Tire mulch works! (so far)

Eharmony420

Eharmony420

Well-Known Member
Im using tire mulch form home depot's garden section. Its recycled tire mulch, red, looks like little chips. Works so far, i used it for one clone, and miraculously today i spotted roots, healthy whit ones! I say miracoulsy becasue this clone had almost all its roots ripped out in transplant from rw ebb pot as i had not enuf rockwool. So for 10 bucks at hd i got a huge bag of tire mulch. Good solution if yu dotn feel like mail ordering mediums and wont go near a hydro store! I still have to woory if the weed will smelllike tires, i'll le tu know, rofl:):fire::leaf::weed::weed::weed:
 
Al B. Fuct

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
Just about any nonreactive, neutral pH, granular material will work as a hydroponic medium. Alternative media to the usual rockwool, perlite, Fytocell, & clay pellets include fish tank gravel, crushed pottery bits, lava rock, shredded plastics, broken automobile window glass and many other things- including shredded rubber tyre bits. :)
 
Little Tommy

Little Tommy

Well-Known Member
What do you know - you learn somethig every day. That i8s what I love about this community. I currently grow in soil but think maybe someday I'll switch over to hydro. Filed that info in the vault.
 
2

250wpride

Well-Known Member
I wanna try it for my flood and drain but am not sure about its retention values and how often i should flood.
 
theotherc

theotherc

Well-Known Member
I tell you what. I had a 6 site bubbleponics set up and it worked great. Now using Hempy Buckets and think I am hooked this method. Although you have to water yourself, It give me the control of doing so and still be hydroponically grown. There are so many method's and mediums you can use. I love to see people venture out and try new think's. Just leaves you thinking whats next!

C.
 
Al B. Fuct

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
I would expect tyre mulch to behave a lot like clay pellets. It won't absorb much (if any) water and depending on the size of the bits, should have a lot of air gaps between the bits of rubber. If using it in a flood sys, it could tolerate frequent watering.

If you have started your clones in RW cubes, once you have roots out of the bottom of the cubes, nest them deeply enough in tyre mulch to keep the clone vertical but keep the cube 1/2" above the flood level.

Start by flooding the tyre mulch 5x/lights-on. Increase that to every 2h beginning at lights-on for vigorous, maturing plants, avoiding watering in the last 2h of lights-on.
 
Eharmony420

Eharmony420

Well-Known Member
Lol, they had a choice, red tire mulch or black. I went with red. FIRE! SToned. . .lol. Glad i got a worhty post. I also just bought a 370 gph inline pump to hopefully work ,y aero. At least it's inline. They had on ebay last week a 500 gph inline pump for 24 dollars with shipping, but i dd not gofor it. I was thinking dwc. Now that gone. This one same price
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Eharmony420

Eharmony420

Well-Known Member
Tire mulch roots faster than anything i have ever seen! Pics wud nt do it justice. Of course in the rw i noticed thay really grow into that stuff. It pretty cool. But beacuse of the way the lighthunks of mulch lay and yet remain compact they readily hit the water. I pleased. This plant was mangled it roots quickly found dwc home! Next i use it in aero!
 
Al B. Fuct

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
It's very easy to overwater RW and most growers do it. I overwater a batch of clones in RW cubes from time to time and have to recut my stems.

If you were overwatering your RW, it would have caused slow rooting and slow root development once (or if) rooted. Rubber bits will not be very absorbent, the water that medium holds will be mainly there due to surface tension between bits of rubber. Tyre mulch will be much harder to overwater than RW, so your root development may appear comparatively better than overwatered RW.
 
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