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Hi,
I would really like to avoid coco in my hydroponics autopot system. I don’t want to focus on my reasons, but just for some context they are: Time in prepping, mess indoors, long term reusability, inability to inspect bare roots, expense where I live.
I presume that just LECA alone would lack sufficient “wicking power”. So I was thinking one could add vermiculite (which I believe is much more porous than perlite) as the wicking medium.
I also had a bit of a crazy idea – using actual cotton wicks (maybe 4 per 15L pot). But I suspect even with a few wicks, the air gaps would be too great for a good average saturation of the LECA? I would much prefer to only stock a single grow medium so if you think this provisionally has merit I would be keen to experiment.
Can you comment on any way to avoid coco, but still get 95% of the result? Perhaps you have even tried 100% LECA and 100% perlite, or a mixture of the two? My crop is not edible and more medicinal, if you get my drift.
Lecca mixed with vermiculite will work well, as will Lecca and perlite….. please ensure that the Lecca is pH stable, if they are completely round then I would suspect they will need stabilising. Therefore soak the Lecca in pH 5.5 for at least 24 hours first the longer the better, you can also add a 1/4 strength feed too so that the Lecca soaks up the feed while stabilising, once soaked wash off with pH 5.8 water. Lecca is now ready for use…simply mix with perlite or vermiculite or both.. pH in reservoir 5.6-5.8
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