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An idea for rinsing media

jimscott

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
Try this: Set up a used bath towel like a hammock, with 4 stakes, one on each corner, with a small depression to accommodate soil media. Then use a garden hose to rinse it through.
 
It's a good idea, unless you have really hard water, or rinse at the end of some RO water.

xvart.
 
jimscott said:
Try this: Set up a used bath towel like a hammock, with 4 stakes, one on each corner, with a small depression to accommodate soil media. Then use a garden hose to rinse it through.
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Man, THAT'S gonna make a heck of a mess in the living room of my apartment. ;)
 
Fryster said:
Man, THAT'S gonna make a heck of a mess in the living room of my apartment. ;)
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LOL! That almost describes elgecko's approach to watering his Neps that are in hanging baskets, in his kitchen. He waters and then quickly attempts to catch that which goes through, before leaving a mess. :-))

But yeah, hopefully our compatriots would do this outside.... :-D
 
What approach do others have for rinsing perlite?

I've been putting a bit of cloth like an old T-shirt in the bottom of a plant pot, sticking another pot inside to hold the cloth in place. Fill the inside pot up with perlite and cover with more old T-shirt material - held in place with a rubber band. Then I just pour tap water through the cloth on top for about 5 or 6 rinses and a final rinse or two with RO water.

Most of the really fine dust gets washed out this way.

But every time I do it I keep thinking there has to be a better way. Maybe just use an old pillowcase of flour bag (do the still make thise in cloth?) tied shut and hosed down.
 
To rinse perlite I put the perlite in a bucket and add an amount of water that is about double the volume of the perlite. I swish the perlite around with my hand to get the dust off, then use a collander to remove the perlite. For small amounts of perlite, I put it in the collander and spray water on it. Before pouring the perlite out of the bag that it comes in, I spray water on it to keep the dust down to a minimum, as I don't think it's healthy to breathe perlite dust.
 
Tropics said:
as I don't think it's healthy to breathe perlite dust.
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No, it's definitely not. Nor is it healthy to breath in peat dust.

xvart.
 
I don't rinse my perlite... Should I?:scratch:
 
Good question.
The best reason I can think of was Tropics and Xvart touched on. If you do it outside, you can have the wind at your back and get rid of that dust. I have breathed it and peat dust more times than I care to remember.

Cheers,


Joe

joossa said:
I don't rinse my perlite... Should I?:scratch:
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  • #10
That's what dust masks are for. Essential tool along with rubber gloves in my opinion.
 
  • #11
I usually get a huge kitchen seive, and run the water through that. It works good with large perlite etc, sphagnum, not so good with peat :)
However you can accomodate, and stick a shirt or something underneath, to catch the 'rinsed' peat :)
 
  • #12
joossa said:
I don't rinse my perlite... Should I?:scratch:
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The thought is that the fine particles can clog the pores of the roots. Whether they do or not I don't think anybody has done a serious study. If you've not noticed any effects from the lack of rinsing then carry on as usual.
 
  • #13
Fryster said:
Man, THAT'S gonna make a heck of a mess in the living room of my apartment. ;)
Click to expand...
That's what the shower/bathtub is for!!! Just epoxy hooks on the sides to hang the towel from and your set!! Great idea huh!? No more messes on the carpet.
 
  • #14
Steve.... we're both married, still, right? :-))
 
  • #15
You may be, but if I try that in my house I won't be!!
 
  • #16
I've never seriously rinsed perlite. I do the thing mentioned like put all the media in one pot, then put twice as much water in and mix around, the scoop out. I'm not that concered with microscopic perlite until proven otherwise. I just feel like dying when I breath it in.

jimscott said:
Steve.... we're both married, still, right? :-))
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lmao.

xvart.
 
  • #17
I sometimes use screen leftover from re-screening a window. The holes are real fine and won't let the larger particles through, but you can wrap the screen around the media and it drains really quickly.
 
  • #18
YES you should WASH perlite because I've found plenty of GRAVEL in bags of perlite! Unless you want to inspect inch by inch for white-dusted gravel, the only way to get it out is to dump the perlite in water, swish it up, and throw away what's on bottom. Screening it before this is a great way to get rid of smaller particles, and the washing takes care of dust. I never screen it.


I do use the cheap stuff since the local store only carries it and the kind with added fertilizer. Maybe you won't get any, or maybe it was a bad batch I just happened to buy three times.
 
  • #19
I have this creek nearby and have collected the fine sand at its shore. Who knows what's in there!
 
  • #20
I rinse mixes by making up a pot with rinsed materials and then leave them out in the rain for a while. For perlite, it only takes a few days. The more peat or sand (i.e. slower draining,) the longer it needs to stay out - pots of 1:1 peat/perlite or other mixes I actually plant into I try to leave out for at least a month or two. If I'm bringing them indoors, I'll sterilize them with boiling water a couple of times just beforehand.
~Joe
 
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