Clay pebbles for drainage and organic fertilizer

I'm not a fan of the clay balls in soil or coco or at the bottom of the pot. Just suspend the pot on a wire rack so it's not sat in its own piss. Clay balls are good in dwc baskets to support the plant, they have a stupidly high PH and need soaking in a lowish ph before using I find. Just mix perlite in and don't bother with a layer of balls at the bottom and suspend the pot off the floor. That's my personal opinion, others will have there own take on it. But I'm never wrong. 😅

anytime you add anything into pots bottom you in turn shrink the pots volume and raise the waterlogged part of the soil. https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/2019/09/06/should-you-put-gravel-or-rocks-at-the-bottom-of-plant-pots-for-drainage/ I would amend more perlite into the mix vs pebbles. Organic or not should not matter if they are both liquid feeds. Its when you are useing dry amendments vs liquids that tend to make things more difacult.

the better drainage will reduce mold risk. it will not impact which fertilizers you can use. Can use perlite for that, too. Clay pebbles are expensive, eh? They are so bulky they get in the way of roots -- though for use at the bottom of a pot, that particular drawback is irrelevant. I think clay pebbles are popular because they "look cool" in hydro context, lol. just as you don't want large chunks of wood, you don't want large, solid objects in your substrate. if your pots are on 'pot elevators' or otherwise held up and away from whatever drains out of them, that's really all you need to do. Don't let them set in their piss and all is well. Stop worrying about the marketing term "organic." It mean nothing to reality.

Also ich habe schon beides gehört: Ja, es gammelt und nein, gammelt nicht. Ich wollte auch erst Blähton für die Drainage verwenden, habe mich aber nach eingehender Recherche dagegen entschieden, da mir das Risiko der Wurzelfäule einfach zu hoch war. Was nicht heißt, dass Blähton dazu führt, sondern eher ,dass ich eben keine eindeutige Antwort gefunden habe, welche dies auf jeden Fall ausschließt. Stattdessen verwende ich keine wirkliche Drainage, sondern vernünfiges Substrat und diese "Air-Pot Superoot"-Töpfe, um Staunässe auszuschließen. Ich hoffe, ich konnte dir zumindest ein bisschen weiterhelfen. Viel Erfolg beim Grow👍 Cheers💪

Yes

I see people saying its caused phproblems.I can't comment on that but Iv never had them,I was talking about 1 single layer along the bottom and some mixed into the coco.Lots of people grow in straight clay pepples all the time with no ph issues so Im very surprised.They sell the 50/50 mix as well so maybe their issue was down to something else.Opinions opinions,like ass holes,everyones got one,lol.Its a joke people,Im English,sarcasm,banter is all me.

Keine Sorge da schimmelt nix

Do not do it. I tried, accumulates salts , changes ph of bottom part of pot. Was buying expensive, buffed clay pebbles and still was getting issues. My 2 pence. I thought same, will create better drainage, but now i use garden trolleys , gravity does the rest.

No problem with mold as the good microbes and fungi will eat it.I always use clay pebbles at the bottom even though tests show it does improve yield but its going to improve the roots due to more oxygen.You can't beat Advanced Nutrients full stop and that includes their Iguana Juice,Liquid organic base food.Its not cheap but you get what you pay for and its not too bad when buying 5,no its now 4 ltrs.You only have to look at the ingrediants compared to others and you see why the expense.Depending on the medium coco or soil,I use coco you may want to have the pebbles mixed in as well.I do.