Customer Reviews for Viagrow 1.76 cu. ft. ViaStone Hydroponic Gardening Medium Grow Rock

Good product and best price on market . Definetly come highly recommended by me.

Works great for me. Price was good. I am growing lots of plants with it. Nice to have free delivery.

To start, this product is MUCH easier to rinse than Hydroton. I soaked it in a large bin, scooped with a strainer, and rinsed the strained material before putting it in the growbed. After doing this with 5 bags (50l each) there was absolutely no murkiness in the water. The pH has not changed at all in two weeks. My plants are doing great, it retains and drains perfectly for an aquaponics set up.

Does not arrive in bags like pictured. Instead, it's just tossed into a black garbage bag and placed into a box. This makes it kind of inconvenient to use, but once you get past that, the product itself is great. Lightweight (compared to gravel or soil), easy on the hands, easy to weed/transplant. Using it for a small IBC aquaponics system and it's working great, cucumbers coming up nicely. Free ship to home and low prices make this by far the best deal on Hydroton-like products out there.

Product works well! The only negative is the packaging. I ordered 4 50lt bags. It arrived in 2 shipping boxes but instead of 4 bags as shown each box was lined with a black trash bag and filled with loose product. Each box weighs 114 lb (as per the shipping label). If it had been 4 bags I could have managed it myself but instead I needed to get a helper to move the boxes then I needed to use a bucket to scoop it out until I could lift the bag out to dump it.

I used this in a second aquaponics setup and find it to be much lighter and easier to use than the lava rock I used in the first system. It even got cycled faster than the lava rock. It came right to my door in two large boxes -- I ordered 4 but they come in bulk, not in bags as the picture shows. It is very dusty so you will definitely want to wash it before you use it (I drilled holes in a muck bucket and made a big sieve). 4 is perfect for an IBC type system grow bed. It does cost more than other alternatives, but I would use this instead of the lava rock if I had do overs on the first system. Worth the cost difference in ease of use and effectiveness as grow medium. I have never used the name brand version of this product, but this is much cheaper and, as far as I can tell, pretty much the same thing.

Grow medium was covered in soot. Don't know if that's the nature of the product or the way the Home Depot shipped it to me.

Light clay pebbles making my flower containers easy to lift. Great when I need to move them inside for the winter.

Purchased this to use as media in a flood-and-drain aquaponics system. Works very well for this purpose. Things to note are: - Media must be rinsed thoroughly before use, to remove the clay dust. Failure to do this could cause clouding (of concern in an aquaponics system, maybe not so much for hydroponics) and the powdered clay forming a sludge that could be detrimental to the pumps and plumbing. - Expanded clay has some air in it, and will not sink like a stone. It does have a tendency to rise, especially when bone-dry, or if the media is drowned and submerged to its complete depth. In our system, for a grow bed depth of 16 inches, we had to set the overflow drain 3 inches BELOW the top level of the media, and that allowed the weight of the unsubmerged media to counter the floating of the submered media and keep the whole system in place. In summary, the quality, availability and pricing (especially with the ship-to-store option that helps offset the steep shipping for this large heavy item) makes this product and HomeDepot a winning combination.

I use these clay pebbles in orchid mix. It is very humid were I live, and I have a hard time getting my orchids to dry out between watering. These pebbles seem to give my mix the ability to dry out quickly and add keep roots from rotting. Great product for my use. Use pebbles straight for baby orchids seems to help promote healthy root growth.

Great price and free shipping you can't beat that from home depot

Starting a new aquaponics system and found a review on Amazon that Home depot was cheaper and no shipping. So ordered it and can't be happier with the delivery and price compared to many other websites selling the same thing for a lot more.

This stuff floats in water, and if you step on it it turns into dust, not very good.

Always enjoy working with this product. Can be used as base medium or add in.. Happy gardening. .!!!

This product is as described my grow bed is 4'x3'x8" it took 4bags to fill.

The other reviews were kidding when they say this stuff floats. There was 2 inches of water under my 150 liters of grow medium until I filled it with gravel. Also there a many clay balls smaller than 1/4 inch which has led to clogs in my siphon.

