Hydroponics Made Easy

CHAPTER 5
GROWING MEDIA
Most plants will grow in an amazing variety of media. Of course not all
media will give the best results, but for the sake of argument, if you are
installing hydroponic on a desert island and you have little chance of importing media, what do you do ?
Most desert islands have three possible media. Coral, sand and coconut
fibre. Try them. Try the three side by side together with anything else you
can think of. Try the coral in large lumps, finely ground and several
grades in between. Make your coconut fibre loose or harder packed. Try
mixing one, two or all three in various combinations. There are no fixed
rules and experimentation can be fascinating. In fact, one of our users
from Western Samoa, found that getting supplies of commercial media
was such a problem, that they in fact used coral sand to good effect.
Where theres a will, theres a way, and even if the end result is less than
the ultimate it may well be a good result and extremely practical.

Cucumber grown in
fabric off cuts.

Remember, all you need to provide is a form of support for the root system, the hydroponic nutrient is designed to provide the nutrition required.
As a general rule of thumb, you could follow the principle that the longer
the growing period of the plant, the coarser the media should be.
A growing medium is simply a means of anchoring the root systems of
the plants in a zone where the nutrient can reach them. The medium also
assists in the distribution of the moisture and helps to provide aeration.
Itis also a fact that the smaller the particle size, the more water the mixture will hold and the less aeration provided. Sand, perlite and vermiculite
are examples of this. Conversely, the larger the particle the greater the
aeration and the less the volume of water held in the medium. Leca and
coarse scoria fall into this category. Frequently the best solution will be a
mix of fine and coarse particle media.

Chinese cabbages grown in

potting mix.

Autopot System can use a wide range of media. Its purest hydroponic
form will use inert media. But because of its unique action, the system
can also use totally organic material as well. In most hydroculture the idea
of mixing inert media with potting mix or allowing organic material like
animal manures to get into the medium goes right against the accepted
rules. In an Autopot System there are even cases where it is an advantage.
For instance, a tray system that is out in the open will benefit from a surface dressing of organic fertiliser to counteract the diluting effect that
rainwater has on nutrient.
The following are some of the more commonly used media, listed in
roughly the order of their total use, but not necessarily in order of their
1

Tomatoes grown in Scoria.

Hydroponics Made Easy

effectiveness on any particular type of system.

1. PERLITE. Made from mined silica and expanded by high temperature to many times its original mass, something like popcorn. It is
light, absorbent and comes in grain sizes from about a millimetre
cubed to about two or three times that size. It is standard (or default)
medium for use in Autopot System.
2. VERMICULITE. This is a form of mica and is also mined. It too, is
light and absorbent. In fact it has many times the absorbency of perlite. It is more easily broken down and less stable than perlite. In
Autopot System it has been found to be of use in pots of a minimum
diameter of 12 and then only in about 10% to 30% of the mixture. Its
high absorbency gives a boost to the capillary or wicking action. As a
rule of thumb, the deeper the pot, the more vermiculite is useful, up to
a 30% nominal maximum.
3. ROCKWOOL. This is also a form of silica that is melted and spun
into fibre in much the same way as Fairy Floss (cotton candy to those
with a US education). It comes in two standard forms, granulated and
fibre. The fibre is compacted into slabs and treated with a surfactant
(wetting agent) for hydroponic use. Although from the same source,
insulating material such as pink bats, is not suited to hydroponic use.
The most common hydroponic forms of growool are cubes and slabs.
A 6cm cube of the sort readily available from hydroponic shops and
hydroponic sections in nurseries and with a plastic side sleeve will be
ideal for propagating single lettuces and will be fine for raising them
from seed to table. Slabs can be used for propagating and simply cut
into sections once the plants are ready for transplanting to a container
that allows more room for growth. This is particularly useful when
added warmth is required for early season propagation and the propagating is done in a hothouse environment or in warm inside areas.
Dont neglect to work out a system for several stages of acclimatisation. It does not pay to transplant seedlings from hothouse to the open
without doing so. Loose granule can be gently packed into containers
and used in much the same way as perlite or mixed with larger aggregates such as scoria to give extra aeration.
4. SCORIA. A form of crushed rock. Normally graded into several sizes
ranging from around 15mm down to perhaps 3mm in diameter and
usually a characteristic red or terra cotta colour. Similar in structure to
various volcanic rocks. It is very hard and has reasonable capacity for
absorbing and conveying water. Scoria is not recommended as a single medium in any Autopot System, but when used as a base with
growool on top or mixed with various other media, scoria can be very
effective and is extremely inexpensive. The finer grades are good for
crops like lettuce, medium grades for tomatoes and such plants and
coarse grades for large plants like banana palms, fruit trees and similar
large perennial plants.
5. LECA (EXPANDED CLAY). A rather exotic looking medium, Leca
are large pebbles of expanded clay that looks something like small
bird eggs.
SAWDUST. The great majority of sawdust that come from timber mills in
Australia is from gum trees and this is not suited to hydroponic systems.
Most other sawdust is though, with suitable paration
2

Perlite in 100-litre bag.

Crushed rocks used

in Mauritius.

Scoria used in Australia.

Washed river pebbles.

Hydroponics Made Easy

1. and this includes pine. Fresh sawdust of any sort cannot be used. It
must first be aged and matured to the point where that bacteria in the
sawdust has ceased to be active. While useful when mixed with free
draining media such as sand, perlite and such materials, sawdust has a
number of problems such as high C:N ratio and a propensity towards
harbouring root and fungal diseases.
2. OTHERS
Pebbles: Various pebbles can be used and treated as scoria. Pebbles
should be used in a finer grading than scoria as they do not have as
much water holding capacity. They are good to use under rockwool or
to be mixed with sawdust.
River Sand: Well washed river sand graded to a size of between 2 and
5mm is a useful medium in Autopot System. It is best mixed with
rockwool or almost any absorbent material.
Sea Sand: This is a useful medium when well washed and graded so
that the very fine particles are removed. Really fine, particularly white
fine sands actually inhibit the flow of water. Coarse sea sand can be
used in the same manner as river sand.
Coral Sand: Not really ideal, but when it is all that is available it is
OK. Mixed with crushed coral and even the small sea shells that are
found on most beaches it is at its best.
Desert Sand: If you can find reasonably coarse desert sand graded to
between 2mm and 5mm, it can be washed and treated as river sand.
Ordinary Garden Soil: In an Autopot System, if it is reasonably free
draining soil or if it is mixed with sand and animal manures, ordinary
garden soil can be surprisingly good. Best if treated twice a year with a
surfactant (wetting agent) like Wetta Soil.
Pink Bark: Old pine bark found at the base of most pine trees and either crushed or graded to 3 to 8mm chips will prove to be an excellent
medium with most crops and is in fact a medium preferred by orchids.
As it occurs naturally in the environment, well exposed pine bark has
no nasty bacteria carrying problem such as you can find in sawdust.
Use 100% on its own or mixed if you prefer.
Rice Bran: Similar to sawdust but less difficult to deal with. It needs
to be well aged to be effective and is at its best as a 30% mixture in
river sand.
Hay, Chaff and Straw: Well ages, soaked in a nutrient solution for a
week, dried again and reduced to 5 to 10mm lengths, these media are
good and can be used either as 100% or as mixtures with other media.
Try your own ! And if you come across something that works for you,
please tell us. Lots of hydroponic specialists detest new information.
We love it !
******

Crushed rocks (for road making )

used in Paraguay.

Another view of the scoria used in

Warrnambool, Australia.

Leca (expanded clay) imported

from Holland.

Granulated rock wool.