If you are a budget conscious hydroponic grower, or simply just want to find a good way to trim down your medium expenses, you should seriously take a look at the benefits of hydroton and hydroton specific nutrients.
Hydroton pebbles not only have a very low up front cost, they also save you a ton of cash over the long run because they are totally reusable.
Just clean them out and you can use them for your next growing season.
But far too many growers turn to hydroton nutrients without giving too much thought as to what they can do to maximize the potential of hydroton.
Using hydroton as your growing medium of choice has many benefits.
They can be found in the grow rooms of virtually every style of hydroponic grower, but they are particularly favored by growers of flowers and growers of certain vegetables for their valuable properties.
Here are some powerful ways to enjoy the most out of hydroton nutrients.
Clean it All Out - While it is true that hydroton can be used in other growing seasons, some hydroponic growers make the mistake of not cleaning it thoroughly enough.
If you do not work to clean it thoroughly enough, you might have some leftover organic material or even salts from the hydroton nutrients when you use it with your new plants.
The best way to clean them out is with isopropyl alcohol.
This does not just clean, it also disinfects.
After this, you should work to thoroughly rinse off the isopropyl alcohol with some properly pH balanced water.
Smaller Pots - Hydroton does have some absorbent properties, but they are essentially limited.
The porous nature of hydroton can soak some hydroton nutrients, but it cannot soak up nutrients as well as, say, rockwool.
But you can get around this problem by mostly using smaller pots when using hydroton nutrients.
This is because smaller pots make it a whole lot easier for the hydroton nutrients to cover everyone in the root zone.
You are much less likely to suffer from dry spots in between feeding cycles.
Combine Media - You may also want to try combining hydroton with some other media.
If you want to increase the overall absorbency in your grow trays or pots, you can use another medium with your hydroton that soaks up hydroton nutrients a little better.
You might consider using either loose rockwool or even coco coir.
Both of these media have proven absorbency, but you still will not lose any of the characteristic aeration of hydroton.
Coco coir is proving more and more popular amongst growers because it is one of the few completely organic media, and has a lot of intrinsic properties that helps plant growth while inhibiting disease.
Get the Good Stuff - Not all clay pebbles are created equal.
You should only confine yourself to purchasing true hydroton pebbles that have been manufactured in Germany and been fired in kilns at 1200 degrees Celsius.
This process makes the pebbles not only very strong and durable, but also very porous.
This is how they are able to soak up the hydroton nutrients.
If you buy a cheaper product, they just might not be quite as absorbent, which will create a lot of hassle that you do not need, and perhaps even better yields.
When in doubt, it is better to just spend a little more for a higher quality product.
Hydroton is a fantastic medium because it is totally reusable, porous, and absorbent, so you can have confidence that your plants are going to get enough hydroton nutrients.
One of the best ways to do this is through using hydroton pebbles always with hydroton specific nutrients.
These nutrients have been proven to work extremely well as they are specifically designed to work with hydroton, a truly fabulous hydroponic medium that can work with just about any growers budget.
If you are going to use hydroton as your growing medium in your hydroponics garden, be sure to look into hydroton nutrients.
Good luck!