what is the best way to clean hydroton rocks??

[edgewater21]

How clean should they be and how do you clean them>> I rinse and rinse, but they still dont seem clean?? How do the experts on here do it?

 

[tSunami13]

I've had good luck boiling them or letting them soak in boiling water. Then you can bake them at like 200 for 10-20 minutes to sterilize.

 

[edgewater21]

I've had good luck boiling them or letting them soak in boiling water. Then you can bake them at like 200 for 10-20 minutes to sterilize.

are you serious?? all that?

 

[tat2ue]

I usually have two or three 5 gallon buckets of dirty hydroton that I have clean and reuse every 4-5 weeks. But I usually let them soak for a couple of days in a trash can filled with water and a bottle of Florakleen to break down the salts and shit that are absorbed into the hydroton. Then I tumble them in fresh water in a portable cement mixer I bought from Home Depot that I used for another home project. I usually have to run them thru several times but it does the trick for me. Also I add some bleach to the next to last rinse to kinda disenfect them.

 

[edgewater21]

I usually have two or three 5 gallon buckets of dirty hydroton that I have clean and reuse every 4-5 weeks. But I usually let them soak for a couple of days in a trash can filled with water and a bottle of Florakleen to break down the salts and shit that are absorbed into the hydroton. Then I tumble them in fresh water in a portable cement mixer I bought from Home Depot that I used for another home project. I usually have to run them thru several times but it does the trick for me. Also I add some bleach to the next to last rinse to kinda disenfect them.

i mean how do you clean brand new hydroton? Mine dont have salts and stuff since they are new I just am wondering what is an easy way to get the dust off of them where they dont turn the water brown.

 

[tSunami13]

Oh I was thinking used hydrotron, all ready grown in.. Put them in a five gallon bucket and rinse and rinse. Then rinse some more, and one more time, then at least 4-5 more times. Hopefully you have access to a hose outside, it makes it real easy. Then if you got a strainer give em one last rinse.

 

[tat2ue]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing used (used hydroton). A good way I learned to clean new hydroton pebbles is to take an old 5 gal plastic bocket or tote, cut a hole in it w/ a hole saw on the bottom big enough for one of your net pots to fit into. Prop it up on something like a cinder block or something and run the hose on it. The dust and grit will wash down to the bottom as the water drains thru the net pot.

 

[edgewater21]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing used (used hydroton). A good way I learned to clean new hydroton pebbles is to take an old 5 gal plastic bocket or tote, cut a hole in it w/ a hole saw on the bottom big enough for one of your net pots to fit into. Prop it up on something like a cinder block or something and run the hose on it. The dust and grit will wash down to the bottom as the water drains thru the net pot.

I had a good idea what if i took the lid of my bubbleponics tote and put the net pots in it and put the rocks in and propped it out side and hosed it from above, wouldnt all the dust and crap run down thru the net pots to the ground until they were clean and then only clean water would run thru the pots?

 

[RasDan]

I fill a 10" net pot with hydroton and soak it in the sink and rinse I change the water and do it again. I keep soaking and rinsing and changing untell the rinse water comes out clear. Then I soak and rinse again just incase. I do the same for used but I add bleach.

 

[researchkitty]

Due to the size of my own grow operation, I find it easier to empty bags into a bathtub, and turn on the shower for an hour or so. The Hydroton's particles that wash off arent going to clog any normal drains, so it just washes down very easily.

 

[420cake]

I took a 5 gallon bucket and drilled a few hundred small (smaller than the hydroton) holes in the bottom. I rinse these buckets in the tub under the shower spray. I also use a 6 gallon bucket with no holes and fill it 1/2 way with a 5% bleach solution, take the 5 gallon bucket and dip it into the 6 gallon. Then I again rinse the 6 gallon with clean water.