Which is the best commercial hydroponic medium?

zem

Well-Known Member
so as the title says, which is the most suitable medium to grow hydroponically and commercially to start for example a tomato, strawberry, cucumber or so farm? it has to be economical and not too labor intensive. I looked into expanded clay, perlite, rockwool, gravel, coconut coir, coco, and many more. they are either expensive, or too heavy hard to deal with. I am leaning for expanded clay pellets as they are recyclable, but their cost is quite high making the initial investment to buy them a bigger risk. but they live for very very long can be reused indefinitely. what do commercial farmers use?
 

JonnyAppleSeed420

New Member
Most economical we have found for greenhouses here has been the rockwool system. Once you factor your labour for cleaning and re-using clay pellets(or any medium)you will see their not that cheap either. I have a tomato hot house on my route that has been growing in rock for going on 15 years now and produce some of the best in the country. The owners are 78 and 80 and require ease of use. At less than a dollar per plant for medium and ease of use, it is a viable option. JAS
 

superstoner1

Well-Known Member
The easiest and most economical way is no media. I use netpots with foam collars and cost is 13¢ per plant with no mess and nothing to clean.
 

JonnyAppleSeed420

New Member
I think he is talking commercial guys. From one 30x60 greenhouse you will create a full time position just washing hydro tons and it has to be done somewhere else. Using a washing machine will limit your uses as they progressively get smaller and smaller every wash. As for net pots...on this scale you don't even want to go there, unless you have nothing else to spend your time and money on. I have set up greenhouse space all over western Canada. Rockwool is the medium of choice here...on this scale.
 

zem

Well-Known Member
I think he is talking commercial guys. From one 30x60 greenhouse you will create a full time position just washing hydro tons and it has to be done somewhere else. Using a washing machine will limit your uses as they progressively get smaller and smaller every wash. As for net pots...on this scale you don't even want to go there, unless you have nothing else to spend your time and money on. I have set up greenhouse space all over western Canada. Rockwool is the medium of choice here...on this scale.
thanks for sharing your experience, in a flood and drain system, one can just harvest the plants with as much rootball as possible, the rest of roothairs is dealt with by flooding the rocks with H2O2 for a night or two, drain and flush then reuse, what's not practical with that method?
 

joe macclennan

Well-Known Member
I think he is talking commercial guys. From one 30x60 greenhouse you will create a full time position just washing hydro tons and it has to be done somewhere else. Using a washing machine will limit your uses as they progressively get smaller and smaller every wash. As for net pots...on this scale you don't even want to go there, unless you have nothing else to spend your time and money on. I have set up greenhouse space all over western Canada. Rockwool is the medium of choice here...on this scale.
Yep, you lose a little every wash. Maybe 10-15%. Still better than replacing thousands of dollars of rockwool.imo
and the washing machine does all the work. Turn it on go do some trimming. Come back and vaccum it out w/shop vac. and repeat. Easy peazy You can easily wash hundreds of pounds of rock in an afternoon while doing maintenance on the grow.
thanks for sharing your experience, in a flood and drain system, one can just harvest the plants with as much rootball as possible, the rest of roothairs is dealt with by flooding the rocks with H2O2 for a night or two, drain and flush then reuse, what's not practical with that method?
I wouldn't do this. Leaving roots behind will most likely cause problems later. H202 or not.
 

zem

Well-Known Member
Yep, you lose a little every wash. Maybe 10-15%. Still better than replacing thousands of dollars of rockwool.imo
and the washing machine does all the work. Turn it on go do some trimming. Come back and vaccum it out w/shop vac. Easy peazy

I wouldn't do this. Leaving roots behind will most likely cause problems later. H202 or not.
well washing a big load of RW in only a regular 5-7 Kg washing machine would take a long time if i had a commercial operation. + I doubt that washing machine would even live to finish cleaning the entire lot of rocks for a single big commercial greenhouse. One would have to get a kiln- like machine or something... I dont see it as commercially viable.
I think that a few roothairs will not do any damage, I mean, I have been growing with the same grorocks for like 8 years + now, I never even empty my totes entirely, I just remove the removable roots, clean with H2O2 35%, flush, and grow on. never had root disease in flood&drain. I think that trying to remove all roothairs is kind of "anal". btw I also use some H2O2 1/1000 during the growth period to prevent pathogens and larvae...
 

JonnyAppleSeed420

New Member
My advise is you should walk through a few different hot houses and just see what they are using. Maybe ask a few business related questions and get their honest opinion on the type of system they are running and why. When setting up a business all things must come into play to come up with a budget or business plan. Equipment and supplies is just one aspect as labour and a location. Start a budget and just see where you need to spend and when you can save. Did you know you can use any expenses you incur as tax right off, yes even if you do not have a license yet. So keep your receipts. JAS
 
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