These stones are porous and capture matter to feed the plants. It takes a month or 2 to start this process but the plants do just fine until then. It did not foul the water like some mediums do, although we rinsed them before using. The medium is not heavy like clay which makes it easier to handle with large pots. They are much lighter than they look.

I purchased this product, believing it was hydroton, as the grow media for an aquaponics system. After cleaning the clay balls and filling the growbeds I noticed the majority of the rocks floated and as my growbeds filled with water the clay balls rose with the water and eventually out of the container. I found videos which suggested the clay balls would sink after a few days and others that suggested boiling them and then adding cold water. None of these solutions worked for me. I eventually switched to river pebbles which are heavier but cost considerably less. My growbeds are now 3 quarters full of this product and topped off with the river pebbles which weigh more and are keeping the clay balls in place. Save yourself the headache. Do not use this brand for aquaponics!

I'm setting up an aquaponics system in my apartment to grow tomatoes and herbs. After visiting a friend and eating his aquaponic basil I had to set it up for myself. I couldn't use gravel or lava rock because I had to be able to get it back to my apartment on the back of my bike, which I was able to do. I read online that once the plants root that the floating becomes less of an issue but and older brand Hydroton that doesn't exist any more wasn't supposed to float at all. I don't have my plants in yet but I expect to soon, hopefully this issue will go away. Basically, beware.

Awesome product arrived fairly quick with out expedited shipping. Please keep adding Hydroponic and AQUAPONIC items and supplies!

Great product performs as expected will order again as needed

Works well for hydroponics and aquaponics. The expanded clay came in good condition and was delivered to my door quickly.

If I had it to do over again I would go with Hydroton.

EXCELLENT PRODUCT HARD TO BEAT PRICE FAST SHIPPING!

After purchasing Viastone for our hydroponic flower garden, I was pleasantly surprised at the performance and the unique look of this item. So much so, that when my husband and I listed our house for sale, I bought more Viastone to use in our outdoor flower pots and decided to try it in my garden beds that line our front walkway. I live in the South and pine straw is most commonly used, however I'm not a fan of it, so I used the Viastone instead. It made our house look incredible and polished. Everyone said they had never seen a product like it before - it felt very zen or almost like the landscaping of a tropical getaway. It looked very neat and tidy. People loved it and since it felt and looked expensive and unique, we had so many compliments. Plus, we had multiple offers on our house within the first 3 days. The new owners told us that they thought the Viastone "rocked" and I couldn't agree more. I wish I bought the bigger bag in the first place. I'm definitely still using it for my hydroponic garden and will be replacing the pine straw at our new house with the awesome Viastone. It's really cool - I promise that you will be impressed with the quality, value, and aesthetic. I've really never seen anything like this before. Awesome product - highly recommend to EVERYONE! Thanks.

I was looking for a replacement for Hydroton, which is no longer being made, and found it. Price is better too. Had it shipped to a local store so free shipping too! Love it.

I have purchased 6 bags so far and am very pleased..This product is being used in my Aqua pontics systems. The plants and fish both seem to thrive very well. 50 LT. is about 12.25 gallons and weighs around 29 LBS.

Home Depots policy of free shipping over $50 purchase makes it nice on this product...other venders want 35bucks per bag for shipping ! These clay balls are very dirty, dont forget to wash them first ! or the clay dust will clog up your pumps....but other than they are a bit small, and dry out quicker than the "other guys" they work fine. I wish they would add one of the newer recycled glass rock products, they are better at water retention, but adjust your ebb and flow to tighter delta's, and your plants wont suffer...Deep Water Cultures wont notice any difference. Im not sure yet on how well they work for a biofilter in Aquaponics, that may be the tell, on where they fall for a final rating. As always, HOME DEPOT shipped right away and for free, cant beat that with a stick

I will buy more soon it was just what I needed for my aquaponics!

This has worked very well for my aquaponics system and at the time it qualified for free delivery since I bought it with other items. My only complaint is that they have been out of stock. I had to buy the next 3 bags elsewhere.