lava rocks and miracle gro has been a success

[John S]

Ron: My 45-bottle system with lava rocks and miracle gro has been a success; I've added shots of saltpeter to get nitrate, and it's worked out; we've been selling basil and other herbs from it. Am working on a bleach bottle system for the roof and wondered whether wood pellets, as for stoves, would work as a medium. They're really cheap, and would seem to me better than sawdust for aeration.Any advice? John S.

[Ron]

Hi John
I read in a book that a guy here in Florida in the 1960's grew tomatoes in peach baskets using wood chips as a medium
and the plants grew 12 feet tall. But they did say that the wood chips were sterilized by boiling them before use.
You can also sterilize them in a oven at 200 degrees but watch it you don't want to be telling the fire marshal that:
" All I was doing was cooking some wood chips the next thing I new the kitchen was on fire."
Ron