Clarification on Cleaning and Reusing Hydroton

wtfruthinking

wtfruthinking

New Member
I've read so many different ways to clean hydroton. Some say to clean with hot water and hydrogen peroxide and others say to use bleach. Some clean and reuse once and others toss them and buy new. Just wondering if anyone can share your experiences.


:cheer:
 
I wash mine off in a huge net pot, 2 gallons I think, and a garden hose. No peroxide or anything, just water and then let it dry. I do it like I was washing veggies in a collander. Never had any problems reusing it.
If it's heavily stained with salt build up I do replace it.:goodluck:
 
I use the hydrogen peroxzide but at a low dose and a massive amount of water. I use the mix while I have them sitting in an old collander my grandma used to make grape jelly. After that treatment if they still have some nute salts on them I toss them. I usually get 2 or 3 runs from my hydrotron.
 
Thanks for all the responses. There's no way to get rid of the salt build up? This will be my 3rd use. All this time I thought they could be reused if cleaned properly. It wasn't until recently that I started hearing that people were tossing them out after a fun runs. Good to know.
 
I would not use bleach for the reason that hydroton has small areas and can hold and store small amounts of liquids. If bleach gets in these little crevasse it could harm the plants.

I use one step it is an organic safe oxygen based cleanser I use this for all of my beer brewing. My logic is if I can use it to sanitize my equipment and then drink it, its safe by me. Also one step is no rinse, which is a big up in brewing but just shows its extra safe IMO for cleaning grow supplies.

One Step - Cleaning Chemicals - Cleaning Chemicals & Equipment - Equipment

It works wonders, I use it to clean out all my tubs and containers, brewing science moved to growing who knew!

Moral of the story stay away from bleach because there are so many other safe cleaners on the market that will not have the potential to harm your plants and ultimately affect your buds! (lord have mercy if that happens!)

I would also like to state I don't keep my hydroton but one cycle. Reason being is I bought a HUGE 50lb bag of it and really have to much lol. Plus since I only use the little 3" net pots it doesn't take much to fill so I have plenty for many many cycles. Also I have herd of disease's and such being transfered from them. So I figured i would avoid all of that. Hydroton is really cheap.
 
Brewster said:
I would not use bleach for the reason that hydroton has small areas and can hold and store small amounts of liquids. If bleach gets in these little crevasse it could harm the plants.

I use one step it is an organic safe oxygen based cleanser I use this for all of my beer brewing. My logic is if I can use it to sanitize my equipment and then drink it, its safe by me. Also one step is no rinse, which is a big up in brewing but just shows its extra safe IMO for cleaning grow supplies.

One Step - Cleaning Chemicals - Cleaning Chemicals & Equipment - Equipment

It works wonders, I use it to clean out all my tubs and containers, brewing science moved to growing who knew!

Moral of the story stay away from bleach because there are so many other safe cleaners on the market that will not have the potential to harm your plants and ultimately affect your buds! (lord have mercy if that happens!)

I would also like to state I don't keep my hydroton but one cycle. Reason being is I bought a HUGE 50lb bag of it and really have to much lol. Plus since I only use the little 3" net pots it doesn't take much to fill so I have plenty for many many cycles. Also I have herd of disease's and such being transfered from them. So I figured i would avoid all of that. Hydroton is really cheap.
Click to expand...

LOL!
I'm in the same boat bro! I bought several big bags for a CAP Ebb & Gro and have since switched to soil. I still use three GH Waterfarms for veggies so I still can use the hydroton, I just have a 55 gallon barrel of it and I only need maybe three gallons a year!
 
"Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is toxic n is a strong oxidizer
that can cause severe damage to living material. In fact, the toxicity of bleach is such that it is often used as a disinfectant, and microorganisms have not developed resistance.

Algae and plants are no exception to the toxicity of bleach. Remember plants and algae rely on a variety of colored compounds for their
livelihood. These include chlorophyll, of course, but also carotenoids and
other "antenna" pigments and protective pigments. When these are damaged
or bleached-out, plants cannot photosynthesize.

Sodium hypochlorite also produces hydrochloric acid when in solution. This acid has toxic effects all its own. For example chlorophyll is very sensitive to exposure to acid conditions.

Bleach will be toxic to plants if left on for more than ten minutes. After ten minutes, injury or "burning" of foliage will occur."
 
Bleach will clean and kill everything.. It seems a bit risky. God forbid you missed cleaning one rock that has bleach residue and it kills everything. Maybe I'm being a bit extreme but I would avoid it if I can. You would think hot water and hydrogen peroxide is good enough. Maybe its time I change systems and use less hydroton. I'm currently using a drip system in 2 gal pots and using a lot of it. Let me know how it goes GreenThumb... Good luck. Be interested in seeing your posts.
 

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