Rocket Veg; Soil-Less In Hydro Is The Champ

[pic book]

I ran a trial of hydro vegges side-by-side in lava rock, round clay, and soil-less.  

Soil-less (promix bx with mike) achieved twice the size and rate of growth as the other two mediums.   i used clones of the same strain, same nutes, fed off a single rez at 63 degrees, 850 ppm (detroit tap water to make the juice was 175 ppm), 24-hour recirc top-watered 260 gals per hour, nute was general hydroponics maxigrow, a powder which is 10-5-14.  Water level was at the bottom of the pots.  in the case of the soil-less container, it was bedded in 2 inches of lava rock equal to the water line, and the 260 gallons per hour poured through the rock, with capillary action hoisting the moisture to the top of the soil in the container, which caused thousands of white roots with peculair wide flat furry-looking ends where overspray hit the soil.

The single diff was the medium.  Plant positions relative to the lamp were rotated every second day.  

Edited January 12, 2014 by pic book

[pergamum362]

Interesting.

[trichcycler]

excellent experiment, thanks for the results ! why do you think the pro mix out performed the balls?

[pergamum362]

I hate those balls...i havent used hydroton in years but yet theres still little clay balls here and there.

[Wild Bill]

I hate those balls...i havent used hydroton in years but yet theres still little clay balls here and there.

 

The cat loves them!

[pic book]

excellent experiment, thanks for the results ! why do you think the pro mix out performed the balls?

i think promix out-performing clay balls has to do with promix making more oxygen available or having more oxygen retention, but that is just shot-from-the-hip.  there are science majors on mmma who will have have something definitive to say on it.  i expected the soilless plants would die, but didn't have enuf naked rooteds to fill my hydro spots...so i risked putting dirt in hydro. 

i was surprised to see the profusion of fuzzy-to-the-max white roots that volunteered just under the surface of the promix.  i can't claim credit--the wayward spray from the top feed hose (which was purposely directed away from the stalk) still managed to squirt a portion of the surface of the pot, causing roots to develop in the shallow top pot as well as the bottom tub.

wish i knew how to diagram it on computer...cause rereading...what is he saying?

i have since searched utube and see my results are common and dirt in hydro is not original with me...but i am linkless.  my hydro is a nested top and bottom tub.  the top tub holds the dirt pot plant in place with lava rocks poured in around it.  the top feed flow through that rock causes roots to grow down through holes, like those in a net pot, into the bottom tub.  i put the dirt plants, holes in bottom of the pot, in the top tub with the the water level even with the bottom of the dirt pot.  instead of dying, dirt in hydro flourished.

Edited January 14, 2014 by pic book