Dr. Bruce Bugbee mentions using HydraFiber in one of his youtube videos about maximizing yields with cannabis. i am considering using it to amend some of my 200 gallon smart pots with organic soil with it along with EWC, ph stabilizers, dry ferts, and compost year after next.

I saw some bags of “organic” soil at a Walmart earlier this year. I grabbed a couple bags just to scope it but never used it in a run.
So this much has stuff has what’s they call BeyondPeat, from what I gather it’s similar to what you are talking about (maybe it’s not hydrafiber at all) but I’m guessing they found a way to give it that Organic stamper lol. It’s suppose to be a replacement for mined Peat but they don’t give any info on what that Beyond Shit is.
It says it’s organically derived but yeah lol.
There’s plenty of wood bits and whatever they used to season her up made it messy in my opinion. Hard to tell what was added to make it but I hope it’s safe. Sorry for the stray off topic.

 

[MrBreeze911]

I have use wood in mixes before and found that they can tie up nitrogen. That's not to say it's not good, because it is good for the soil and plant roots. Hydrafiber is a super product that one can use outdoors or indoors to help with water Porosity. Vermiculite and perlite can be replaced with the right soil to fiber-ratios. The only drawback is wood needs nitrogen to decompose. IF there is not enough nitrogen to decompose and feed the plants at the same time the plants will suffer a Nitrogen deficiency. When a plant enters flowering the Hydrofiber can help with Nitrogen reduction for better flowers. .

So would this medium be more effective in a hydroponic drip irrigation type of set up, indoors or greenhouse?

 

[Creeperpark]

So would this medium be more effective in a hydroponic drip irrigation type of set up, indoors or greenhouse?

You'll have to figure that out yourself because all growing conditions are different. Your setup will require whatever it needs to meet your growing conditions. Soil ratios would be determined to best suit the water management needs. You'll have to test it and get an idea of how it works. I'm surprised the pH is in the 4s. Keep us posted with the results.

 

[Three Berries]

Actually it's the microbes and fungi that tie up the N. When they are done doing their work and dire the N comes back.

I use shredded wood chips by the yard for mulch around the grounds for the last 15 years. I now also add some Crabgrass preventer that is high in nitrogen and keeps the tree seeds from sprouting.

But after 4 or 5 years it's just roots and dirt.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

The pH is 4 because wood is acidic...

 

[MrBreeze911]

You'll have to figure that out yourself because all growing conditions are different. Your setup will require whatever it needs to meet your growing conditions. Soil ratios would be determined to best suit the water management needs. You'll have to test it and get an idea of how it works. I'm surprised the pH is in the 4s. Keep us posted with the results.

Apparently, you can use up to 50 percent hydrafiber without having to worry about any nitrogen tie up according to this interview. https://gpnmag.com/article/adding-innovation-to-the-mix/

 

[MrBreeze911]

Do any of you amend your mix with peat after one grow cycle or do you use wetting agents at all? How can I keep my organic soil mix alive season after season? I have white clover cover crops.

 

[MrBreeze911]

I live in a dry and hot area in california

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Live compost and or live compost teas. Do searches for regenerative agriculture practices. You'll eventually need up to 75% less water and nearly zero added fertilizers.

 

[Three Berries]

If you can grow some legumes they will put nitrogen in the soil, act as a mulch and build up organic matter. Rye is a good annual if you have a time where it can sprout and grow a little.

 

[Switcher56]

Do any of you amend your mix with peat after one grow cycle or do you use wetting agents at all? How can I keep my organic soil mix alive season after season? I have white clover cover crops.

White clover itself is a source of nitrogen. Therefore a great cover crop.

 

[MrBreeze911]

I am going to buy a bale of ezblend hydrafiber and do some side by side comparisons and experiments on amending and using as a grow medium, both organic and inorganic. I will use both 30 gallon and 200 gallon containers. The 200 gallon containers will be organic soil, and I'll try using hydrafiber in one of them for porosity and absorbency. The 30 gallons might be: full coco, full hydra, full peat, and a mix of all three With vermiculite, gypsum, and lime. I guess if the soil mix is organic with worms, you don't need to amend with more peat or base material because worms aerate and keep the soil healthy?

 

[MrBreeze911]

I just thoughtbthat peat and coco may eventually breakdown and need to be amended at some point?

 

[MrBreeze911]

I'll use jacks fertilizer that Bruce bugbee uses for the first round of inorganic 30 gallon pots. Then I will continue to experiment and eventually possibly start messing around makin my own salts and organic acids and stuff.

 

[exploziv]

The point of this stuff is to replace peat and use a low value input. I don't expect it to be better. It's probably just good enaugh for thosethat want to feel "eco" when gardening and replace peat with it in pots. It can probably be used in a mix succesfully, but I would think usimg that as soil as it is from the bag is pointless. The fact that you want to test 100% peat alone in a 30 gal pot tells me maybe you have more reading to do on what a soil mix is maybe before formulating one.
Is hard enaugh to make a basic soil mix, add in fancy new replacements for peat and you may be guessing a bit. Then the results might not be where you need them.
Also, i see you plan on comparing lots of stuff, I would add a premade soil mix to the tested stuff as well, see where you stand compared to a relatively cheap soil mix.

 

[MrBreeze911]

The point of this stuff is to replace peat and use a low value input. I don't expect it to be better. It's probably just good enaugh for thosethat want to feel "eco" when gardening and replace peat with it in pots. It can probably be used in a mix succesfully, but I would think usimg that as soil as it is from the bag is pointless. The fact that you want to test 100% peat alone in a 30 gal pot tells me maybe you have more reading to do on what a soil mix is maybe before formulating one.
Is hard enaugh to make a basic soil mix, add in fancy new replacements for peat and you may be guessing a bit. Then the results might not be where you need them.
Also, i see you plan on comparing lots of stuff, I would add a premade soil mix to the tested stuff as well, see where you stand compared to a relatively cheap soil mix.

I am going to be using some mixes with more ingredients than just this, trust me. I know how to make a good soil mix. I said peat with vermiculite with gypsum and lime, using jacks fertilizer and bloombastic or a bloom booster during flowering