Can I reuse Hydroton?

How do I clean and reuse Hydroton rocks? List of nessesary tools and equipment. How many times can it be reused?

Thank you VERY much.

yes..you can reuse it...but it slowly breaks down over time..cant really tell you how many times you can reuse it..make sure to sterilize it each time you reuse it

First, I was thinking that I should soak it in some bleach water, but then how can I be 100% sure that I've rinsed the bleach out before using? I've got enough Hydroton to fill my room twice, so that I could get the rocks on a use / clean alternating cycle. Right now it's just a bunch of used rocks taking up space.

Clean your hydroton with boiling water and bleach. Boil water, add bleach, add hydroton, boil 30 minutes (long enough to get the chlorine bleach to evaporate out of the water,) and strain.

you need:
Deep boiling pot
water
bleach
strainer
heat source for boiling water

There ya go

OR... bring the while bunch in the shower with you and say screw the bleach.

Fuzzotany said:

OR... bring the while bunch in the shower with you and say screw the bleach.

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Except most shower soaps and shampoos are not anti-bacterial, and the water is not hot enough to really sterilize anything.

yes u can reuse hydroton be sure to clean it well

I've been using the same Hydroton for years. After I harvest, I rinse it real well to remove all debris, then I put the Hydroton into metal bowls and pop them into the oven for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. This kills off any pathogens that may be lurking in the rocks.

Vi

ViRedd said:

I've been using the same Hydroton for years. After I harvest, I rinse it real well to remove all debris, then I put the Hydroton into metal bowls and pop them into the oven for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. This kills off any pathogens that may be lurking in the rocks.

Vi

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Thanks guys! It's definately going to be a chore. Does the bake method stink? I'm glad I have enough for an alternating cycle of clean-use.

smokingrubber said:

Thanks guys! It's definately going to be a chore. Does the bake method stink? I'm glad I have enough for an alternating cycle of clean-use.

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Baking clay doesn't raise a stink after it's been properly cleaned with bleach water. You're all set, it's pretty easy.

i never recommend re using hydroton where i live in denver hydroton is 22$ for a 50l bag so no way it's worth the time. i use waterfarms and they take about 9 l each which sucks. i get bummed just rinsing it, so washing it must suck . i know it's more expensive in other states so depending on price i might try it but where i live some odd hours of labor for 22 $ is not happening. plus i would be worried about everything being sterile. i make plenty of cash from my garden so it's always worth the extra $ in dwc i always used 5" net pots so they didn't use a ton of hydroton. iv'e seen alot of dwc with the 10" pots which doesn't make sense to me . in dwc the smaller pots get the roots in the rez quicker so it's better to use smaller pots . iv'e done flood tables before and nothing you can do there. if you fill the table you use a lot. i used pots on a table and the roots grew out of the pots so i had to cover the exposed parts of the table so big pain in the ass there thats why everybody fills it with hydroton . i tried the gh 18 site aeroponic it used very little hydroton but with plants at 24" roots grew over sprayers causing problems so no winning here i'm sure bleach or food grade peroxide will kill the germs. but if you miss a little piece of root and don't use 35% h2o2 you risk root rot 8( so i think it's a matter of time vs $ if you can afford to buy new it's less hassle,but you'll still have to rinse it. i soak in 5.5 for 24hrs then run through a salad spinner

I've been using the same hydroton for two years. I submerge the root balls in a tub of water for a day after which the balls fall away from the roots with a gentle swishing and very little root matter breaks off. Then I take about a liter at a time and blast them in a colander with a hose. I've never had root rot and rinsing used hydroton is way less trouble than washing the crap out of new stuff. I recently started buying Sunleaves grow rocks which are a cheaper fired clay product which looks more like natural gravel. The initial wash is faster than hydroton and it's heavier, which helps balance heavier plants in my flood and drain. Sure the roots grow out of the pots, but it's so shady at the bottom of my SOG that they are happy even exposed to a little light.

Kudos on finding a 3 year old thread to zombify, lol.

Heres another easy method i found.

[video=youtube;Ubq2-ZCzM0w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubq2-ZCzM0w[/video]

That's cool. I've seen a recommendation for putting it in a mesh bag in a washing machine. That's supposed to get rid of ALL the grit and eroded bits (and the dead organic matter, of course). I'm definitely convinced that you don't need to sterilize or use agents like Florakleen.

i run it under the bathroom tap for a minute or two and things are just fine. This whole concept of sterile is utter tosh if you ask me, simply no requirement for it.