Using marbles for hydroponics

Coriolanus

Alright, might sound a bit wierd, but bear with me.

I have a few kind of hydroponic vases for forcing and growing bulbs in. Little small ones, they only hold one bulb each think I got them in a €2 shop. They're convenient, cheap and add a splash of colour.

Thing is, I can't find any more anywhere. I have seen in some supermarket displays what looks to be literally a highball size glass full of imitation pebbles and water being used to grow stuff.

Is this readily practiseable?

What I have in my mind is buying a bunch of marbles as the "medium", probably boil them or roast them to disinfect/remove trace elements first and then using vases. Bulbs are easy enough to force and grow in the little vases I already have, so they should work this way as well.

Would it be possible to buy other plants though, already rooted and clean off the roots and "plant" them in watery marbles?

Does that sound like it could/should work?

The Sweeper

I think the marbles would be too heavy. The tiny baked clay 'rocks' used for hydroponics are quite light by comparison to a glass marble. You should be able to find a hydroponic supplies website that'll deliver to you and you can buy some of the bits and pieces required there. Since you're not planting in soil, the fertiliser that you use with hydroponics is nearly as important as the rocks, and you should be able to buy that on a hydroponics site too...

Coriolanus

Ok! Didn't realise there were specialist supplies...

Thanks Sweeper!

The Sweeper

Nevore, I'll be totally honest with you - hydroponics were embraced in a big way by individuals trying to grow, erm, recreational smoking substances. The nature of hydroponics means you can grow a plant under controlled artificial lighting, and you don't need soil - you use a light medium of clay rocks and a liquid fertiliser solution, and you can reuse the clay rocks over and over, and just keep the fertiliser solution going and bingo, you have a renewable medium in which to grow plants with good results.

Hence there are specialist suppliers! However, the negative associations with growing dodgy herbs shouldn't put you off completely - I know some Aussie hydroponic gardeners who swear by them for growing vegetables (especially carrots, for some reason - apparently the clay rocks are great for preventing splitting).

Degsy

You can also use rockwool shaped to fit your container as well..even lighter than the clay rocks.

Coriolanus

Nah, I won't be eh, consuming the results of my green fingeredness.

I was reading the wiki about it, apparently there's a massive boost to productivity to be seen. The equivalent per acre for tomatoes for ex is something like 4-5x what you could grow in best poss soil.

I really just want to do it cause it's less messy!

Cheers for the advice all!