I got sick of everything about hydroton,you name it & i hate it,even lookin at it makes me remember all the work i did when i ran all 8 of our tables full of it.
I spent 2 years playin round with alot of different mediums,i did coco & hated it more than hydroton,soakin them bricks sucked.I used perlite,no good,rockwool,also no good,i tried alot of stuff when i had an idea.
Sponges,i start out using a root riot sponge plug for the clone,once its heavily rooted i take a net pot & put a layer of sponge in the bottom of the pot & set the clone plug directly on top the sponge,then i tear up chunks of sponge & wedge the chunks in between the clone & net pot to lock it in place.
This part i no longer do but i'll post it anyway.
After the clone is secure i then took a material like hydroton called hydrorock & put a layer on top of the sponge chunks to make sure none floated out while i waited for root mass to lock them in.
I found out that i didnt really need the rock for ballast as long as i wedged the chunks of sponge in real tight & secure so i no longer use any type of medium except the sponge & it works fuckin awesome,all my flood & drain tables have been converted to using sponge mediums now & im smitten with it.
I spoke with a friend of mine who owns a hydro shop & he found some type sponges made for commercial use,they come in slabs & are designed for commercial lettuce hydroponic grows,these sponges dont require a net pot, the plant floats around with the sponge serving as the medium & platform.
The lettuce sponges have'nt came in yet as they are on back order,when i get them i will post a thread showing how they work.
