Awesome writeup goodie. This post is exactly what I needed to convince my roommate he's not too baked to grow for himself.
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L4
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Grow Mediums Hempy Write UP
- Thread starter wg
- Start date
toke
AFN High Team Leader
good job WD2 heres a little add its from my old (photo strain) site written by OBX he also done the pic in my avatar. 
Hempy Tips, Problems, and F.A.Q.s:
Tip: You may wish to add a couple supports for the plant as perlite is very loose compared to soil. Or drill holes around the top and L.S.T. the plant with plastic coated wire for added stability.
Tip: Wash or at least rinse the perlite in a big cooler or something before adding it to the bucket - lots 'o dust usually.
Tip: You can make "mini-hempy" buckets from 20oz. Plastic Cups - use a hot nail to make the hole 1" from the bottom - these work well for "up-canning" seedlings & clones later to the larger pot. They also transplant well for outside grows - the perlite makes a great root structure, and it's so light it doesn't tear it up when transplanting.
Tip: Some growers use Osmocote Plus at a rate of 1 teaspoon per gallon mixed in the perlite instead of using hydro nutes. Then use plain water or R/O water with Cal-Mag. Only the "Plus" Osmocote will work as it has all the minor nutes.
Tip: You can add a layer of Coco Coir or Hydroton on top to keep algae at bay and help keep the perlite in place.
Tip: While you can use the MG perlite at the big box store, it's usually less expensive to get a 4 cubic foot bag online or at your local garden center.
Tip: You can get bucket for free or low cost at many places - try Trader Joes for free used flower buckets, or most stores that carry flowers may have them. Dollar stores often have 2-3 gallon buckets. Pretty soon you will start looking at every container you see as a potential hempy bucket...
Tip: If you see the leaf tips get brown, go with 6.0 PH water only the next time to flush, then REDUCE feeding strength until final flush.
(will add here from questions below so you don't have to read the whole thread)
Q. Can I add anything to straight perlite?
A. Yes, you can use all sorts of additions... coco, peat, and vermiculite being the most common, and the 1/4 ratio is a good one. You do have to watch out for coco's affinity for Ca/Mg, and peat's ph down properties... though I don't really know anything bad about vermiculite other than it could clog the hole? It can have PH effects depending on the source.
For a first timer though, I'd strongly recommend just perlite for the main root zone. It's possible to overwater otherwise. Coco or something else on top does help keep algae away though.
Q. The perlite I have is really small. As in it will come out the hole on the bottom. Maybe I could combine the hydroton and the perlite? Hydroton up to the hole, and then perlite the rest of the way?
A. I've not done that, but from what I've read, that does not work since hydroton does not "wick" the water up from the res as well as perlite. With perlite too, there are no big pockets of water to drown roots - that's why the finer stuff is actually better. It does come out of the hole... but usually not enough to matter. If it clogs, just poke it.
Q. Is there a "feed / water" schedule?
A. Nope, I feed everytime. Just like a hydro plant gets fed as much as possible, so it is with hempy. Just keep the nutes to a strength the plants can handle - they let you know with the tips first. I would keep it lighter than most full strength schedules for DWC, NFT, or Aero. However, if you notice ANY burning on the leaf tips, use water to flush, and be SURE to reduce the nutes in the next watering.
Q. What PH is good for Hempy?
A. It's the same range as Hydro - 5.2 - 6.2, with 5.8 as a target, but some drift is desirable to absorb the nutes over the entire range of PH.
Q. What are the benefits to Hempy?
A. Simplicity is #1 - with just perlite for a medium, you don't have to worry about over-watering, and you can flush it in an instant if you go overboard on nutes. No soil to worry about, no PH checking every day... most nutes are about right with no PH adjustment at all. No root rot, no tanks to change, no lines to clean... it will not match DWC for vegetative growth rate, but it will get close, and with a low failure rate since there's no pump to break, a harvest is almost assured. Hempy will also often result in larger plants and buds than a comparable soil grow, and there is less chance of the plant becoming "root bound". I have found the roots seem to air prune on the sides, and perhaps water prune on the bottom. I've not had spiraled roots yet. You can also re-use perlite after screening the old roots out and using a enzyme treatment. You may wish to pour boiling water over the perlite to be recycled in a large cooler if you have any disease issues during the grow. H2O2 will also help keep diseases from propagating.
Q. Why is the hole so small? And does it have to be exactly 7/16"?
The hole is small so the water does not run out immediately - it wets the perlite above, and then draws fresh air into the root system as the excess water runs out. A little bigger and you'll see more perlite run out and it will empty too fast, and a little smaller and it will get clogged constantly.
TOKE OUT:smokebuds:
Hempy Tips, Problems, and F.A.Q.s:
Tip: You may wish to add a couple supports for the plant as perlite is very loose compared to soil. Or drill holes around the top and L.S.T. the plant with plastic coated wire for added stability.
