Rinsing Perlite!!!!!!

IM GONNA GO NUTX, lmao, does any one have a perfected way to rinse large amounts of pearlite? i gotta rinse enough for 5-3 gal buckets, thanks TEX :icon_confused: :icon_confused: :icon_confused: :icon_confused: :icon_confused: :icon_confused:

 

Did you get that MG crap by mistake?


That's what I did. Somehow missed that it was coated with mg fert. I ended up filling the bag with water and letting it drain over and over again...poked a few holes but mostly just filled the bag once a day and let it drain.


I didn't have to do as much as you are.


Grat

 

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


great question. been wondering the same thing myself.


i am thinking i'm gonna take a screen from one of my wndows and use it in the shower. just lay as much as I can on the screen and rinse it.


I dunno. I've got to tackle the same exact project soon.

 

Never done it, but if I was going to and had a bucket to be sacrificed I would drill a bunch of holes put it in the tub and just run water through it. Depending on how many holes you put it in you could make it drain fast of slow and get a quasi-soak out of it.

 

I Got It!!!


They sell small screens at any plumbing place or even wal-mart that will cover the drain in the tub. Or a normal sink screen can cover the drain or set in it. Even a small sifter laid over it will work. They are at wal-mart too for $3. Don't waist your time on the screen deal. I can wash enough for six five-gallon buckets at once like this. It is very easy if your shower-head moves. I got a crazy girlfriend so mine has a long hose and a "high pressure" setting. Its perfect. Done in like ten minutes. Just cover the drain, dump it in the tub, rinse it, and scoop it back out and straight into your containers. Good question tho. Took me a three grows and several frustrating hours figuring this out while i was washing hand fulls at a time. Good Luck!!


:edit: Wash the shower first.

 

cleaning perlite


Well guys you gotta use a good screen to clean perlite. No easy way it is a pain in the ass. I use a large noodle strainer fill rinse under tap full pressure and dump into bucket and refill.


think that is bad try washing 40 gallons of crushed lava rock some time. That is the amount my grow buckets hold I do it the same way.


Good luck


teamster6

 

I use a 5 gal bucket.


Cut a screen in a circle matched to the bottom of the bucket. Drill a few holes in the bottom of the bucket. Glue in the screen and let it dry. Instant perlite rinsing and storage bucket.

 

I too used a strainer and it was a huge pain in the ass. I thought about the using my tub but I personally didn't feel comfortable with that idea for my perlite had some significant dust and tiny pieces that I was concerned about putting down my drain. I mean if you did it with success then maybe I'll try it but I rent and all I could picture was cloggin my drain and having to have a plumber show up and find my grow.

 

Good thinking :thumbsup: Never can be too careful.


I have a septic tank, and I don't want that dust in it. So i don't do anything in the house drains. I use a 5 gal bucket with a bunch of holes in the bottom and just keep running the water hose through it. It is a pain in the ottytrain2:


I've done a few grows where I didn't adequately wash the dust, and it does make some nice perlite mud at the bottom. :BangHead:


I also haven't found an effective way of getting all the little capillary roots out of it so it can be reused. :icon_scratch:

 

I'd like to know when a good solution is found for that one:thumbsup:


Rinsing Perlite sucks.


Not my thread but thanks everybody


Grat

 

Im a big Hempy fan and have to rince a lotta perlite. The way I do it is, I fill the pot Im gonna use for my Hempy, bucket, 2 liter soda bottle, whatever, that already has the hole drilled in it. I put the container in the sink and use the sink sprayer thingy and just let tthe water run down and thru the perlite and out the hole at the bottom. No big deal. The water coming out the hole will be cloudy at first. When it runs clear, I know all the dust is out.


If you want to rinse a whole 20 pouind bag, just take it outside (or inside in the shower) and cut four or five or six small holes in the bottom of the plastic bag. Then squirt the hose in or the shower, until the water coming out the holes is clear.


Lass

 

That still doesn't help get the roots out.


Best way I think is to place it in the sink with something covering the drain that will allow water to pass but not the perlite. Pull the stem and rootbal out and just spray all the perlite loose. Should be able to get most of it off then just chunk the roots. You could do the same thing with the 5 gal bucket and screen.

 

Thinking ahead...nice!


I rent too. Guess I care less about my landlord or deposit or something cuz didn't even think of clogging it. Too late now tho and it works. Cedar nailed it tho. NICE!!! I use fairly warm water and wash it from the drain back slowly. I barely lose any at all and I'm not really seeing a mud form. How much water comes out on such a small space just like power-washes it. Sometimes they float around a lil but never had a problem.

 

warm water


I have shitty water here but learned right off never to rinse with warm water because you can get tons of calcium and lime from the water heater in the hot water. Anyways on this water system it really affects things bad.


teamster6

 

Wouldn't some of the dust just settle below the holes? I used a big ass cauldron to rinse mine. I rinsed for about 2 hours for 8 bags of perlite; a big pain in the ass! Nobody ever tells the newbie that.LOL

 

THANKS ALL!! i posted this last night b4 bed, and went top work and came home and BLAMO, answers, i have a good idea now, better than i was doing, thanks to every one for opinions. either way i know its still gonna suck worse than nickelbacks cd's!!!! hahaha jk, TEX this doobies for u guys


assit:

 

I wonder if pool acid would do it?


H2SO4 is horrid to organic stuff. Usually leaves nothing by carbon afterwards. Perlite is just pumice, not sure how chemical active pumice is. You might just dissolve it all or you'll get a nice acid washed perlite. Let it soak for like 24 hours in the acid, then 24rs is like baking soda solution.


Anyone with come chemistry background that would know how active perlite is?

 

I rinsed mine thu a screen in the tub. PITA :icon_confused:

 

:laughing1: yeah no kidding I read HHHG's posts about how he rinses his perlite a long time ago and I was like "No big deal."


PITA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've got at least 10 5-gallon buckets to rinse every grow....


I made this to rinse. With a hose spraying through it, I can rinse about 3 gallons at a time, and the pressure gets the roots out cause the screen is metal.

 

Instead of using a 5gal bucket with a screen. What about using a 10/13 gal garbage can?