Hydroponic growing media

Question

I recently bought a vertical hydroponic kit, it comes with a growing media which is soft sponge like pebbles.

It seems like it crumbles even with water flow, and very fine sand covered the bottom of water tank. The material is also so light, so it is pulled by pump and the filter was clogged.

I tried a couple of things but they just delayed the build up on the filter.

I want to change the entire growing media, what would you recommend as a replacement?

vertical kit

Do you understand plants and growing them normally in soil? If not, I'd do a bit more study before getting too excited about hydroponics. As long as you understand this is a big experiment, you'll be fine. Someone on this site will give you guidance. I've been involved with plants for 50+ years and am not interested in hydroponics, yet. I have a hard time seeing the benefits over good old soil. Hydroponics is not a forgiving medium. Don't want to discourage just sayin' — stormy, Jul 21 '15 at 22:56

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 03 '15 at 13:21

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I checked with a local hydroponic store and their suggestion was clay pebbles, I washed them before filling the buckets (there was a fine dust on them). It has been couple weeks and the pump is clean. I hope it would help others to choose a growing media.

answered Aug 03 '15 at 13:21

dvdmn

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Geolite works great. – Evil Elf Aug 03 '15 at 14:32
I bought something just like that called Hydroton (I think) and it worked great. I had an ebb and flow setup. The media you got with the kit sounds very strange. – Tim Nevins Jan 15 '19 at 13:03

Hydroponic growing media

1 Answers1