Hydroponic Growing Media

What makes a great growing medium?

a) Is organic-made, biodegradable and environmentally friendly
b) Keeps an even ratio of air to water.
c) Has a medium cation-exchange capacity to hold nutrients.
d) Helps protect plants from pH changes over time.
e) Is inexpensive and easy to find
f) Is lightweight enough and easy to carry around

1. Perlite
Perlite is a very common growing medium that has been around for years, usually used by
traditional gardeners to add aeration to soil mixes. Perlite is a good choice for the wick-type
hydroponic system since it makes an excellent standing wicking action. But because of its
porous and easy-to-flow nature, I don’t recommend using this medium for quick and strong
watering systems like the ebb & flow. It can be washed away fast & easily.
Able to hold air very well, having neutral pH, but easy to flow, Perlite is rarely used alone.
People often mix it with other growing media like vermicule, coco coir or soil – A common
combination is with vermicule in equal quantity (50-50). Can be used in drip systems,
aeroponic systems.
Benefits:

 Reasonably inexpensive
 Lightweight
 High air retention.
 Reusable

Downsides:

 Lightweight, not suitable for certain system kinds.

 Dust from the medium – effects on the environment and health

2. Coconut Coir
What makes this one of the most efficient growing media for hydroponics is because it is
totally organic, highly inert, and holds water very well. But it has a really good air to water
ratio, saving plants from drowning.
Coconut Coir can be used alone or mixed with other growing media like perlite, expanded
clay pellets. A common formula used by growers is 50% of the coconut fiber & 50% clay
pellets. Can be used in drip systems, aquaponic systems, ebb and flow system.
Benefits:

 Excellent water retention and aeration

 Organic material
  Environmentally friendly

Downsides:

 Uncompressed after several uses.

 Doesn’t drain well, so often mixed with other media.

3. Vermiculite
Vermiculite is an excellent soilless planting medium. It is non-toxic, sterile, moist-resistant
and has a nearly neutral pH. What’s more, the material is very lightweight and able to hold
water very well, which is quite contrasting to perlite. Yet, it does not keep aeration as well as
perlite.
This growing media also has a reasonably great cation-exchange capacity, which helps keep
the nutrients for later use. They are often conjuncted in a 50/50 formula, which keeps the
mix from being washed away in ebb and flow systems. Can be used in the drip system,
aeroponic system.
Benefits:

 Water and nutrient retention

Downsides:

 Poor drainage capacity

 Danger of suffocating plants

4. Rockwool
Rockwool owns many benefits of an ideal growing material like microbe immunity, good
water & air retention. This protects your plants from dehydrating while giving plant roots
continuous available amounts of oxygen.
However, there is one word of caution about the pH level when using rockwool. The natural
pH of the material is usually high, which can alter the nutrient solution pH.
Prevent this by soaking this media into pH balanced water before using.
Another drawback is that rockwool is non-degradable and not sustainable. The unused fibers
of rockwool are almost unable to be disposed of.
Can be used in drip systems, ebb and flow systems, deep water cultures systems, nutrient-
film technique systems. Almost any system except aquaponics.
Benefits:

 Great water absorption and aeration capacity

Downsides:

 Not environmentally friendly

  The dust is not good for the health.
 Disturb the pH of the nutrient solution.

5. Hydroton (LECA)
The round and porous form makes clay pellets an incredibly balanced water to oxygen
medium. This neutral pH medium is reusable. People can clean, sterilize and reuse it.
Clay pellets are not a good water holding material because of the spaces between each pellet.
They will drain and dry out fast. So be sure to get the material watered enough.
Also, the pellets are heavier and more expensive than other media. Can be used in drip
systems, ebb and flow systems, aquaponic systems.
Benefits:

 Reusable, sustainable.
 Effective water drainage, and air retention.

Downsides:

 Poor moisture retention capacity

 More expensive than other growing media

6. Oasis Cube
The medium is pH neutral. Its cells absorb water and air fairly well, which is very necessary
for seeds or cuttings. What’s more, the roots can easily grow and expand within the
medium’s open cell structure.
Growers use oasis cubes primarily as a starting environment for seedlings or plants’ cuttings,
not as a full growing medium.
Benefits:

 Inexpensive
 Good water and air holding

Downsides:

 Not organic
 Not sustainable
 Used for germination and seedling growing phases.

