Un-Lucky Queen 12/12 Hempy

[Old Goat]

Great read & info Doc & those who contribute.
OK so I go with Hempy with 100% Perlite & buckets set up properly with drainage. Having read considerable about the pots many use tubing in the drain hole and they call that tubing a Siphon tube. This is found mostly on the automated systems. There mediums have been many and none I recall being higher than 50% perlite. I'm a bit leary about drainage. Your thoughts please. Maybe a 50/50 perlite and hydroton on the below drain hole level?
Also I'm on my way out to the Big Orange for O+ but in my reading you haven't spoken to the mixture. Your advice please on proper ratio per cubic foot.
I do not wish to take an off tangent here but I do need help on a heat issue.
My grow cabinet is 23d x48w x5'8" tall. I've two 4x4" hole for in & out air @ 100 cfm, plus a 10"" fan inside. CFL for early stages and either 400w or 430w with a shaped ( wing likebut) no dents or bends polished reflector for finish.
Here's the issue for any input from any please. At 3 & 1/2 feet below the HPS at the floor of my cabinet reads 85 degrees & higher at times. I can and have put the same thermostat on top of the same light and get a reading of 75 degrees. I've removed the reflector to see what's up and only get minimal drop. This alone tells me there is good air movement so why the hot spot?

 

[Doc Bud]

Great read & info Doc & those who contribute.
OK so I go with Hempy with 100% Perlite & buckets set up properly with drainage. Having read considerable about the pots many use tubing in the drain hole and they call that tubing a Siphon tube. This is found mostly on the automated systems. There mediums have been many and none I recall being higher than 50% perlite. I'm a bit leary about drainage. Your thoughts please. Maybe a 50/50 perlite and hydroton on the below drain hole level?
Also I'm on my way out to the Big Orange for O+ but in my reading you haven't spoken to the mixture. Your advice please on proper ratio per cubic foot.
I do not wish to take an off tangent here but I do need help on a heat issue.
My grow cabinet is 23d x48w x5'8" tall. I've two 4x4" hole for in & out air @ 100 cfm, plus a 10"" fan inside. CFL for early stages and either 400w or 430w with a polished reflector for finish.
Here's the issue for any input from any please. At 3 & 1/2 feet below the HPS at the floor of my cabinet reads 85 degrees. I can and have put the same thermostat on top of the same light and get a reading of 75 degrees. This alone tells me there is good air movement so why the hot spot?

Welcome to my journal OG!

Regarding the bucket, drain and medium....I always like to repeat the Hempy motto:

Just drill a hole in the damn bucket, fill it with perlite and grow some plants!

There is no need whatsoever for hydroton. If you were going to use anything in addition to perlite, I'd choose vermiculite or turface. I've used vermiculite and the plants grew fine....but no better than straight perlite.

The motto also answers your question about drainage. No need for a tube, or screen.

You want to drill the hole in the damn bucket about 2 inches up from the the bottom. Make the damn hole the size of a damn pencil....about 7/16. Drill only one hole....more is actually worse. The reason is when you water, you want the water level above the hole for a bit so that as it drains it draws air down through the medium.

I added the Osmocote as follows:

half charge at the bottom of the bucket. the other half about 2 inches above the hole (4 inches from the bottom) The amount to use is right there on the Osmocote container. Don't worry if it's a little more or less...plants won't care.

Regarding heat issues in a cabinet, it's a tough situation. It's hotter under the lights due to radiation, not convection....about the only thing you can do is try to bring in a bit more outside air to cool the light, or use a cool tube reflector.

Another option, which would work well with 85 degrees is to add Co2....but with the hempys that will make the plants too big for the cabinet. Perhaps the best solution is to just try to get more heat out of the cabinet with fans.

So, to summarize, don't over analyze the simplicity of the hempy bucket, just drill a hole in the damn thing, fill it with perlite and start growing. It really is that easy.

 

[Green Utopia]

Really great stuff here Doc. I am completely on board with the time release stuff. I gotta do some research and make sure I got my ducks in a row - but I am totally gonna start phasing them in.

They say they release when its warm vs cold - do you have a sense of what temp that line is?

Thanks again!

