My Hempy Clones Keep Drying Out

Does anyone have any advice for me? I have a few weeks old clones (rooted), but my Hempy Solo Cups keep drying out WAY To Fast!

I water once at lights on, and once right before lights off. There is Always Water in the bottom of the cups ~1.5".

When I wake up in the morning they're starting to wilt, one did wilt and die. Like thats only ~8hours between waterings.

I need to keep them in a fairly small footprint right now (so I can not up pot to larger pots). They will eventually move to DWC. Any ideas on what I can do in the mean time?

Replace the coco with vermiculite. Still in the red cup.

Joint Monster said:

They will eventually move to DWC.

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why bother with the hempys then? build a small dwc tub with small net pots for all the clones. then x-fer to the bigger dwc whenever.

hotrodharley said:

Replace the coco with vermiculite. Still in the red cup.

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Sorry, forgot to mention they're in perlite and a RW cube.

Could I simply Top dress all the cups with soil or would that cause drainage issues?

rkymtnman said:

why bother with the hempys then? build a small dwc tub with small net pots for all the clones. then x-fer to the bigger dwc whenever.

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Hmm That's a Good Point! I'll go that route next time I take cuts! (I was on a stringent budget so I didn't end up getting a cloner before)

I also only plant to take X amount to the DWC system, the rest of them I was going to eventually get into bigger hempy pots. (Right now space is a bit of an issue)

I also thought because Hempy's have a "pool" of water at the bottom they would be some what "leave them alone/ set it and forget it". I did not account for them drying up so darn quick, regardless of the fact that they DO have water at the bottom of the cups and they still wilt!

Joint Monster said:

I also thought because Hempy's have a "pool" of water at the bottom they would be some what "leave them alone/ set it and forget it". I did not account for them drying up so darn quick, regardless of the fact that they DO have water at the bottom of the cups and they still wilt!

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i used to do hempys so i'm familiar. how close to the bottom of the solo did you have the hole? maybe try it half way up the cup so there is more of a res.

also, a bit of vermiculite with the perlite would help greatly as the vermic holds a bunch of water.

About just above the 2" mark.

I had all the cups in a tote, and that tote had filled about half way with water. So the cups were half submerged in water. (I was worried about possibly drowning them so I emptied the tote. They still have water in the bottom of the solo's) Even with the half filled totes, some were still finding their way to wilting.

I think I'll grab some vermiculite to mix in there/ on top of them.

Do you think I should leave them in the half filled tote of water meanwhile?

Joint Monster said:

About just above the 2" mark.

I had all the cups in a tote, and that tote had filled about half way with water. So the cups were half submerged in water. (I was worried about possibly drowning them so I emptied the tote. They still have water in the bottom of the solo's) Even with the half filled totes, some were still finding their way to wilting.

I think I'll grab some vermiculite to mix in there/ on top of them.

Do you think I should leave them in the half filled tote of water meanwhile?

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you said they were rooted clones. how many roots did they have approx?
the way you describe your setup, that sounds like it should be fine.
one thing you could try is to skip the water in the tote, and top feed them every 4 or 6 hours instead. maybe the extra O2 in the feedings will help them survive?

rkymtnman said:

why bother with the hempys then? build a small dwc tub with small net pots for all the clones. then x-fer to the bigger dwc whenever.

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Saves having to rinse any other medium away this way ^^. Easy straight to the bucket or bin.

hotrodharley said:

Saves having to rinse any other medium away this way ^^. Easy straight to the bucket or bin.

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that along with you don't have to worry about damaging any roots as you extract the plant from the hempy

rkymtnman said:

that along with you don't have to worry about damaging any roots as you extract the plant from the hempy

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These kids down the road have a cat litter tray reservoir, a plywood cover with holes cut. An air pump bubbling it. Cutting goes into a neoprene collar and into a hole. 2" hole, 3" homemade foam collars. Pipe insulation. Cheap and easy.

hotrodharley said:

Cheap and easy.

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that's how i like my women too!

rkymtnman said:

that's how i like my women too!

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She is! If I was just younger.