# How to clean.....



## unseenghost (Jan 23, 2008)

How to clean hydroton pebbles of all the root material?


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## DLtoker (Jan 23, 2008)

Get a hose and spray them down after you have picked most of it out.  It is a fairly intensive process so spark a doobie and get comfy.  I also know of people that let them soak in a diluted bleach solution afterwards.


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## unseenghost (Jan 23, 2008)

Thanks for the quick reply. I was afraid of the fact that it would be an extensive proccess. Oh well. What needs to be done needs to be done.


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## Puffin Afatty (Jan 23, 2008)

I just let em dry, then run them over a screen to dislodge the roots, then wash em in tap water and dry.  I bought a big enuf bag that I can wait a year or so for them to get good and dry, before recycling them. apparently, they last nearly forever.


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## DLtoker (Jan 24, 2008)

I hear from ebb and flow users that hydroton does have a life span.  They claim the hydroton looses some of it's ability to hold moisture due to the pores clogging from salts and other debris.  Keep in mind this is hearsay...


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## Puffin Afatty (Jan 24, 2008)

DLtoker said:
			
		

> I hear from ebb and flow users that hydroton does have a life span. They claim the hydroton looses some of it's ability to hold moisture due to the pores clogging from salts and other debris. Keep in mind this is hearsay...


 
I didnt know hygroton held much moisture, but this does make sense for pourous stuff.  I dont have a problem with salt build up, but there is alot of root matter that needs to dry and be removed every time I change the hygroton.

I have used the same bag of hygroton for 16 years, most of it several times.  I havent noticed any degradation to this point, save the occassional broken stone.


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## POTUS (Jan 24, 2008)

I have a simple process I use for mine. I've done this successfully, many, many times with no problems.

I let the hydroton dry out until all the roots are nice and dry where they'll crumble easy. I have plenty on hand, so I usually wait about a month.

Then I dump it into a big tub and just mix it around gently until all the roots are crumbled on the bottom.

I rinse it and then pour boiling water over them until they're covered good.

Dump it out and let it dry again.

Ready to use!


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## kasgrow (Jan 24, 2008)

I soak my hygromite rock in water with h2o2, hydrogen peroxide.


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