7. Starter plugs
Hydroponic growers who care about the environment can find this product a good material
for consideration. They can choose starter plugs that are composted of organic materials.
 To make it useful for the starting phase of planting, starter plugs are often created from
materials that keep moisture well, are not easily waterlogged, and at the same time allows
the roots to expand and drive through the loose bottom.
Benefits:

 Excellent for seedlings, and propagation

 Sustainable (depending on the material used)

Downsides:

 Suitable for seed starting, or cloning.

 Relatively expensive

8. Rice Hull
This medium is not pH neutral. Final composts usually range from 5.8 to 7.2. Keep in mind
not to use fresh rice hulls because they are not sterilized, and there are risks of
microorganisms, decaying bugs, and weed seeds. Better to use parboiled rice hulls (PRH),
which has been stemmed, rice-free, dried and clean.
Rice hulls are able to drain water well. One disadvantage is that the material is decomposed
after some time, so should be replaced very often.
Benefit:

 Totally organic

Downsides:

 Break down over time

 Not pH neutral

9. Pumice
Pumice has good water retention, but not as good as vermiculite, which is also a mined
mineral.
Benefits:

 Lightweight.
 Excellent air holding capacity

Downsides:

 Lightweight for some hydroponic system

10. Grow stone
This medium is very lightweight, highly porous and above all, it has great air aeration, and
average moisture retention to the root system. You should start by washing and rinse the
medium thoroughly to remove small particles, and dust.
The medium is ideal for using alone or for mixing into peat, coco coir and other growing
media.
Benefits:

 Lightweight
 Good air to water ratio
 Sustainable

Downsides:

 Cling to some roots, which can cause root damage for some plant types.
 A little bit of dust.
 More expensive than other media.

11. Sawdust
One word of caution is that you should know what kinds of wood your sawdust is made – is
it chemically treated and contaminated? This is absolutely unhealthy if you are growing
edible food on this medium. So double check about that, and if it has chemical treatment,
make sure it is sterilized before use.
Many Hydroponic growers don’t like sawdust because it compacts quickly, pH-altering, and
can be contaminated.
Benefits:

 Organic
 sustainable.

Downsides:

 pH fickle
 Rot over time, and can cause bacteria.
 May not be sterile

12. Wood Chips/Fiber

 Make sure that wood chips are not used from contaminated wood, or should be sterilized
before using. Wood chips hold water well. But it is not so compacted and waterlogged as
sawdust.

Benefit:

 Totally organic
 Able to retain water well.

Downsides:

 Biodegradable
 Can contain chemicals.
 May bring fungi, pests.

13. Peat Moss

This is a good medium for soil and hydroponic planting because of its ability to retain water
and hold nutrients well. Peat moss can get wet then rehydrate quick and doesn’t compact or
break down easily. These keep the material’s life cycle of several years of use.
What’s more, the medium doesn’t contain adverse weed seeds or microorganisms, unlike
other organic compost.
People can blend peat moss with perlite, vermiculite, or styrofoam particles to add aeration
and adjust the PH of this medium.
Benefits:

 Good water, and nutrient holding.

 Doesn’t compact
 Doesn’t comprise of harmful bacteria or weeds

Downsides:

 Not renewable.
 Low pH, acidic.
 Relatively expensive

14. Sand
 People can use sand as a great starting medium and then try with other media as this media
is quite heavy, and has poor aeration qualities, and must usually be cleaned. You can mix it
with vermiculite, perlite, or coconut to increase the medium’s aeration.
Benefits:

 Cheap (or free).

Downsides:

 Heavy
 Low aeration
 The tiny size which can block some system types

15. Gravel
Because gravel is rocks, its weight makes a gravel based system, especially large one hard to
carry. But that comes with an advantage that is durable and can be reusable. As long as you
wash and sterilize it, you can start using for first time growing or reusing.
Benefit:

 Cheap (or free).

Downsides:

 Poor water retention, not suitable for heavy plant roots.

 Heavy

16. Air
Plants grown in the air have a big advantage that their root can get access to plenty of
oxygens (which totally comes at no cost).
On the other hand, this makes plants totally depend their life on the system. Suppose there is
a power cut, a pump or timer failure, you can guess that the roots will dry out quickly, and
the death of plants can be expected. Can be used in nutrient film technique systems, deep
water culture systems.
Benefit:

 Plenty of oxygen.

Downside:

 Plant danger in the event of-of power, pump, timer failure