One thing I love about LECA (those expanded clay balls, you know?) is that you can always reuse it indefinitely and don't have to throw it away after use.
Up until now I always just boiled it after using, which removed most of the dead roots and crap, and then I put it into the oven at full power to bake it, which burnt off all remaining organic stuff.
That wasn't a problem up until now, because I never had to clean very big amounts all at once.
But, I have two issues with it:
- First, it cracks a few of the balls, especially those new ones I bought. They explode and shatter quite a bit, which sucks.
- And, soon, I would have to bake about hundred liters of that stuff because of the new setup I will use this year, which is plain stupid and infeasible at this scale.
So, I had the thought of doing that cleaning chemically at room temperature, over a longer time frame.
I have thought about a few options.
- Chlorine bleach is the cheapest idea, but I have doubts that the sodium content remaining is bad for the plants, and the traces of bleach could kill of beneficial microorganisms. Maybe I could add a neutralizing agent, like thiosulphate or vitamin C?
- Peroxide probably isn't strong enough?
- Enzymes could dissolve proteins and stuff, but a lot of biofilm and other organic matter probably isn't affected by it, or is it?
- ...?
Are there any products or things I could try? Or do you have any ideas? Thanks a lot! :)
I'm no expert, but I wonder if those explosions are just trapped boiling water - river stones can do the same thing in the fire. Could you give them a few hours at low heat first to dry them, then crank up the heat to burn off the rest?