Growing Media Summary for Hydroponic and Aquaponic Systems

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Growing Media Summary
for Hydroponic and Aquaponic Systems

As part of our hydroponic and aquaponic sections, we have created this growing media summary page.

Growing media forms a crucial part of any hydroponic or aquaponic system. The choice of growing media can have functional, financial and logistical implications. Unfortunately, the array of available growing media is mind-boggling, and it seems more are being developed every day. Each type of growing medium has its own combination of affordability, weight, water retention, pH impact, dust, and availability. No one type of growing media is "the best" for all circumstances. Different system setups, different crops, different growing plans and marketing plans will each dictate slightly different optimum combinations. And of course our wallets often have a fairly significant contribution to make in which growing media we select. So how is a grower to choose? We offer this growing media summary table to help you make that choice.

The below summary table provides a quick rundown of the different growing media types, and their various pro's and con's. Each growing medium in the table also has a dedicated web page describing that material in much greater detail. For those growing media which we have used here, we have provided a summary of our own experiences while using that growing medium. Those individual pages are available via the hyperlinks in the table.

	Cost	Weight	pH Impact	Water Retention	Dust/Debris	Availability
Gravel	Low	High	Possibly	Lowest	Needs Initial Rinse Only	Common
Sand	Low	Highest	Possibly	Low	Possibly	Common
Lava Rock	High	Medium	No	Medium	Needs Initial Rinse Only	Uncommon
Coir	Medium	Lowest	Yes	Medium	Yes	Common
Rockwool	Medium	Low	No	High	No	Uncommon
Hydroton	High	Medium	No	High	Needs Initial Rinse Only	Uncommon
Perlite / Vermiculite	Low	Low	No	Medium	Perlite Needs Initial Rinse	Common

Details
The above table provides a huge amount of information. It took us awhile to compile it, and it will take awhile for anyone new to this topic to digest all the possibilities. If you are trying to decide which growing media to use, we invite you to read through these individual pages, and take your time. I hope somewhere in this you found some answers to your own growing needs.

We are continually looking for more growing media options. If you hear of another material that we haven’t covered in the growing media summary table above, let us know and we’ll add it to the list above, with a complete review. If you have more questions about one of the options already listed, let us know and we’ll look at answering those questions. This website exists to help you with your growing goals. Let us know if there’s any other way we can help you achieve those goals.

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Growing Media Summaryfor Hydroponic and Aquaponic Systems

Growing Media Summary
for Hydroponic and Aquaponic Systems