Coco perlite or clay balls

Hi everyone

Just wondering is there much difference between Coco perlite and Coco clay balls

I've always use Coco clay balls in my auto pot setup but there's a good deal on Coco perlite

For the bottom two inch clay balls are a must.

For the rest of the pot it doesn't matter which , perlite or hydroton.. or neither.

No issue with using coco/perlite as long as you've got that 2" base of hydroton

I used to do the clay balls at the bottom but stopped the last two run and everything was fine.

I was a bit concerned that the perlite would act differently to the clay ball mix

In your situation with the autopot it probably doesn't matter but fwiw Perlite has good capillary ability, 100% of perlite will wick/lift nutrient 12/14" without any priming (soaking) from the top, I doubt clay pebbles would have that ability.

Ime 100% pebbles needed treatment with low pH so I just don't use them now.

I've always used a 70/30 coco/perlite mix without hydroton on the bottom and never had any issues.

Star Dog said:

In your situation with the autopot it probably doesn't matter but fwiw Perlite has good capillary ability, 100% of perlite will wick/lift nutrient 12/14" without any priming (soaking) from the top, I doubt clay pebbles would have that ability.

Ime 100% pebbles needed treatment with low pH so I just don't use them now.

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Where you been brother?

ProPheT 216 said:

Where you been brother?

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I had some family problems I had to deal with, thanks for asking buddy.

I got some seed booster by plagron as well.
I have a list of things to try

The one I'm most interested in is scarifing the seeds and a 1% hydrogen peroxide

Sorry brain fart I thought I was posting on my old seeds threed

I thing I'll try the perlite mix as is 7euro cheaper per bag and give it a bash

If your curious my set up check out my shed grow thread

MickFoster said:

I've always used a 70/30 coco/perlite mix without hydroton on the bottom and never had any issues.

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On autopots?

coreywebster said:

On autopots?

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Again brain fart Coco clay balls no balls in the bottom last two runs simply because I didn't have them

As I said there is a deal on Coco perlite and I've 9 fabric pots and it adds up 5-6 bags

@coreyhey buddy fwiw I set my autopot today, there's some perlite in it but not much.

I'm doing a autopot v dtw sbs

Star Dog said:

@coreyhey buddy fwiw I set my autopot today, there's some perlite in it but not much.
View attachment 5352379
I'm doing a autopot v dtw sbs

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Oooh they look different.
Where's the aqua valve located ?

@coreywebster they're in my veg/clone tent I'm hand feeding them atm to get roots out of the bottom then I'm putting them into the module to flower them.

There's a flaw in the design, after the pot has taken everything possible the valve doesn't open, it needs to be hand fed or you can use a piece of capillary matt at the bottom of the pot.