The clay ball, or expanded clay balls, round clay balls or irregular clay balls, a substrate with multiple applications in horticulture for yield or plant decoration

The expanded clay ball is used as an inert substrate, pure or mixed, for hydroponics. But it is interesting to know where it comes from to understand its functions and its advantages in hydroponics, aeroponics or on soil and coconut fiber

What is the clay ball ?

The clay ball is first in the form of clay, a natural rock material, then shaped into beads. Placed in a high temperature oven, heated to 1200°C, the clay balls expand and form very porous balls.
All clay balls are not identical, their density can vary from 0.5 to over 1g/cm3.
There are also different sizes: 4-8 and 8-16.

What are the advantages of the clay ball ?

- Substrate stable
- Quick and easy to use
- Optimal drainage quality
- 100% natural substrate
- Can be used for decoration

The clay ball as a substrate in hydroponics:

The big advantage of the clay ball is that it does not retain water, which is ideal for hydroponics. Indeed, it has a closed internal porosity which means that air or nutritive solution cannot penetrate in the balls. L'irrigation can therefore be continuous without drowning the crops.

Use of the clay ball in the bottom of the pot:

Thanks to its great qualities of drainage, to put the clay ball at the bottom of a pot is advised in general to improve the aeration, to protect your roots and thus to support the good development of the plant. Indeed, during thewatering, the water can stagnate in the bottom of the pot and asphyxiate the roots of the plant, the clay ball will facilitate the water flow.
Application: Place a layer of 3 to 5 cm at the bottom of the container.

Use of the clay ball in mixed substrate :

We have seen that the clay ball has real aeration qualities. In order for the root system of the plant to develop at its best, it is possible to mix soil and the clay ball. Indeed the substrate will be lightened and the humidity preserved.
Application: Incorporate 10% by volume of clay ball into the soil.

Use of the clay ball on the surface:

Beyond its qualities of drainage andaeration, the clay ball is also very aesthetic when they are arranged on the surface of a flower pot, they will reveal the color of plants.
Also they will keep the humidity within the pot, which is beneficial for most plants.
Application: Place a layer of 2 to 4 cm on the substrate used, on the surface of the container.

for better results in your cultures use the irregular clay balls for a better aeration of the root system and to obtain better results on the growth and the blooming, for that you will have to use the clay balls of the mark platinium nutrients or gold label netherland, know that the clay balls platinium nutrients are buffered ph 6.5 and certified for intensive horticulture and specialized for your culture in cupboard or in culture room

Find the largest choice of clay pebbles available at Culture Indoor :

HydroMix

from Platinium

EuroPebbles

from Plagron

Hydrocorn

from Gold Label

Find clay balls at the best price at Culture Indoor, the leader in hydroponics, the specialist in your indoor gardens, find all the items for the garden in our high tech gardening departments, find thousands of references on our online site since 2002, find cheap clay balls, clay balls in 5 liters or clay balls in 10 liters also available in 50 liters in our department expanded natural clay balls, find clay balls for I organic gardening of your plants.

Comparative article made by the blog hydro2farm, allowing to compare the different clay balls of the hydroponics market.

Discover their different opinions about the different brands of expanded clay balls.

Clay pebbles for hydroponics

If, as in our case, you are looking for clay balls that do not resemble round expanded clay balls that are more suitable for decoration than for drainage, but rather crushed balls that are more efficient for bacteria or beneficial fungi such as mycorrhizae, trichoderma or that generate less dust, and that are very stable, it may not be obvious to trust the photos on the packaging, or the descriptions made on the online sales sites of gardening or DIY
Did you know that there are clay balls much lighter than the classic round clay balls of the plagron or hydroton type? This can indeed be used for large systems where the weight is important to prevent the pot from tipping over, so the round clay balls will retain more water.

There is a multitude of brands of clay balls on the hydroponics market, by this article we present you with a few different brands that I have purchased. If this can help you, that's great!

A little information before starting for those who are not aware, you must know that in hydroponics or hydroponic culture, you will need to clean the clay balls before use, a good rinse (it's obvious but I specify it anyway). But you will also need to buffer them at the right pH, because if you use them without buffering, they can make your pH unstable and harder to regulate, although this is not too important in organic culture (we still recommend them for drainage, in mineral fertilizer it is much more important, it will affect your plants and your hydroponic culture)

To do it: Put in a container the quantity of beads that you will use and rinse them several times to have a clear water.
Then fill with water and maintain a PH of 5/6 for at least 24 hours (up to several days for some beads), renewing the water at least once or twice.
To see if your beads are well stabilized, fill your container with water at a PH of 6, and check to see if it remains stable, if not start again the operation of soaking at acid PH.

It's a bit restrictive when you have a large quantity to do but it's preferable and recommended.

"Here is how the article will be composed, I will indicate for each bag of balls:
The Brand and possibly the Model.
Its approximate price.
A picture of the bag.
The weight of the clay balls for 5 liters, it is a criterion which can have its importance if you want to lighten your hydroponic system.
I could add in the future new products if I get some more.

Comparative euro pebble clays plagron

Brand name Plagron
Model: Euro pebbles 10L
Price: 9,5€ (0,95€ per liter)
Weight for 5 liters: 1,9kg
Personal opinion: I find them expensive, and it is not justified at all in my opinion, until proven otherwise. It looks exactly the same as in the DIY stores, but twice as expensive!

Comparative clay balls platinium hydroponics 5 and 10 liters

Brand name Platinium Soil
Model: Hydro Mix 10l
Price: 7,7€ (0,77€ per liter)
Weight for 5 liters: 1kg
Personal opinion: They all have an almost identical size, do not generate any dust and are the lightest I have tested.

Comparative clay balls platinium hydroponics

Brand Platinium Soil
Model: Hydro Mix Premium 50l
Price: 16€ (0,32€ per liter)
Weight for 5 liters: 1,7kg
Personal opinion: My favorites and moreover they are the cheapest, they seem to be the same as those of GHE.

Comparison of gold label netherland clay balls

Brand Gold Label
Model: Special Hydrocorn 45l
Price: 18€ (0,40€ per liter)
Weight for 5 liters: 1,5kg
Personal opinion: They are of good quality and not very heavy, but a bit more expensive.

Comparative clay balls general hydroponics europe

Brand GHE
Model: Grorox 50l
Price: 18€ (0,36€) Not found for sale
Weight for 5 liters: 1,7kg
Personal opinion: I regret that they are not available for sale. You can get them at GHEbut with the shipping costs it's not interesting. And frankly I don't see any difference with the clay balls from Platinium.

For the DIY stores, I indicate only 2 models, no picture because I didn't buy any, it's really for indication if you don't have a Growshop in your area.

Brand: Geolia (L*roy M*rlin store)
Model: 30l bag
Price: 14,60€ (0,48 per liter)
Size: 16
Weight for 5 liter: ?
Personal opinion: The dusty bags in stores are often broken, be careful when buying. Prefer Growshop, much cheaper and good advice.

Brand: Verve (C*astor*ma store))
Model: 15l bag
Price: 7,90€ (0,52 per liter)
Gauge: 16
Weight for 5 liter: ?
Personal opinion: The dusty bags in stores are often broken, be careful when buying. Prefer Growshop, much cheaper and good advice."

This article was taken up on the blog of the culture hydro2farm, which compares and tries the products for you dear customers.

Make the right choice because the less pretty ones are in fact the best clay balls, increase your yields with hydromix from platinium hydroponics and grow at the right price.

Culture Indoor your growshop for indoor growing since 2002.

Clay pebbles : Advice for use