 

[Setting Sun]

Here's something good to know from a link off that link you posted:

"With all CRF technology, it is important to remember that once the fertilizer gets out of the prill, it may only become available to microbes and root hairs, if it comes off the prill. There can be prills laying on the soil surface, moisture can be drawn from the soil and fertilizer can be released, but if it is stuck on the surface of the prill, it cannot be utilized as plant food. Consequently, moisture needs to move over the surface of the prill in order to wash the nutrients off the prill and into the root zone. With all CRF technology, it is important to place the prills where water can move over the prills, especially when using drip or micro-irrigation systems."

this video is nice too:

Index of /

 

[Doc Bud]

Really great stuff here Doc. I am completely on board with the time release stuff. I gotta do some research and make sure I got my ducks in a row - but I am totally gonna start phasing them in.

They say they release when its warm vs cold - do you have a sense of what temp that line is?

Thanks again!

There are products that are designed for certain temps, products that release more nutes towards the latter half of their life cycle and the opposite, etc.
The main thing about these things is that they release more nutrients when the temps are higher...which is also when the plants have more growth and need for nutes....and they release less when the temps are lower.

70-85 degrees is optimal and the products are designed around that range.

Here's something good to know from a link off that link you posted:

"With all CRF technology, it is important to remember that once the fertilizer gets out of the prill, it may only become available to microbes and root hairs, if it comes off the prill. There can be prills laying on the soil surface, moisture can be drawn from the soil and fertilizer can be released, but if it is stuck on the surface of the prill, it cannot be utilized as plant food. Consequently, moisture needs to move over the surface of the prill in order to wash the nutrients off the prill and into the root zone. With all CRF technology, it is important to place the prills where water can move over the prills, especially when using drip or micro-irrigation systems."

this video is nice too:

Osmocote Plus

Great info, SS. It's why these things can be used as a top dressing.....and is also a good reason to water thoroughly, with generous runoff.

 

[Setting Sun]

I wonder if it affects the release rate if they are submerged in still water, as in the res at the bottom of a self-watering pot?


well here ya go, checkout the "use" for the fourth product down:

Osmocote Fertiliser For Soil & Plants - Scotts Australia

 

[Doc Bud]

I wonder if it affects the release rate if they are submerged in still water, as in the res at the bottom of a self-watering pot?


well here ya go, checkout the "use" for the fourth product down:

Osmocote® Controlled Release Food and Potting Mixes - Scotts Australia

"For growing pot plants, indoors and outdoors"

LOL! That's exactly what I've been saying!

On a more serious note, that same website says that Osmocote can be used to grow water lilys, because of the way it works. It would work very well at the bottom of a reservoir.....which is how i am using it in the Hempys. Also, you may recall that during the time they were in the solo cups, I kept prills in some water and used that for my nutrients solution when I watered.

So, yeah....these things work, and they work well.

 

[Setting Sun]

I was just wondering if they "need" flow or moving water to wash off the surface nutes, whether the nutes would just load up on the surface of the prill and not release properly in still water, but it's probably just me looking for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist

 

[Doc Bud]

I was just wondering if they "need" flow or moving water to wash off the surface nutes, whether the nutes would just load up on the surface of the prill and not release properly in still water, but it's probably just me looking for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist

If you water....and you get runoff.....you have flow. If you have flow, the prills release their nutes.

I had them in standing water and they released their nutes.....but at room temp I couldn't get the ppm over the high 300's.

We've been conditioned to believe that cannabis cultivation is a black art and that we all need to be initiated into a secret society, with costly implements and magic potions.

I reject all that. These plants can be grown like any other plant.

Osmocote as a base nute.....additives as needed.

 

[Setting Sun]

D'oh!

I forgot that watering stirs things up, even if the prills are in a res.


These pots I'm thinking of are a little different than a Hempy bucket in that they do have a small reservoir at the bottom which is devoid of medium, but I think the prills would still get flow through both top or bottom watering.

 

[Doc Bud]

D'oh!

I forgot that watering stirs things up, even if the prills are in a res.


These pots I'm thinking of are a little different than a Hempy bucket in that they do have a small reservoir at the bottom which is devoid of medium, but I think the prills would still get flow through both top or bottom watering.

As long as the water flows over the prills and into the medium....you're in business. If I was going to use this in a flood table, I'd place the prills towards the top of the medium, just below the high water mark. Then, the nutes would wash back down the medium. Some of them would wash into the reservoir, which would also be fine.

But I think these prills are really best if used in soil, or soiless mix, that is top watered.

 

[Setting Sun]

Well, these pots are meant to be bottom-watered, so the nutes would be wicked up from the res, not washed down by top watering.

 

[Doc Bud]

Well, these pots are meant to be bottom-watered, so the nutes would be wicked up from the res, not washed down by top watering.

the best thing to do, of course, would be to try placing the prill in different locations in order to see what works.

you'll figure it out, I have no doubt.

