cowboylogic
Well-Known Member
Here ya go OB 1, heres the reins. I will be along but the threads yours too lead. Geddy Up!!!!!!!!!!!
Has the Hempy evolved?
- Thread starter cowboylogic
- Start date
OB 1
Active Member
Sounds good brother!
I've been following the work of DocBud, Setting Sun, and Irishboy, members of another forum right now unfortunately... so I guess it's up to me to spread the word about some new hempy techniques.
First, a warning - I've only had moderate success, so I might be a less than perfect messenger, but I think the science behind what they are doing is sound, and you simply cannot argue with the results if you've followed their journals as I have.
However, since the majority of you have not seen their grows, I'll do my best to at least get the concepts out there for discussion.
Controlled Release Fertilizers and Hempy
Scott's company makes Osmocote Plus, a controlled release fertilizer (CRF) with NPK and complete Micros, that releases according to the temperature of the surrounding media. There is another product, Dynamite Red, that has been used with success, the difference being it's a time release fertilizer, releasing at a steady rate, regardless of the media's temperature.
The best grows I've seen use these two together - the OC+ will fertilize more when the plant metabolism is more active in higher temps, and the Dynamite will insure a continual supply if temps drop. The ratios were 1 tablespoon of each per gallon of hempy bucket, mixed evenly with coco and perlite, and poured on two inches of perlite in the bottom of your standard hempy bucket with a 7/16" hole 2" from the bottom.
Watering can be tap if it's good - if not, you must use Cal-Mag with R/O water since these products were designed for tap with some calcium and magnesium already in there.
Please don't judge this method by my first try at hempy - I started with nearly dead clones, ignored them for a month, watered with plain R/O and then tap before I figured out how high my sodium content was... messed up my PH by forgetting to calibrate meter, and then finally burnt them when I got impatient trying to fix the deficiencies... but I still got a decent yield. Here's a LST'd blue widow:
You water the same as a regular hempy, make sure to PH the water to 6.0, and get about 30% run-off to flush out the salts.
Little Tommy
Well-Known Member
That sounds interesting. I am sold on the hempy method, I switched over about a year ago and never looked back. I will have to see if these brands are available near me and give it a try. Thanks for the info.
OB 1
Active Member
No problem.
Full disclosure - if you already have GH nutes and no PH meter... than you are best sticking with perlite only. I'm pretty sure this method is best for the budget minded guy who doesn't mind using a bit of PH down in his good tap water. I'm a compulsive experimenter and cheapskate... and $20 of these nutes last forever.
benjamin alexander
Active Member
depends if your tap water is any good or not, once you have the base readings for your tapwater and they are within range your pretty much good to go, my tap water was a little high but i used coir, helps as a buffer and added a few pine chips into the mix, naturally lowers the ph. took a coupla test runs with runoff etc til i got the right recipe for my soil but now i can put m tapwater in and it comes out perfect 
i def think the hempy has evolved, it is a fantastic method and can be left simple or expanded on with automatic watering systems etc as i have done, i love the idea of potting your auto, sticking it under a light at 24/0 and watering outa the tap, thats it.
osmocote now has a plus organic range that is worth looking into, contains everything you would normally put into your soil to ammend the mix in it ALREADY like blood and bone, guano, gypsum etc, makes mixing soils a moot point, i think its amazing!
i def think the hempy has evolved, it is a fantastic method and can be left simple or expanded on with automatic watering systems etc as i have done, i love the idea of potting your auto, sticking it under a light at 24/0 and watering outa the tap, thats it.
osmocote now has a plus organic range that is worth looking into, contains everything you would normally put into your soil to ammend the mix in it ALREADY like blood and bone, guano, gypsum etc, makes mixing soils a moot point, i think its amazing!
Nice Ol Bud
Well-Known Member
Very Optamistic, ill have to look into this!
+Rep!
+Rep!
benjamin alexander
Active Member
certainly woth it imo
OB 1
Active Member
If you have GH or other nutes that automatically take PH down to 5.8... then you can get away with no PH TESTING until you have a problem anyway. I think a PH meter is essential equipment for any grower for when problem crop up...
