In trying to rig a recirculating system as to not waste nutes, I've come across a few issues some easier solved than others. My main concern is the clay that i use. I've cleaned it all well but there still is a brown hue to the nutes after they have passed through the pots. so my question is: What effects does clay have on a recirculating nutrient reservoir ? I know the pumps will certainly need cleanings more often but could it have any negative effects on PH , TDS, or be harmful in anyway ?
hey amber, i dont have the answer to that but i hope somebody does. what mine is doing is every time i fill and drain my ph jumps from 5.5 to high sevens or low 8s. then i down my ph and again fill and drain ph is up again. over and over again! so hopefully someones got som info. tap water,flora nova grow floralicious plus and diamond necture 55 gal res, reciculating system. ne body got info? sry didnt mean to hich hike on your thread, thank you amber
if you are using hydroton it has no effect on the solution. There is lots of lose clay dust in the bags and if you rinse it good prior to first use you should not get the brown hue. hydroton is ph stable and that is why it makes a good grow medium. If you are recycleing the hydroton make sure to clean with a bleach solution and rinse good and let it dry real good prior to reusing
Yah that! I use Hydroton in a waterfarm setup utilizing the GH keep it simple recirc program (yeild ~ 65g/sqft) and we add one step and one more rinse into that equation with peroxide. Bleach it, rinse it, peroxide it then rinse it again, always using RO water. First run on Hydroton there will be some clay dust that enters the system unless you are totally type A, I never found it had any effect at all other than a slight reddishish hue.