Sure to grow, Higromite silica stone or Hydroton grow rocks?

GringoLoco said:

Sure To Grow is PET - Polyester Fiber. Pillow or fiber fill works great and is very cheap; works best when mixed with another medium.

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fatman7574 said:

And like rock wool polyester fiber is recommended for experienced growers not newbies as it is a medium that is easy to water log and therefore it has inherent problems with root root, pythium and damp off unless care is taken not to over water. Both polyster and rock wool are often listed as medium for advanced/experienced growers due to these problems.

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fatman7574 said:

Silica soil, silica sand, silica rock. It is quartz. Nothing special. Pretty close to inert. The silica soil can have some CEC issues, but not the sand or therocks. Silca rounded rocks are easy on the roots as there are no sharp edges. They are avilable at about all pet stores as aquarium substrate. Sand does not breath well so DO is typically lower than with the larger sand or the rounder larger rocks that have larger channels between them (pore space) but you need to water more often withthe larger rocks. Lava rock holds to many nutrient salts and is defintely not root friendl as it has lot and lots of sharp edges. Hydroton is really not a good media as it is too porous and soaks up way to many nutrients. It at takes literally 4 or 5 weeks of soaking used hydroton is frequently changed water to remove all the nutrients they soak up in just one grow.

So really both your proffered choices suck. Think inert and very well draining. That is what hydro is all about.

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fatman7574 said:

Aero is medium less. It is a plant with roots suspended in air. The idea is to have the clone just stuck in a net pot and put the pot in a cut hole in your aero chambers top. Let the plants roots growing in air. Essentially that means your grow nedium is AIR??? If growing from seed then start the seed in perlite, vermiculite, sand, aquarium gravel etc until the roots develop then carefully remove the plant for the media with and with as little media as possible still attached transfer the root seedling to a net pot. The neoprene disks with a slit that fits the top of the net pot will hold the seeding until a larger root system develops.

The problem with most aero systems is to many people have read the dumb ass threads like Earls about using 3" or 4" tubes for aero systems. Aero roots should never lay in water but should hang free in air. This means very, very large tubes or better yet chambers.

2" net pots can easily support SOG plants that are say 12" to 15" tall. Taller than this in SOG usually means 3" or 3.5" net pots. If the plants are not SOG then small pots can often be in sufficient. There are a lot of huge trees grown in large net pots without and medium at all. there are many rubbermaid trash cans with just one large plants growing from them with just 4 or five sprayers or misters. If you do want some medium to support your large plants for aero with large pots I would recommend small bio balls to fill all but the top inch. Use marbles, rubber mulch or round arquarium rocks for the top inch. Just about every pet store sells bags of rounded rocks that are about 3/8" to 1/2" in diameter. They are just quartz rocks. Quartz is just silica. Inert and non absorbent when in a rock form. You want something that is totally non absorbent. IE no rock wool as it water logs to easily, no hydroton or coconut fibers etc as they both hold water and nutrients.

Even with SOG in aero the tubes or chambers should allow for at least two feet of vertical root length and the bottom of your tubes or chambers should not have water standing in it that roots that reach that level must lay in. AERO is not part aero and part DWC, nor is it part part aero and part NTF. Aero is aero.

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fatman7574 said:

Silica soil, silica sand, silica rock. It is quartz. Nothing special. Pretty close to inert. The silica soil can have some CEC issues, but not the sand or therocks. Silca rounded rocks are easy on the roots as there are no sharp edges. They are avilable at about all pet stores as aquarium substrate. Sand does not breath well so DO is typically lower than with the larger sand or the rounder larger rocks that have larger channels between them (pore space) but you need to water more often withthe larger rocks. Lava rock holds to many nutrient salts and is defintely not root friendl as it has lot and lots of sharp edges. Hydroton is really not a good media as it is too porous and soaks up way to many nutrients. It at takes literally 4 or 5 weeks of soaking used hydroton is frequently changed water to remove all the nutrients they soak up in just one grow.

So really both your proffered choices suck. Think inert and very well draining. That is what hydro is all about.

Click to expand...