A
ALToronto
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So - if I want to 'refresh' my LECA or lava rock, what's the best way to get the mineral build-up out? I was thinking citric acid - or will it cause more problems than it solves?
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Stone
Well-Known Member
Soak it in fresh water
NYEric
Well-Known Member
"pure" water,
Stone
Well-Known Member
Don't know about yours Eric but our fresh water is as pure as the driven snow.:evil:
iwillard
Well-Known Member
Al,
I use Clearex salt leaching solution for my used LECA and rockwool. I just tried it on a batch of CHC-24 hour soaking-24 hour in Clearex-rinsed twice-24 hour soaking period. TDS reading at 45ppm in well water (normal TDS reading for my well water is 120ppm),I opted not to use RO due to copious amounts of water usage and may try it again with RO in a small batch of chc but I was pleased with the result.
I use Clearex salt leaching solution for my used LECA and rockwool. I just tried it on a batch of CHC-24 hour soaking-24 hour in Clearex-rinsed twice-24 hour soaking period. TDS reading at 45ppm in well water (normal TDS reading for my well water is 120ppm),I opted not to use RO due to copious amounts of water usage and may try it again with RO in a small batch of chc but I was pleased with the result.
NYEric
Well-Known Member
Our fresh water comes from the fawcet, it contains chlorine and many other tasty chemicals!
OK. I give up - how can the TDS of the CHC-rinse water be lower than that of the water going in?
The only possibility, of course, is that the CHC is absorbing dissolved solids from the water - i.e., not likely.
Alla - I have used citric acid soak to dissolve minerals from clay pots, and it's very effective, so it seems like a logical choice for LECA, as well.
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Stand the pot into ro water for few minutes and check the cc of water. If too high, change the water to RO water again and repeat it untill cc drops at least to 20-30 ppm.
If it is a lime/carbonate build-up, then citric acid (or even vinegar).
If it is regular salt build-up (sulfates, chlorides etc...) then regular water should suffice (with, perhaps a little vinegar to drop the pH a bit).
The acetate in vinegar should be completely harmless.
iwillard
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A
ALToronto
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It takes far too long with far too many rinses to get minerals out of clay, lava rock or CHC. Even if the water reads low ppm, that doesn't mean that the minerals are out of the media - it just means that they're not in the water.
I don't mind Calcium - I grow on concrete living walls, and I haven't had a plant complain yet. And I have a phrag (Chuck Acker) growing in the lava rock catch basin of my biggest wall, with not a single brown tip on its leaves.
But some inert media from pots (I still have a few of those) is heavily mineralized with salts, so I want to clean it and use it for other plants. Hence my question. I'll pressure cook it in mild citric acid and hope for the best.
I don't mind Calcium - I grow on concrete living walls, and I haven't had a plant complain yet. And I have a phrag (Chuck Acker) growing in the lava rock catch basin of my biggest wall, with not a single brown tip on its leaves.
But some inert media from pots (I still have a few of those) is heavily mineralized with salts, so I want to clean it and use it for other plants. Hence my question. I'll pressure cook it in mild citric acid and hope for the best.
naoki
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A
ALToronto
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Do plants care about insoluble minerals?oke:
I think they do about fertilizer salts. If a root touches an over-mineralized piece of lava rock, it would wither. And because of aereal roots, even the white-crusted rocks on the surface are detrimental.
I'm not sure I agree (I'm not sure I disagree either). The clay itself is insoluble minerals, after all.
Doesn't something have to be in solution - even ever so slightly - to be reactive?
Ray Barkalow
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Doesn't something have to be in solution - even ever so slightly - to be reactive?
Ray Barkalow
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PaphMadMan
phytomanic
Insoluble is such an imprecise word. It certainly is not absolute when we're talking about carbonate and phosphate salts deposited on clay pots or inorganic media, not in the acidic solutions we're usually applying as fertilizer, not even in pure water. Plants "care".
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