I bet someone will likely report a good experience, but it would not be me. MC is as organic as I would go.
You always want to encourage roots to reach out - and after a couple of days, you really don’t know where they are under there - so I cover the entire surface. You can’t overwater hempy.
The results are quite compelling (I read your thread on your 6lb grow) but I'd rather not do chems. Maybe I'll try one side by side at some point.I bet someone will likely report a good experience, but it would not be me. MC is as organic as I would go.
I would love to see that! 
IMO, the thing about organic is that it is intended to feed the soil, which doesn’t work in coco or perlite. That isn’t to say that “organic” means the same thing to everyone.
IMO, the thing about organic is that it is intended to feed the soil, which doesn’t work in coco or perlite. That isn’t to say that “organic” means the same thing to everyone.
Well, organics generally add stuff to the soil in a state that is not available to the plants. Instead, microbes are required to break the material down so it can be fed to the plants. Think oyster shells. Really good calcium in there, but initially hard as a rock.I would love to see that!
IMO, the thing about organic is that it is intended to feed the soil, which doesn’t work in coco or perlite. That isn’t to say that “organic” means the same thing to everyone.
But, there are ways to pre-digest the inputs so that they are plant available when you add them. Theoretically it should then be just like feeding bottled nutes.
The microbes are an advantage in an organic grow in that they work symbiotically with the plant to feed what is needed when it is needed, so you'd lose that. But on the other hand there is no denying the incredible results that can be had with the Hempy approach.
So, probably worth the experiment. I'm rooting an ivy plant that I think I'll use as the test case. I guess the risk is having the organic matter in the reservoir go bad before the plant can use it up.
This was my experience
Kismet
Well-Known Member
i love hempy but i did get the fixings to whip up some organic soil for outdoors and have no problem top dressing the girls with some kelp meal or Aerated Ewc in straight perlite. I think you are right about not letting any of that go anaerobic but even though we call hempy passive hydro there is quite a bit of action to it.
This.
This is precisely what I tried (in addition to fish emulsion - yuk!). I suppose it could be okay once the plant is draining the reservoir every day, but organic material quickly goes south sitting in a warm, unaerated reservoir.
Rickle Piiiiick
Well-Known Member
I'm worried I may have over watered my hempy. r/sarcasm
She's about 6 days old, I just moved her into this hempy cup with 100% horticulture grade perlite. Watered the surrounding area with 1/4 strength nute solution, until runoff.
8 hrs later and she was not looking happy so I unpacked her a bit from the perlite, is it possible the coco jiffy puck is keeping the little roots water logged? Guess I'm not sure anymore exactly how much water I should be giving at this stage, perlite seems to be retaining a lot.
I'd say the culprit is more your coco jiffy puck than the perlite. Maybe tilt the cup to drain the reservoir and see if it perks up in a day or two. Definitely looks overwatered to me.
What Azimuth said. I have seen issues with peat pucks, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a coco puck was similar.
Were the roots really sticking through the mesh covering the puck when you put it in the perlite? Because if they weren’t, it isn’t too late to do some surgery on the puck.
Were the roots really sticking through the mesh covering the puck when you put it in the perlite? Because if they weren’t, it isn’t too late to do some surgery on the puck.
Rickle Piiiiick
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the feedback @Azimuth and @FelipeBlu , I'll give it try and see.
Im planning to germinate next directly in a small piece of Rockwood already in a solo hempy cup. Will I likely have the same saturation problem? Not entirely sure if a seedling should be getting upwards of 400ml of water in a solo cup hempy with perlite.
Im planning to germinate next directly in a small piece of Rockwood already in a solo hempy cup. Will I likely have the same saturation problem? Not entirely sure if a seedling should be getting upwards of 400ml of water in a solo cup hempy with perlite.
I've seen growers having very good success just germinating right in the perlite after soaking the seed for a bit, like overnight.
To me, you're just adding complication to the mix with the two different mediums. If it were me, I'd just go straight perlite and skip the rockwool.
The perlite will wick up enough moisture to keep the seed happy while at the same time providing a lot more oxygen than the rockwool, as good as rockwool is.
To me, you're just adding complication to the mix with the two different mediums. If it were me, I'd just go straight perlite and skip the rockwool.
The perlite will wick up enough moisture to keep the seed happy while at the same time providing a lot more oxygen than the rockwool, as good as rockwool is.
That rockwool will be just like the puck - it will saturate and hold water. I don’t have any issues starting seedlings in straight perlite. Scuff the seed hull, soak until it cracks, plant ~1/2” into perlite - preferably pointy end up. If you‘d like to see this, it’s in my 2020 journal. Just make sure to put some water in the reservoir.
Rickle Piiiiick
Well-Known Member
Very interesting. What the heck I'll give it a try. So what's the watering schedule like for the first week? Just keep the perlite wet and water till runoff?
I understand the concept that we want the roots to chase the water/nutes down into the res, but if that takes upwards of 2 maybe even 3 weeks, am I just wasting water and nutes and risking waterlogged roots in the first week by saturating the perlite? Or is there a rough amount of days after germination where it's safe to just water the surrounding area rather than the whole volume of the container until runoff?
Hey @FelipeBlu, how does Hydroton compare to perlite for hempies, about the same or is one materially better than the other, and if so, how?
No need for nutes the first week or so. The seed has its own it'll be using up first.
The perlite will wick the water up from the res, so you can water it if you feel the need, but shouldn't be necessary unless you live in a super dry climate and the perlite is drying out too fast.
Also, my theory on why people experience a stall after potting up clones is that there's enough moisture in the perlite that the plant doesn't have to work to find it. It just sits there fat, dumb and happy while some roots meander down to the reservoir. So, letting the plant dry a little will speed up the whole process. There's a fine line however because it doesn't have super well established roots so you don't want to let them dry out too much.
I have never used hydroton, but it has less surface area than perlite, so it may not wick as well (?)
Ok, thanks. I'll probably do a side-by-side in an experiment I want to do with organic nutes. I suspect you're right, but that probably matters the most early on before the roots find the res?
Maybe could mix the two, also.
Maybe could mix the two, also.
Small perlite will wick best. Mixing sounds interesting. You could also use the hydroton in the reservoir.