Tip: Wash or at least rinse the perlite in a big cooler or something before adding it to the bucket - lots 'o dust usually.
Tip: You can make "mini-hempy" buckets from 20oz. Plastic Cups - use a hot nail to make the hole 1" from the bottom - these work well for "up-canning" seedlings & clones later to the larger pot. They also transplant well for outside grows - the perlite makes a great root structure, and it's so light it doesn't tear it up when transplanting.
Tip: Some growers use Osmocote Plus at a rate of 1 teaspoon per gallon mixed in the perlite instead of using hydro nutes. Then use plain water or R/O water with Cal-Mag. Only the "Plus" Osmocote will work as it has all the minor nutes.
Tip: You can add a layer of Coco Coir or Hydroton on top to keep algae at bay and help keep the perlite in place.
Tip: While you can use the MG perlite at the big box store, it's usually less expensive to get a 4 cubic foot bag online or at your local garden center.
Tip: You can get bucket for free or low cost at many places - try Trader Joes for free used flower buckets, or most stores that carry flowers may have them. Dollar stores often have 2-3 gallon buckets. Pretty soon you will start looking at every container you see as a potential hempy bucket...
Tip: If you see the leaf tips get brown, go with 6.0 PH water only the next time to flush, then REDUCE feeding strength until final flush.
(will add here from questions below so you don't have to read the whole thread)
Q. Can I add anything to straight perlite?
A. Yes, you can use all sorts of additions... coco, peat, and vermiculite being the most common, and the 1/4 ratio is a good one. You do have to watch out for coco's affinity for Ca/Mg, and peat's ph down properties... though I don't really know anything bad about vermiculite other than it could clog the hole? It can have PH effects depending on the source.
For a first timer though, I'd strongly recommend just perlite for the main root zone. It's possible to overwater otherwise. Coco or something else on top does help keep algae away though.
Q. The perlite I have is really small. As in it will come out the hole on the bottom. Maybe I could combine the hydroton and the perlite? Hydroton up to the hole, and then perlite the rest of the way?
A. I've not done that, but from what I've read, that does not work since hydroton does not "wick" the water up from the res as well as perlite. With perlite too, there are no big pockets of water to drown roots - that's why the finer stuff is actually better. It does come out of the hole... but usually not enough to matter. If it clogs, just poke it.
Q. Is there a "feed / water" schedule?
A. Nope, I feed everytime. Just like a hydro plant gets fed as much as possible, so it is with hempy. Just keep the nutes to a strength the plants can handle - they let you know with the tips first. I would keep it lighter than most full strength schedules for DWC, NFT, or Aero. However, if you notice ANY burning on the leaf tips, use water to flush, and be SURE to reduce the nutes in the next watering.
Q. What PH is good for Hempy?
A. It's the same range as Hydro - 5.2 - 6.2, with 5.8 as a target, but some drift is desirable to absorb the nutes over the entire range of PH.
Q. What are the benefits to Hempy?
A. Simplicity is #1 - with just perlite for a medium, you don't have to worry about over-watering, and you can flush it in an instant if you go overboard on nutes. No soil to worry about, no PH checking every day... most nutes are about right with no PH adjustment at all. No root rot, no tanks to change, no lines to clean... it will not match DWC for vegetative growth rate, but it will get close, and with a low failure rate since there's no pump to break, a harvest is almost assured. Hempy will also often result in larger plants and buds than a comparable soil grow, and there is less chance of the plant becoming "root bound". I have found the roots seem to air prune on the sides, and perhaps water prune on the bottom. I've not had spiraled roots yet. You can also re-use perlite after screening the old roots out and using a enzyme treatment. You may wish to pour boiling water over the perlite to be recycled in a large cooler if you have any disease issues during the grow. H2O2 will also help keep diseases from propagating.
Q. Why is the hole so small? And does it have to be exactly 7/16"?
The hole is small so the water does not run out immediately - it wets the perlite above, and then draws fresh air into the root system as the excess water runs out. A little bigger and you'll see more perlite run out and it will empty too fast, and a little smaller and it will get clogged constantly.
TOKE OUT:smokebuds:
Thank L4R, I appreciate it bro! Trying to keep things simple (works best for me, I spend more time figuring out lights and new cab dimensions, haha.
Thanks toke, I appreciate it! Do you mind if I move your stuff into my main thread and add some text formatting to it (bold questions). I won't change the information at all, I just want to add it all in! It's funny I just registered somewhere else cres recommended and saw that avatar (with your name) and I was like
that's sexy!
