Cleaning Hydroton in Oven...what container to use?

So I'm sick of pulling roots out of these pebbles and soaking them(the pebbles) in bleach water. It sucks a lot! I read that you can just turn the roots to ash in an oven so I'm all about it.

I'm looking for a large oven safe container:
Should this container be stainless steel or aluminum, or can it be something powder coated or regular steel?
Obviously I can use something like a dutch oven pot, but I need to cook a lot at once.

Thanks
Beagle

I don't know the answer, but I'm subbing to see what answers you get. I'd like to know more about this too.

i dunno............how bout pyrex

Any baking pan should work, how high do you plan on baking your hydroton at? Pyrex is okay but cant really stand high temps if you bake at higher temps then 400o

Baking the hydroton in a electric oven set on the clean cycle works great as so that all the organic matter is cooked to ashes and the bacteria is killed. (Dont use Pyrex Dish with This Method)

Well I decided to go with those banquet aluminum foil pan things full and stacked on one another. I've got 2 5 gallon buckets full in 4 of these. Oven is on self clean as we speak, so I will let you know how it turns out.

whats the word, i am drying mine now, as i soak it in h202 and then wash it over a diy chicken wire screen. Sucks in the winter, water is so cold

Rick Ratlin said:

whats the word, i am drying mine now, as i soak it in h202 and then wash it over a diy chicken wire screen. Sucks in the winter, water is so cold

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Mixed results...definitely works better if the roots are already dried. My last batch had some roots visible on top so I thought it didn't work, until I touched one and it turned to dust. So don't expect ash tray type of ashes. I'm thinking that longer bake/broil sessions, instead of the self-clean feature would be best for wet roots.

Rick, this method will sterilize the hydroton, so no need to waste h2o2 as the oven will take care of everything.

This is going to take a bit more trial and error before I lock down the timing and temp needed to turn wet roots to dust. I may even need to try rotating the banquet foil pans. Unfortunately(for furthering this process) I am out of hydroton to clean. So I will try again in about a month.

With 4 of those big banquet foil pans, I could cook about 9 gallons of hydroton, and I already had them laying around the house so...bonus. Check a food service stores like Gordons Food Services for these.

An easier solution is boiling hydroton in water on the stovetop. I like to run mine 10 minutes after a good wash.

Cleaning it is a pain in the ass. I have yet found a good way to clean the 150L I use every 4-6 weeks. Oven is a good idea but not going to work for me unless it's fast. And at this time it's cheeper to replace it then use my propain to self clean 50 times. But with the pile getting big looking at how to reuse most of the newer stuff.

VoidObject said:

An easier solution is boiling hydroton in water on the stovetop. I like to run mine 10 minutes after a good wash.

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How would boiling hydroton turn the roots to ash?

It wont turn them to ash but it will destroy any organisms the dead roots will cause. I boiled mine before and did the oven trick and I would rather boil. Just get an extra large crockpot and your good to go. You can use the crockpot in the oven if you wish too.

i wash with garden hose on a frame with 1/8 expanded metal roots get wash right out take me about 15minutes to wash 150l, then in to a large tub filled with boiling hot water (turkey cooker), boil ten minutes, drain, let cool, R.T.U. whole thing takes less then 1 hr

just boiling hot water for like 10 minutes shakem around repeat once more then you should be good thats all i do. having bought new hydroton in 3 years

OMG LS6 said:

It wont turn them to ash but it will destroy any organisms the dead roots will cause. I boiled mine before and did the oven trick and I would rather boil. Just get an extra large crockpot and your good to go. You can use the crockpot in the oven if you wish too.

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Afrogrow said:

just boiling hot water for like 10 minutes shakem around repeat once more then you should be good thats all i do. having bought new hydroton in 3 years

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For me, the whole point is getting rid of the roots, otherwise I would just keep soaking with bleach to sterilize. Thanks for the suggestion tho!

LT1RX7 Drifter said:

i wash with garden hose on a frame with 1/8 expanded metal roots get wash right out take me about 15minutes to wash 150l, then in to a large tub filled with boiling hot water (turkey cooker), boil ten minutes, drain, let cool, R.T.U. whole thing takes less then 1 hr

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I may have to look into this 1/8 expanded metal, thanks for the tip!

I have alot of extra hydroton, so it's not like I need the hydroton back in use the same day. I'd rather take them straight out of the flood table and into the oven still wet, then get back to the million other things I have to do around the house. However many hours later, take them out, rinse off the dust and throw them in storage until needed.

i notice growth is better the more you use it, as long as you get it clean, the poreousity gets better i think, hell my hydroton is almost black from the baked on coloring rubbing off

LT1RX7 Drifter said:

i notice growth is better the more you use it, as long as you get it clean, the poreousity gets better i think, hell my hydroton is almost black from the baked on coloring rubbing off

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Yeah, I'm all about the one time investments...I can't believe I was going to use rockwol!

i use 2" rw cubes cut in half to block drain holes in pots for soil grows, thats it lol. I use root riot plugs, or aero clone

Beagle said:

Yeah, I'm all about the one time investments...I can't believe I was going to use rockwol!

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Lol its nice to not have to buy every grow but my yields went up by 20% with rw and in the end i can
Pull out the old and replace with new in minutes, time is money to growers it all boils down the same

^ why would or do you think the RW was the reason behind your yield increase?

hellraizer30 said:

Lol its nice to not have to buy every grow but my yields went up by 20% with rw and in the end i can
Pull out the old and replace with new in minutes, time is money to growers it all boils down the same

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The only one who pays me for my time is my employer...construction work is pretty slow here in Michigan, so saving money is a must.