Growing in a bathtub, using 7 Gallon fabric pots, the soil is a mix of Fox Farm Ocean Forest, Coco Coir, Peat, Happy Frog Soil Amendment Hydroton Clay Balls, Azomite, Green Sand, Natures Nog, and a handful of Lite Warrior
My water is horrible, it is like 9.25pH, I need it to slow my PH and it also can provide plenty of air to the plant's root. The hydrotron is a good thing, they work well so far
I ran hydroton for years and the first thing I always did with a fresh bag was to soak it in vinegar to LOWER the pH... it comes in high from the factory and must be preconditioned so as not to mess with reservoir pH until it eventually stabilizes, which requires daily adjustment down for a week or two ... i can guarantee it is not helping your pH situation.
Hydroton does not add aeration when mixed with finer grained media. It is intended to be used as a standalone hydroponic medium.
This is a very odd mix of media which I have not seen before.
I'm curious to see how you manage it.
Now I know it doesn't work, the PH,
I started out filtering my water through the fridge filter which brought the chlorine down to a trace of between 0.03 to 0.13.
I give them very little water since they are seedlings in a 7-gallon pot and little recharge in water, ph to 6.3
About the mix media, i have seen on a fornum before, I try this in my first real grow, grow well so far.
No, 7 Gallon fabric pots (Root Pouches) that are raised up off the bathtub about an inch with wire racks to give airflow all around, better drainage and also to keep the tub from sucking the warmth from the soil.
Makes no difference whether it's pots or pouches or a laundry basket: 7 gallons of soil is a LARGE container to start in. Plant growth, soil aging, and light efficiency are all more easily managed using a regime of stepped up pot sizes, increased only as the plant outgrow the last one.
When you use such a large container , are you saturating all of your medium ? If not you have to guess whether or not all of your rootball is getting moist ! Repotting is very easy and you can examine your roots while doing so !