Perlite hydro growers

Hi All.
I have just switched from organic and soil grows over to 100% perlite hydro growing and was wondering if there is any other growers on here that use just perlite as their medium aswell and have any input they would like to ad on pure perlite grows. My setup is quite simple, I have 2 28ltr pots (7gal) sitting inside 2 of the same sized 28ltr pots except the top pots have .5inch holes drilled all thru the bottom so they empty out into the bottom pots which then empties out via 1inch hole on the side down the bottom into my 60 ltr res. in the res sits a water heater and pump that feeds the ring droppers 4 times a day. I have heard alot of perlite coco grows or perlite vermiculite and coco but I haven't found too many other 100% perlite growers and would like to hear your stories.

Could you post a couple of pictures of that? I'm thinking it sounds a bit like an automated hempy, kind of 'active-passive' hydro?

My plan for the next run is to try out hempy in perlite using dynagro grow or foliage, but i like the sound of your setup too. Sounds nice and simple

Take a good piece of advice: cold is much better than warm, get rid of the heater. Its a breeding ground for bad stuff.

superstoner1 said:

Take a good piece of advice: cold is much better than warm, get rid of the heater. Its a breeding ground for bad stuff.

Click to expand...

Cheers mate I will keep that in mind but in my last 7 weeks theres been no ill effect using it for numerous hours ,but i will take note of your words. Right now I'm only using the heater for 30-45 mins a day b4 lights come on just to warm res up as temps stay below 18 degrees with lights out.

Growan I have just gone lights out mate but I will post pics up soon. I was going to go dwc as a mate has been very successful doing this way for years but as I already had the pots, pump, perlite and hosing I decided to go this way. Growth rate isn't as explosive as dwc but its very very close to it,also perlite does actually retain more moisture then people say it does so 3-4 15 mins watering a day is enough I've found.

Pure peralite works fine, I mainly use it for clones or veggin in a flood table. Roots will have a different structure, they tend to be bushier, in pure peralite. My buddy used to use it in pretty much all phases during hydro, I noticed tho that if you drip from the top you can get alge blooms, mebby partialy bury your drip ring.

It actually holds alot of moisture, if it weren't for the fact that it gets crushed easily it would be good. Use longer dry times for pearlite.

Something I'm experimenting with, is using the fabric smart pots or geopots for peralite, It wont pass through the fabric, so it acts like a filter for the peralite, the fabric pots would also prevent root circling. I also think you would get more even saturation with the fabric pots,

Hempy buckets I think is what you are trying to do.