There are some good, cheap nutes out there that professional nurseries have used for decades with outstanding results - so much of the cannabis community has been sold on these expensive nute lines that really don't out perform some of the tried and true technology like Osmocote.depends if your tap water is any good or not, once you have the base readings for your tapwater and they are within range your pretty much good to go, my tap water was a little high but i used coir, helps as a buffer and added a few pine chips into the mix, naturally lowers the ph. took a coupla test runs with runoff etc til i got the right recipe for my soil but now i can put m tapwater in and it comes out perfect
i def think the hempy has evolved, it is a fantastic method and can be left simple or expanded on with automatic watering systems etc as i have done, i love the idea of potting your auto, sticking it under a light at 24/0 and watering outa the tap, thats it.
osmocote now has a plus organic range that is worth looking into, contains everything you would normally put into your soil to ammend the mix in it ALREADY like blood and bone, guano, gypsum etc, makes mixing soils a moot point, i think its amazing!
Thanks to DocBud for starting me down this road... and thanks to you for stopping by!
TaoWolf
Active Member
I used Osmocote Plus outdoors for years with good results - esp. considering the time saved plus the safety of not lugging liquid nutrients out to an isolated area or having to mix anything on-site. It's good to see people being open-minded enough to put it to good effect indoors too. And yeah, the company gets smashed a lot on these forums but they do make some products that are great.
I'm interested enough to experiment with it micro-scale soon. Thanks for the post and bringing the info over to these forums.
I'm interested enough to experiment with it micro-scale soon. Thanks for the post and bringing the info over to these forums.
OB 1
Active Member
You know, that reminds me - one of the best ways to try this out would be with "mini-hempies".
I had great success last summer starting clones in Rapid Rooter plugs, then mixing OC+ and perlite in a 20oz Solo cup with a hole about an inch off the bottom, and putting the Rapid Rooter in there to let it veg.
I transplanted them into soil on a stream bank, and they had no transplant shock whatsoever - just took off growing right away. Two visits to the site to spray for bugs was all it took before harvest - Aug1 to Oct 1 - 60 days for 12" clones to finish outside.
Here's a Strawberry Cough right before harvest:
OB 1
Active Member
Thanks man - my eyes almost popped out of my head when I got up there for harvest.
I know what you mean - between finding males 6" high but still spreading pollen, to seedlings just not taking off... going with clones from a mom in these hempy cups works great - the roots will pretty much fill the whole cup in two weeks with decent light, but we kept these alive for over a month under a single CFL until we could get to the site.
cowboylogic
Well-Known Member
What up Ob and all. I have a buttload of Dutch buckets and have been thinking about doing an autofeed hempy with them in the future. Any leads or advice? Thanks
cowboylogic
Well-Known Member
Just saw your post Wolf. And I also used Osmo+ on some plants outdoors this summer and really liked the results. The addition of Calcium, Magnesium and extra Iron to the original formula was genius IMO.
edit: beautiful plant!
edit: beautiful plant!
OB 1
Active Member
I've not used Dutch Buckets, so I don't know what I can offer... is that like a bato bucket?
The only thing that comes to mind is to keep it simple, so you might want to go with just the standard perlite if you are running a big grow.
However, if using tap water works to your advantage, then a hempy with CRF's would make sense - just put 50% coco coir in the top half to help buffer the CRFs. I've done CRFs with just pure perlite... but had problems.
cowboylogic
Well-Known Member
Had to look up Bato Bucket but yep, one in the same. Learn something new everyday. I was thinking of using straight hydroton. Thinking with the depth of the pot a flush once a day may just work out. Covering the tops. Recirculating the feed. Just something I have been bouncing around. Getting old and lazy and looking to simplify. Thanks for the help.
OB 1
Active Member
Gotcha - yeah, those can be used in many different ways - drain to waste is nice for simplicity, but I don't think straight hydroton would hold enough water for that, so you'd have to have several cycles per day off a res if you want to use that as a medium.
K21701
Active Member
I also thought I would try this method after reading JapanFreak's thread. I have a #1 feminized Queen Kush (a freebie from Attitude) that I germed in rockwool.
She was then placed in DWC for almost 2 weeks until she had a fair amount of roots showing.
She is now in a 1 gallon bucket with perlite and a tablespoon of Osmocote on a 24/0 and IMO she looks great!!!
She was then placed in DWC for almost 2 weeks until she had a fair amount of roots showing.She is now in a 1 gallon bucket with perlite and a tablespoon of Osmocote on a 24/0 and IMO she looks great!!!