growing in 100% perlite
- Thread starter endlesslyonline
- Start date
Dirty nerds hit it right on the head. I've grown soil for many of years until not long ago switching to 100% perlite and I will never go back or even switch to coco. I do not have a hempy setup so I can't comment on them but I'm growing in a 30ltr pot 100% perlite and 3-4 15min waterings a day is well enough running thru a drip system. Alot of people know that Flooding will not work with perlite as it just floats and clogs your stuff up so that's why drips r so easy and the best use of perlite unless you hand water your pots and mix in with other things such as coco,vermiculite etc.
Growan
Well-Known Member
Cool. Kinda my plan too. I'll have a proper look through your grow when I can sit down and concentrate on it.
Until then...what size room do you have for that setup?
A grower named "Hempy" started the Hempy bucket, hence the name
Interesting you never pH... what's your tap water like after you put feed in? I'd never not pH personally.-spek
I have a 3x2x2' tent for my clones/moms, and a 2x4x5' tent for flower. You'll have to go through the thread to understand how I fit them all in
There's a couple pics at the very end of a full tent. Earlier on in the thread is me testing and honing in on the method.I also wrote a scheduler application for the perpetual that's in there too
-spek
Indoor Sun King
Well-Known Member
I guess it depends on your water and nutes using, but with mine the pH drops to 5, so I must use pH+....but I know guys that don't need to bother
With my nutes, my tap water sits at 6.3 pH, so I don't need to adjust in my soil, but for anything hydro, it's a tad too high for my liking so I have to down a little bit.
-spek
Indoor Sun King
Well-Known Member
mine is over 7.... I just use pH test drops so I don't have an exact reading....when growing in soil, I use straight water, the soil can buffer it.
With hydro (hempy), I just need to get the pH in the ballpark.... if fact I believe it's a good thing if your pH varies slightly with each feeding
I do agree with that, as all nutrients, including macro/micro uptake at varying pH, so I do mix it up slightly.
-spek
earnest_voice
Well-Known Member
I've grow in 100% course perlite, 30L pot with with a 50L reservoir. Works fine but it does dry out quick. I've found a layer of hydroton on the bottom and top of the pot helps tremendously and also prevents mold and algae growth on the top of the perlite and rockwool cube.
This pic is a previous plant i'd just transplanted into the 30L pot, notice the small feed ring with angled outlets to soak the medium under the rockwool. After about 10 days I switch to a 9" feed ring to fully soak the entire medium when watering, this allows the roots to expand.
There is a small amount out nutrient that sits in the bottom of the bucket and is flushed every watering, once the roots come down to the bottom they will suck up any remaining water between feedings.
Using this method i've never had cleaner, whiter, healthier roots after a run. Happy to answer any questions you may have.
I water for 15mins every hour during lights on and only once every 4hours for 20mins in lights off.
My drain line goes back to the reservoir on steeped angle to facilitate quick drain. I use 13mm tubing for feed line and 19mm tubing for drain.
akhiymjames
Well-Known Member
My system is just like Earnest. It drains by gravity by not being on the floor the pot is raised up and goes back into the res. Its a very easy system and the fastest I've seen plants grow. I don't use rockwool tho as it tends to hold water and I don't want the plant thinking its being over watered when its not but should be fine if you don't have water hitting the cube when the plant is being fed.
akhiymjames
Well-Known Member
You gotta have a pump in the res to feed the girls that's the only way water gets to the top of the plant via the feed ring. There are two separate hoses that's connected to the res; one that's connected to a drain valve at the bottom of your 2nd pot and a hose connected to the pump in the res that's connected to the feed ring. You don't want the water being pumped back up the drain hose to feed the plant. Sorry I didn't mention that I had a pump in the res but I figured you guys would have known that.
earnest_voice
Well-Known Member
I've got a 2000l/hr electric pump running my 13mm feed line at a length of 4ft to a 9" halo feed ring. I have 2 airstones in my res running from a dual output air pump.
My pot sits on a platform roughly 160mm off the ground so gravity assists with the drain. Important to set your drain line on an incline otherwise nutrient will sit in the line between feeds and gunk will build up on the walls of the drain line and slowly that shit will seep back into your res.
yeah ? Errmm we knew that , duh ,lol,,,
some one mentioned no moving parts or electric??
akhiymjames
Well-Known Member
No there's gonna be electric parts as you need an air pump, water pump, timer for the feed
harris hawk
Well-Known Member
Never heard of it - interesting - what about growing with just "clay"balls? Maybe the same as perlite
earnest_voice
Well-Known Member
As for PH, I dial mine in at around 5.2 after a res change and let it rise on its own throughout the week to a max of ~6.4. (I change res once every 7 days including a flush with florakleen)
akhiymjames
Well-Known Member
Yea very interesting. Yes you can grow with just clay balls hell you can grow in a lot of different mediums. I knew a guy back in high school was growing with foam material like a cheap foam mattress. Long as the plant gets fed you can about grow in anything