clayballs or perlite.. ?

[allhailthebud]

could someone please point out the pros and cons or both clayballs and perlite.

 

my next grow will be quite large, so i am thinking i will use clayballs but i am not sure

[bongaloid]

Expanded clay is the way to go, as you can re-use the stuff after a good clean/soak, preforms excellently. Perlite is ok, but not suited to an automated timer/pump system, and it crushes to a hazardous fine dust the more you handle it....

 

Both medium need to be thoroughly rinsed before use though, clayballs to get rid of the red grit/dust, perlite to get rid of the crushed stuff. I assume this next "quite large" grow will be automated, so I'd go with the clay mate.

[bufo marinus]

Pro's and con's ?

imo the 2 go hand in hand quite well, both are relatively sterile medium, both can be used for recirculating systems.

Perlite really is the easiest medium to use, easier than soil, coco, rockwool and even clayballs, chicks should love this stuff it's like beautiful clean dirt, you put a rooted clone in and water with hydro nutes, what could be easier? It's easy to flush, has excellent water retention properties, it aerates the roots brilliantly as it dries, doesn't build up salts as annoyingly as coco, and is as fast as anything except maybe dwc. It can be hand watered in pots as long as it is flushed regularly every 2 weeks, can be used run to waste or re-circulating. Not to be under estimated. The downside of perlite; yes it is dusty crap, but you get used to dealing with that, also it stands out like dogs balls when your getting rid of the rootballs, some perlite can be re-used but dead roots encourage fungus gnats so not the best idea unless you have a good eye and patience .

Hydroton? yeah it works, but for some reason I have not grown with it as much as I wanted. Got heaps of the stuff here,... I think the re-circulating bit scares me off, blocked drain lines, which I have had problems with can ruin a crop in a day once the flow stops and the water backs up = instant over water. The other end of the spectrum is pump failure, 12 - 24 hrs with no water running over the roots = dead roots = dramas. Pot-socks and root barrier stuff, over size drain lines, regular inspection of the drain lines and pumps are all ways to deal with this, but it makes you a bit nervous if your going to use Hydroton why not go all the way and go dwc? In an attempt to get around root problems with some clay ball set-ups I have tried the most successful ones ended up with the roots growing into the res anyway so unless you have big tubs, plenty of money to waste, good pump/timer etc, an ounce of luck, and really know what your doing as well as the time to keep an eye on things then clayballs are a bigger gamble than perlite.

[nouseforaname]

hey,

Few other things to consider if its a biggin.. clay is noisy to move and heavier so more costly to frieght... perlites light n quiet... also gotta think at the other end of grow when your trying to dump/tip the tonne or two of medium.....

 

 

p.s- found pallet clay 40 bags clay 1040$

[Frazz]

Sorry if this is too far off topic but i ask you to also please consider red scoria rock (molten minerals of all sorts depending on the deposit, which are hurled from deep within the earth to the surface where they cool and form the honeycomb like structures)

used in my hand-watered grows of up 10plants i have found it superior to perlite or clayballs for the following reasons;

 

+ scoria rock is full of nooks and crannies where beneficial bacteria can flourish and it provides a larger surface area for nutrient adsorption via the roots.....a higher surface area = more sites for "cation-exchange", in other words more nutrients are able to be accessed by the tiny rootlets which can penetrate the nooks and crannies of all those scoria rocks ...

 

- not ideal for re-use as a medium, but can be used in landscape gardening as mulch or makes a fine driveway ... also not advised if pots are to moved around on a regular basis whilst growing, due to possible root damage

 

 

in my opinion

[wilderbud]

Clayballs lets you water more frequently so gives you more control (can be bad if the pump fails) and perlite (and coco or rockwool) is good for hand watering (filtering the sediment sucks). Clayballs can be re-used easilly many times.

 

Mixing them makes it a pain to reuse but lets you water more frequently than pure perlite.

Edited November 21, 2009 by wilderbud

[smokinjoe]

Hydroton all the way for me!

 

If you are using a recirculating system and the only difference is the media, then hydroton beats perlite for reasons already stated in other posts.