# Hygrolon material or equivalent



## bnosam (Sep 17, 2009)

I spent an afternoon looking on google for hygrolon or something like it for my viv. I found a couple places online but none of them seem to ship to Canada. I looked for hygrolon, epiweb, spyra, aquatmat, moisture retention mat etc but found nothing in Canada.

Can someone in Canada let me know the secret to finding hygrolon or something like it? I'd really like to grow plants this way.


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## Ravnos (Aug 20, 2018)

Hey, I found and bought this stuff
 from aliexpress. They also ship to canada and it holds the water nice, but I have no comparison to the orginal hygrolon


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## Kalle (May 14, 2010)

Ravnos said:


> Hey, I found and bought this stuff
> from aliexpress. They also ship to canada and it holds the water nice, but I have no comparison to the orginal hygrolon


Looks to be almost the same stuff. Hygrolon from Dusk is 3.5mm thick and 320g/sqm so a bit thicker than the AliExpress cloth which is 3mm and 230g/sqm. That's the only difference I can see really. How does it work for you? how long have you had it for?


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## Ravnos (Aug 20, 2018)

Just got it and will use it to model moos leaves on a bonsai root tree

Will take some time till I can say something


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## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

Try Mike Rizzo at glassboxtropicals I know he sometimes goes through the trouble of shipping to Canada. You will need to contact him by email.


Also if you happen to be close to Michigan you could just drive over and pick it up.


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

I found something similar while out and about today. I went to hobby lobby and showed them pictures of hygrolon and asked if they sold "this kind of moisture wicking fabric or something similar." I didn't mention that it had to do with plants or give it a name. The girl in the fabric department told me to go to Joann fabrics, that she had seen it there. I went to Joann fabrics and found it in the, I guess you'd call it yoga pants material section? Not sure if it will work as well as it seems to lack the thickness of hygrolon (granted I've never actually seen hygrolon in person) but I bought a yard and I'll try a wicking test later.


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

I'm curious about that JoAnn's stuff. Please keep us informed!



> Also if you happen to be close to Michigan you could just drive over and pick it up.


I'd had exactly the same thought. Canada's a big country geographically but most Canadians live pretty close to Michigan! E.g., Toronto to Lansing is only about 300 miles. Of course maybe the OP lives in Yellowknife or wherever - you never know.

FWIW after playing with Hygrolon a fair amount, I'm a bit less enamored of it. I mean it's OK, and it's truly good in certain situations. And I certainly haven't ripped it out. But if you don't keep it wet enough, it's always gonna look like weird synthetic black stuff in your viv. Whereas e.g. the good ol' cork mosaic looks pretty good no matter what. And it also supports a much greater diversity of plant types (shapes, sizes, water needs), not just the smaller stuff that loves water. Just a thought...


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## djd3mon (Jan 24, 2018)

If anyone is interested in buying some of the JoAnn fabric I did a quick search by the SKU# and found this:

https://www.joann.com/loungeletics-quick-dry-mesh-fabric-57in-black/16099905.html


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

I started a test putting the fabric in a tall vase inside of a 10gallon with a small amount of water in the bottom of the vase


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

Update on the JoAnn moisture wicking fabric: when I first dipped it in the water, the material in contact with the water seemed somewhat hydrophobic at first. 
There was a silvery layer of air on the submerged section of material that eventually went away. So far it seems to have wicked up about 3 to 4 inches. Which is slower than expected, but still something. It could be that the material just needs to become saturated to force the air out to let capillary action move upwards. So I'm leaving it to see how far up the water goes. I don't have any experience with hygrolon or spyra but comparing pictures it looks like this product could be the same thing as spyra. When spyra came out people were comparing it to hygrolon and noted that it was thinner and black where as hygrolon was thicker and bronze colored. Perhaps more time is needed for it to continue wicking or it needs doubled up when used. 
Here is a link comparing spyra fo hygrolon: http://www.canadart.org/threads/hygrolon.12973/


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

Update #2: It looks like this fabric wicks water up about 10 inches. 
The lowest 3 inches are soaked to the point that water runs out of the fabric when lifted out of the water. 
The next 4 inches are damp enough that you can squeeze drops of water out of the fabric.
The next 2 inches I can tell that the fabric is damp just by touching the fabric, but I have to really squeeze it to get a drop of water out.
For the next inch or two the fabric just feels normal unless I really squeeze it, which leaves my fingers damp but does not yield any drops of water.

I would assume that it is just physics and that Hygrolon has degrees of wetness from the first few inches to the next few inches like I noted above. Granted I have never done this test with Hygrolon. 

Maybe if this material was not on a completely vertical surface, or was also misted, or had a longer "break in" period, or was given time to become colonized with biofilms, or had plants growing on it, or if it was doubled up it may very well wick water higher. But given that this material is relatively cheap and local for most people, I can see it being an alternative to Hygrolon if someone couldn't get actual hygrolon.


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## bnosam (Sep 17, 2009)

Okapi said:


> Update #2: It looks like this fabric wicks water up about 10 inches.
> The lowest 3 inches are soaked to the point that water runs out of the fabric when lifted out of the water.
> The next 4 inches are damp enough that you can squeeze drops of water out of the fabric.
> The next 2 inches I can tell that the fabric is damp just by touching the fabric, but I have to really squeeze it to get a drop of water out.
> ...


That's some damn good investigation you got going there 



Thanks for everyone's responses. I bought some from Mike at glassboxtropicals, he shipped it to here.


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