The Perfect Hydro Medium (Allegedly)

hi guys, upon some bowls & a small moisture check before the plants goto sleep... i was wondering why there wasnt a foam style medium that had the perfect water and oxygen retention / percentage (as pretty much everything is prone to overwatering)

then upon searching on the google, i found this: (no plug intended)

http://www.fytogreen.com.au/products/fytocell/index.html

does anyone here use this? or has given it a try? this means i can setup a dripper run to waste system on a timer, if this shit does what it says i'm sold...

it should theoretically (with an airpump & a constant flow of the optimum nutrients, ie: run to waste), should, compare to aeroponics & bubbleponics..

interested in your thoughts..

regards

That sounds pretty impressive, but it might also be just like oasis which I'm not a fan of. I've heard of some company making what sounded like rapid rooter-ish 6" rockwool replacements. I'll try to find a link.
EDIT: Shit, searched a couple online hydro stores but nothin... I originally saw em last yr when I was searching for a new light...

any info on oasis would help too, never heard of it over this way.. why do you dislike it?

and links on the other would be greatly appreciated!

regards

Al B used to use fytocel, He liked it. Iv'e never used it myself. Al posts about using fytocel in the Al B Faqt.

IMHO the perfect hydro-medium is reusable.... hydroton, lava rock, perlite, silica.... but active delivery methods determine which substrate would do best.

why couldnt i set up a dripper run to waste system with hydroton?

id have a resevior filled with water / nute mixture. the water would be fed via a water pump up the tubes to multiple nozzle heads each stuck into 3 gallon pots filled with hydroton and thus my plants. these 3 gallon buckets would have small holes for run off and be sitting in tray custom made to collect the drainage/ run off water and return it to my resevoir. repeat this three times daily during the light hours.

dont mean to jack a thread but am i missing a concept here regarding hydroton? total noob here btw so thanks for any help

Wodin said:

why couldnt i set up a dripper run to waste system with hydroton?

id have a resevior filled with water / nute mixture. the water would be fed via a water pump up the tubes to multiple nozzle heads each stuck into 3 gallon pots filled with hydroton and thus my plants. these 3 gallon buckets would have small holes for run off and be sitting in tray custom made to collect the drainage/ run off water and return it to my resevoir. repeat this three times daily during the light hours.

dont mean to jack a thread but am i missing a concept here regarding hydroton? total noob here btw so thanks for any help

Click to expand...

You'd need multiple drippers per pot or the water would run straight through without soaking the rootball, and you'd need to drip 24/7 or the roots would prolly dry out.

UserFriendly said:

You'd need multiple drippers per pot or the water would run straight through without soaking the rootball, and you'd need to drip 24/7 or the roots would prolly dry out.

Click to expand...

so use soil? or maybe the stuff mentioned in this thread? that stuff sounds pretty good

fytocel is a great alternitive if you can find it. I havn't been able to find it at any of the online hydro shops in the US. From what I understand if you do use it, you will need to cover the holes in your pots with garden cloth, or pack a thin layer of rockwool flock covering the holes to keep the fytocel from floating out.

you could just do a run to waste dripper system, but as clay rocks don't hold all that much water, as mentioned in the above post you would need multiple drippers & run them all day, it is also expensive, heavy, and a pain in the arse to clean, although it is re-usable...

this fyto stuff seems like the go, just have to find somewhere that sells it nearby then i'll do a comparison for you all...

Pinspot: this from the fyto website.. New Age Gardening have been appointed the US Distributor for Fytocell. Their contact details are as follows:
[email protected], Ph (562) 789 0345, Fax (562) 789 8479

maybe they can direct you to where to find it, i have to ring around this coming monday, i can't wait to do some side by side tests...

I was under the impression u should use stockings or pot socks if you're doing a recirc system, as there is some small bits, but im not sure how easy it is to work with...

regards

Thanks for that Codwalup. I'll look into it a little bit further. The air and h20 ratio is 40/60 making it pretty much impossible to over water. I know Al B fuct used it in his sog setup with great results. Maybe try it out for my next grow. What do you have for a setup now? and why do you prefer to drain to waste?

Wodin, You can do that setup with the clay pellets, just make sure your pump is coming on around every 2 hours during the light period. I would suggest starting in a 40mm rockwool cube for support, then adding the clay pellets around the cube. If your using a drip method, you should make a drip ring around the inside paramater of each pot. That way your dripping all around the rockwool cube, and not saturating it. If your doing an ebb n flow system, just make sure your water level dosn't go high enough to reach the cube.

pinspot said:

Wodin, You can do that setup with the clay pellets, just make sure your pump is coming on around every 2 hours during the light period. I would suggest starting in a 40mm rockwool cube for support, then adding the clay pellets around the cube. If your using a drip method, you should make a drip ring around the inside paramater of each pot. That way your dripping all around the rockwool cube, and not saturating it. If your doing an ebb n flow system, just make sure your water level dosn't go high enough to reach the cube.

Click to expand...

yeah, it's the fact that it can't be overwatered that is making me so interested..

The Fytocel is great from what I hear. Once I get rid of these last two bails of RW I am switching over. Al B said it increased yields by 30% vs RW in a Flood and Drain. It has the same water retention as RW but a much higher air retention. The clay pellets are good because they are reusable, but u have to clean and sterilise the shit out of them or they can transfer disease and ruin crops. Pump failure is also a much bigger threat with clay pellets. If a pump goes out for a half day u could lose ur whole crop, with Fytocell ur plants can survive for 3+ days before drying out if pump failure presents itself. If u grow for years and years, pump failure will present itself more than once, that could add up to BIG$$$, or a lot of sleepless nights without meds...

if anyone knows where to order fytocell post it here please, thanks

Look at the webpage, it shows one distributor for the US... Call that distributor and ask, problem solved.

brucetree: i listed US contact details at the top of this page..

i've ordered 2 50L bags & a fytoclone pack, and i'll be able to compare some same age plants side by side with soil, coco, rocks, aero & dwc.. will also be interested to see how fyto benefits yield, i'm somewhat excited for some reason..

codwalop said:

hi guys, upon some bowls & a small moisture check before the plants goto sleep... i was wondering why there wasnt a foam style medium that had the perfect water and oxygen retention / percentage (as pretty much everything is prone to overwatering)
interested in your thoughts..

regards

Click to expand...

The best medium is no medium...

Nothing but air!

StinkBud said:

The best medium is no medium...

Nothing but air!

Click to expand...

Yes it is, and it is also the most unforgiving. The only problem I have with ur grow Stink is the yield otherwise I am a big fan. ABF gets about 2 lbs evedry 2 weeks with the same watts and he uses Rockwool as the medium. U claim a pound every three, so in a 6 week period u harvest 2 pounds and he harvests 6. Why is he killing ur yields if no medium is the way to go? One view I have is that u are set on plant position and he can adjust his accordingly. Another is, a properly trimmed SOG will yield u much more than an unpropperly trimmed SOG. Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing ur grow, I love it! In fact I was building one similar and u helped me out with my design about 9 months ago.. Then I saw how easy Flood Tables were and I switched everything w/o even giving my Aero setup the time of day...