Grow Mediums Affordable "Hydroton"

[LimeCat]

These folks have a Hydroton equivalent for a fraction of the price, and I believe $25 flat-rate shipping.
I bought 400 liters and paid $25 shipping:

https://hortamericas.com/catalog/hy...-americas-expanded-clay-agregate-substrate-3/

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Hey @LimeCat You need to check if they are PH neutral. Put some in a jar and fill with water of a known PH and see if it changes. I bought some cheap ones once and they raised the PH for a long time before it stopped. I had a lot of trouble starting my grow in them and ended up throwing them away. The web side does not state PH balanced one way or the other.

 

[LimeCat]

Hey @LimeCat You need to check if they are PH neutral. Put some in a jar and fill with water of a known PH and see if it changes. I bought some cheap ones once and they raised the PH for a long time before it stopped. I had a lot of trouble starting my grow in them and ended up throwing them away. The web side does not state PH balanced one way or the other.

Thanks @Mañ'O'Green!
I will do that before trying to use them.
Do you think that a repeated soak/rinse/soak/rinse would help if they do raise the PH? I have time to do that while cycling my system, before putting seedlings in.

 

[AutoWonders]

I just bought some today and my bit of research showed that the cheaper the pebbles, the lower the quality, especially when it comes to their dust output etc.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Thanks @Mañ'O'Green!
I will do that before trying to use them.
Do you think that a repeated soak/rinse/soak/rinse would help if they do raise the PH? I have time to do that while cycling my system, before putting seedlings in.

I don't know. I just threw out the offending pebbles and bought PH neutral ones. My seed, time and power are too expensive to risk on cheap inputs.