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#1
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Cleaning grow rocks
I have tried to clean my grow rocks using a diluted bleach water solution and brushed them around with a big brush. There is still a white lime looking residue on some of them that doesn't seem to come off. Just wondering if anyone knows a good way to clean this off using stuff found around the house?
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#2
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I used a heavy bleach solution to wash my Hydrotom clay beads, then rinse like crazy and they seem fine. But, I also have only used distilled water in my setups thus far and haven't really had any white residue to deal with. I know if I used my Well water I would as everything in my house gets a white buildup.
I would suggest CLR, but I don't think that would be safe in the long run. I have heard of people baking their beads or even doing it in the B.B.Q. because they weren't really happy with the smell. Not sure if that would help with your issue either, but might be worth a try with a small mount of them. |
#3
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Just out of curiosity are we talking about this "white residue" being more like hard water stains or something...or are we perhaps looking at more like a salt residue/build up from the nutrients?
If it's the later you could perhaps try using an organic nutrient instead as I believe the organics won't have any of the salt buildup. I don't use organic nutrients (yet anyways) and you can see I have this buildup around the lid of one of my containers where the nutrient solution gets from time to time. |
#4
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I started this thread a long time ago and hadn't received any reply's, so I e-mailed my question to General Hydroponics a day or two later. They told me this white residue was from the salt buildup. Also that the bleach solution would sanitize the grow rocks but wont get rid of the salt buildup. They also said that the only thing that will get rid of it was the FloraKleen, I didn't know if that was just a sales pitch or not, but had nothing else to go on. I also thought about using CLR but didn't (and still don't) want to risk the plants and grow rocks on untested products because there may be chemicals that cant be washed out in these that will be toxic to the plants.
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#5
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I plan to buy some FloraKleen this year also.
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#6
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wouldn't a weak acid remove it? maybe drop a few clay pallets in a bowl of vinegar and see what happens.
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#7
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That might do it, I used Fox Farms last year and had a lot of salt buildup, this year I am using GH Floranova, and have not had that problem.
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#8
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Probably a good bet. Looking at the data sheet for FloraKleen it has a pH of 4.0, so it's fairly acidic anyways.
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#9
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I'm slowly trying to make my way through the topics.
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#10
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I just got done cleaning about 7 gallons of Hydroton. UGG. But it's cheaper than replacing it.
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#11
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"Ingredients: Flora Kleen Cleaning Flush Solution is a specially formulated mixture of chemicals that are mixed in proportions to assure adequate removal of nutrient residues. The chemical identity of the compounds and exact proportions used in the mixture are a trade secret.' That is from General hydroponics website, so I don't think they would give any information to the public. |
#12
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proberbly means http://www.generalhydroponics.com/ge...lora_Kleen.pdf
Density: 1.01 pH: 4.0 Appearance and Odor: Light blue odorless solution Odor Threshold Range: Unknown Vapor Pressure: Unknown Water Solubility: Miscible Boiling Point: 1010 c Melting point: -10 c Other Solubilities: Unknown |
#13
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One thing that I found strange about the FloraKleen is the boiling point. I don't know how that relates to it cleaning if at all, but it says that it boils at 1010 degrees Celsius. That's well over 4 times that of water at 212 degrees Celsius. Of coarse they don't say what is in the FloraKleen, so I don't know what would cause the boiling point to rise so high. But that might be a hint as to what is in it. There cant be too many things that would cause that, and it must be there for a reason. It also appears to be colorless, odorless (more or less) and a fluid, or at least dissolves in fluid. Anyone remember their chemistry classes from collage? |
#14
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I just use bleech to clean mine with. But I am going to buy some FloraKleen.
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#15
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Yes, I will use bleach also. That just sanitizes them but does not get the dissolved salts off.
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#16
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I use the FloraNova Nutes and they aren't as bad with the salts.
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#17
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How do you like them? Do you think they are any better than the flora series? I think they are supposed to be more concentrated and more expensive because of it. How do they compare in price once you mix it? |
#18
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I have been told they are made to be low salt nutes. I use about 1 tsp per gallon, the grow is very thick (like Molasses), I haven't used the bloom yet because I have been growing veggies that don't bloom, i.e. lettuce, spinach and celery. So far I really like Floranova, I like the 2 part mix instead of the 3 part mix. I also have the Floralicious Plus and the KoolBlooms.
I just started some green beans, a tomato, and a pepper. I will let you know how it turns out. You can watch it on my Hydrocam I transplanted the beans this morning and they are only about 3" high now. |
#19
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#20
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Well it's not that thick but it is thick. I tend to mix it a bit weak. I have found that weak is better than strong, but I was growing lettuce and spinach with it so far, both of them are light feeders.
For the beans I will probably make it stronger, I am trying to keep the PPM below 1000 so far. |
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