Vertigro and media

[M Cosmo]

First some history on how I got to this point and what I have learned and the current changes and research.

My vertigo stacks started off as inorganic Hydroponic.  The pots were filled half way with small perlite and then filled with Coir. As recommended by Vertigro.  Only the Tomato towers differed as they were 100% Coir. The stacks were feed through 1/2" landscape pipe to 1/4 drip tubing. The feeding was 3-7 times a day (depending on the time of year) at varying time lengths. The six pot stacks averaged 2 gallons a day.  

So when I went organic (maxicrop etc) pre fish, I upped the flow to about double that.  When the Aquaponics system came online I plumbed 1" header to 1/2" gate valve - drilled Plugs.

Now it is getting feed 14 mins of every hour during the day. It doesn't run for 7 of the night hours. 

Observations. the Coir evolves to a very dark rich soil like consistence.  They are very wet, heavy and dark.  They saturate and can't take all the flow - so they overflow.  Now this is worst case and only happening to about half of the pots.  

Current media research and testing. 

I obtained some large corse Pearlite and Hydroton.  I now have some pots that I am testing that are 

1. 100% Hydroton

2. 80% large pearlite and 20% Hydroton on the top.

3. 50% Hydroton and 50% Hydroton. 

4. 100% large Pearlite. 

You can see pictures of these test pots and the Coir that came out of the pots in my Photo album.  

[Jon Cavin]

Any pictures? Are there questions or just reporting as to status? Sounds cool.

[M Cosmo]

You can see several photo and Videos I just loaded up in my Vertigro and Media gallery.

Jon Cavin said:

Any pictures? Are there questions or just reporting as to status? Sounds cool.

[TCLynx]

So you have made the switch. Do you have any opinions about the different medias yet or is it too soon?

[Rob Torcellini]

I had tried coconut coir in my systems awhile ago...never really liked it. Just curious, how much do the vertigro's cost. Do you find that the styrofoam breaks apart?

[M Cosmo]

The pots are holding up great. They haven't broken I have seen ones that are 5 years old and they look like new. I have bought Coir from several places and the stuff from Vertigro is the best so far. I have attched their price lists. The Coir is $15.

[M Cosmo]

I just put this in yesterday. I did notice that the pearlite that was in my pots for over a year hasn't broken down any. This larger rock size is real nice and doesn't have almost any dust. Of course the Hydroton is a very nice media to work with. It went a lot further than I thought. I was worried about weight but the the Hydroton was lighter than I thought. I was able to buy it kinda locally and so I didn't have any shipping. Depending on how much it will cost I may stick with the 50% Pearlite and 50% Hydroton. I have to see what happens in August and September as it is extremely hot here in Hell as you know. I want to go to a 15 on 15 off cycle. I have a few questions about the Valve. I will address them in another posting.

TCLynx said:

So you have made the switch. Do you have any opinions about the different medias yet or is it too soon?

[M Cosmo]

Today I increased the flow cycle to 15 min on 15 min off. and added some 15min cycles during the night. Monday I will change over a few other stacks. One of the tomato stakes looked wilted but it picked up when I increased the flow. It was also in the mid 90s today like most recent days.

[Nate Storey]

I've played with peat, perlite, vermiculite, coir, rockwool, oasis media, you name it. I think you're on the right track with perlite and Hydroton- although I don't much care for perlite (floating, crushing, dust, etc.). I'd stay away from peat or coir or sawdust or any dense-water holding organic matter as much as you can in your system (if you decide to go recirculating). It just decomposes and ends up a really dense stuff- you'll have your root zones go anaerobic. You might try pure perlite (if you're trickling water over the media) (I'm really not sure how irrigation works in your towers. . .) with rockwool wicking strips. I've made these by cutting a rockwool slab down into thin strips with a bandsaw. If you keep them thin,they won't go anaerobic and it keeps your plant roots nice and wet between waterings, although they will break down over time and you may want to replace them when you change plants. And rockwool will buffer your pH a little.

Michael Cosmo said:

I just put this in yesterday. I did notice that the pearlite that was in my pots for over a year hasn't broken down any. This larger rock size is real nice and doesn't have almost any dust. Of course the Hydroton is a very nice media to work with. It went a lot further than I thought. I was worried about weight but the the Hydroton was lighter than I thought. I was able to buy it kinda locally and so I didn't have any shipping. Depending on how much it will cost I may stick with the 50% Pearlite and 50% Hydroton. I have to see what happens in August and September as it is extremely hot here in Hell as you know. I want to go to a 15 on 15 off cycle. I have a few questions about the Valve. I will address them in another posting.

TCLynx said:

So you have made the switch. Do you have any opinions about the different medias yet or is it too soon?

[M Cosmo]

Well I have changed over the second row of stacks to new media. I have taken the advice of others and moved away from Pearlite. I have located a good source of Medium Coconut Husk Chips and a different expanded clay clay media like Hydroton called Aliflor. The supplier is www.tropicalplantproducts.com in Orlando FL. the Aliflor is half the price or Hydroton. I put a third of the Aliflor on the bottom of each pot and 2/3 of the Medium Coconut Husk Chips. The Flow through is great. No overflow. They have been up for a week and I can see the root growth is coming in great.
It took about half of The Bale of Medium Coconut Husk Chips to fill the 2/3 of 36 pots in the row of 6 stacks of 6 pots. It took all of the bag of Aliflor to do the 1/3 of the 36 pots.
So it would take 2 bags of the Aliflor and 1 bale to do all 72 pots. 288 planting spots. Total cost for picked up media is $36 for the coconut and $40 for the 2 bags of medium Aliflor.
Some of the Coconut media will be lost durning the replanting.
I will post photos and keep you posted.