Thanks toke, I appreciate it! Do you mind if I move your stuff into my main thread and add some text formatting to it (bold questions). I won't change the information at all, I just want to add it all in! It's funny I just registered somewhere else cres recommended and saw that avatar (with your name) and I was like
that's sexy!Thanks brother! Added the new stuff in, kept all of the information as you provided it and just added some text formatting. Looks real good, I really appreciate letting me use your information man..
:smokebuds: good man, good vibe!
:smokebuds: good man, good vibe!
my setup
Hi,
I was stunned about hempys as well, and i Thought I could tweak them a little, but first I had to build one -
The concept is:
one 12l airpot contains the perlite, put into a bucket, which holds the reservoir at the low level, and..drains into another bucket which holds the runoff then.
Simple and cheap...but then I had the problem to pump the water out of the reservoir for checks. Didn't work well. So why don't lift the youter container a bit and use it as a "real" reservoir, put a pump in it and use that for a dripping system.
et voila
View attachment 171888
I transplanted a late white cheese into it and now wait how it performs.
As long it is small, the dripper runs very frequent, about all 4h for 30 minutes.
As the roots grow down to the reservoir i reduce dripping intervals, but keep on dripping, just to prevent salt fom building up too much. But I try to get to intervals where the reservoir hopefuly gets emptied by the roots within one interval (I think the net res size of water is about 0.75l ). So the dripping system becomes a simple res-refill-system ... depending on the outbost bucket, I think you can leave the system alone for 7+ days I'd say.
But I have to see myself how "super" my idea is
does anybody see any wrongs at first glance ?
What do you think about this geekery ;-) ...or is this somewhat mainstream already?
Hi,
I was stunned about hempys as well, and i Thought I could tweak them a little, but first I had to build one -
The concept is:
one 12l airpot contains the perlite, put into a bucket, which holds the reservoir at the low level, and..drains into another bucket which holds the runoff then.
Simple and cheap...but then I had the problem to pump the water out of the reservoir for checks. Didn't work well. So why don't lift the youter container a bit and use it as a "real" reservoir, put a pump in it and use that for a dripping system.
et voila
View attachment 171888
I transplanted a late white cheese into it and now wait how it performs.
As long it is small, the dripper runs very frequent, about all 4h for 30 minutes.
As the roots grow down to the reservoir i reduce dripping intervals, but keep on dripping, just to prevent salt fom building up too much. But I try to get to intervals where the reservoir hopefuly gets emptied by the roots within one interval (I think the net res size of water is about 0.75l ). So the dripping system becomes a simple res-refill-system ... depending on the outbost bucket, I think you can leave the system alone for 7+ days I'd say.
But I have to see myself how "super" my idea is
does anybody see any wrongs at first glance ?
What do you think about this geekery ;-) ...or is this somewhat mainstream already?
toke
AFN High Team Leader
well kfigerm i dont know if you call it geekery, tweekery or stooonedery were all ready to see something new or different , so start a thread below and show us what you got. looks good id like to see it in action.
TOKE OUT
TOKE OUT
dam cant believe i missed this about time for a hempy thread been running hempys for over a year now and absolutely love them. i like to start in beer cups then to two gal buckets. just stepped up to going from a 2 to 5gal and so far it looks like its gonna pay off but just started flower so well have to see. wanted to add a cpl things i've noticed in my hempy journeys if u dont mind. nothing scientific just stuff i think helps. start off by sayin i use 100% perlite in my buckets. and i use rockwool to start seeds/clone in. when starting seeds in rockwool i like to water right around the cube lightly once it pops above ground every day for the first cpl days then i like to let it dry out real good as i start in cups and then transplant to bigger that way as it has that day of dryness it makes the roots really stretch to get at the bottom of that res in your cup for water. also when i go to transplant to a bigger pot i like to fill the bucket up to proper lv to place in the cup but before i transplant i will water that section good then transplant and cover and top water real good. then i wont water for a few days to let that get good and dry so that the roots once again kinda stretch out looking for that water on the bottom. just a cpl things i do is it guaranteed to help or make a dif i think so idk.
It's all about waiting for them to hit that Res. Once they do, growth happens very rapidly. I'm thinking, with the use of Osmocote Plus and Cal/Mag w/ RO water, you're looking at a VERY simple method. This means that you only have to add Cal/Mag (easily done) and pH the water for the entire life of the lady.
You can make it even more simplistic by taking a 5 gal bucket, filling it with R/O water, adding an aquarium pump and stones to oxygenate, adding Cal/Mag, and pH'ing. This way you do it once for every 5 gallons.
I too like to let them dry out a little. Those roots get thirsty and go hunting.
You can make it even more simplistic by taking a 5 gal bucket, filling it with R/O water, adding an aquarium pump and stones to oxygenate, adding Cal/Mag, and pH'ing. This way you do it once for every 5 gallons.
I too like to let them dry out a little. Those roots get thirsty and go hunting.
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