Product Category: Growing Media

There are a wide range of growing medias which are suitable for using in hydroponics.

A good hydroponic growing media should be:
– Sterile
– Provide adequate support for the plant when it is in the growing system
– Have good capillary action
– Be pH neutral
– Be able to absorb and retain moisture
– Be porous to allow air circulation and proper drainage
– Not break down
– Doesn’t release a lot of fine particles into the growing system.
– Be able to protect the plant’s roots from temperature extremes.

Growers pick and choose their preferred media based on the above-mentioned attributes as well as the following aspects:

– Price
– Availability
– Suitability for crop type
– Ease of use
– Ease of shipping
– Performance

Pure Hydroponics stocks an excellent variety of growing medias to cater for the different preferences of growers.

We do have our preferences on what works best for certain crop types.
Our recommendations are listed below:

Lettuces, Leafy Greens & Herbs –
Our preferred media for this type of crop is 25x25x40mm Rockwool (Stonewool) cubes. We favour this media for its sterility, performance and ready to use cube format. It is also an excellent low volume, lightweight media for international shipping.

Tomatoes, Capsicums, Eggplant, Beans, Cucumbers, Flower Crops
– Our preferred method is to propagate the seedling in Rockwool plugs or 25x25x40mm cubes and then transfer these young seedlings into larger 75x75x65mm cubes. Once the seedling is established the cubes are then transplanted onto the top of Cocoslabs or open top Coco growbags. The roots will then anchor themselves into that media within a few days.

Coco media is favoured for its organic nature and biodegradability, the ability to choose different grades to suit your crop type or climate, and its excellent all-round performance.

The Coco media is usually shipped in compressed blocks, open top bags or slabs and hydrated on site to make a much larger volume (expansion factor of 4). This makes is a lightweight, low volume media for shipping and setting up.

Medical Cannabis –
Rockwool (Stonewool) slabs or blocks are our preferred choice for this crop type due to its sterility, uniformity and ease of control. The high consistency of this media ensures repeatable results crop after crop.

Please see the following pages for a more in-depth analysis of each type of growing media.