As for me, I'm starting to feel like I want to do a soil grow next.

And now....it's off the the garden for some pics and check on stuff.

 

[Doc Bud]

Update:

A few minutes before dark. I had the AC on for the last 24 hours. High temp was 81. RH was between 40 and 52.....perfect.

Will these plants ever stop stretching? The tallest are now 37 inches!

Lucky Queen is the oddball in this grow. She's the only survivor of 23 seeds. It is easy to see how this strain is perfectly suited for dense planting in a 12/12 grow. There is minimal sidebranching and the makings of a nice, long cola are present. Sadly, she shows the most damage from the spraying mishap. But I'm going to get some bud from her for sure. All the leaves are 5 bladed...no 7's or 9's.

Here are some garden shots. The only purple petioles in the bunch are in the 2 Advanced Nutrients plants....however, both plants are healthy, just not as healthy as the Osmocote plants.

Below is the Advanced soil:

Below is a soil osmocote with a very Sativa phenotype

Below is my favorite plant, it's a hempy osmocote and it's gorgeous.

These pics all look pretty good....but they could have looked so much better had I not brought them all close to death a couple weeks ago. These are resilient plants! I think they're easier to kill with love than with neglect.

 

[HorseBadoritz]

[/QUOTE]These pics all look pretty good....but they could have looked so much better had I not brought them all close to death a couple weeks ago. These are resilient plants! I think they're easier to kill with love than with neglect.[/QUOTE]

Ahhh, woulda, shoulda, coulda... get along little dogie<G> Hey, they look good from my house. I think you pulled off a very nice recovery. I get in trouble messing with them, too... good thing it's just a weed, ha.

I just picked up some OC reg 19-6-12... should I look for the plus instead?

 

[Doc Bud]

These pics all look pretty good....but they could have looked so much better had I not brought them all close to death a couple weeks ago. These are resilient plants! I think they're easier to kill with love than with neglect.[/QUOTE]

Ahhh, woulda, shoulda, coulda... get along little dogie<G> Hey, they look good from my house. I think you pulled off a very nice recovery. I get in trouble messing with them, too... good thing it's just a weed, ha.

I just picked up some OC reg 19-6-12... should I look for the plus instead?[/QUOTE]

Are you growing in soil? OC plus has all the micro's. You may not need all of them. But I like the plus....no way you can go wrong.

I'm beginning to think that an easy path to a very nice grow would be quality soil, Osmocote Plus and Fox Farms Big Bloom. Inexpensive, effective, and with the addition of the Big Bloom probably are very tasty product!

I just don't see how you can beat it as a base nute.

 

[HorseBadoritz]

[/QUOTE]

Are you growing in soil? OC plus has all the micro's. You may not need all of them. But I like the plus....no way you can go wrong.

I'm beginning to think that an easy path to a very nice grow would be quality soil, Osmocote Plus and Fox Farms Big Bloom. Inexpensive, effective, and with the addition of the Big Bloom probably are very tasty product!

I just don't see how you can beat it as a base nute.[/QUOTE]

I'm sittin' on a fence that's getting harder to ride I was going to do dirt, and our best plants are in 1/2 gal pots w/ 30% perlite & dirt. But then, I started reading about hempies, and found yours, and Slimm's threads.

The only nutes have been one feeding of FF Big Bloom.

I've got most of the stuff for hempy buckets, but I'm wondering if it's ok to put a dirt root ball innto the perlite. I think I've seen it here, do you think it's ok?

And, I'm assuming the OC + is better for a straight perlite grow?

 

[Doc Bud]

Are you growing in soil? OC plus has all the micro's. You may not need all of them. But I like the plus....no way you can go wrong.

I'm beginning to think that an easy path to a very nice grow would be quality soil, Osmocote Plus and Fox Farms Big Bloom. Inexpensive, effective, and with the addition of the Big Bloom probably are very tasty product!

I just don't see how you can beat it as a base nute.

I'm sittin' on a fence that's getting harder to ride I was going to do dirt, and our best plants are in 1/2 gal pots w/ 30% perlite & dirt. But then, I started reading about hempies, and found yours, and Slimm's threads.

The only nutes have been one feeding of FF Big Bloom.

I've got most of the stuff for hempy buckets, but I'm wondering if it's ok to put a dirt root ball innto the perlite. I think I've seen it here, do you think it's ok?

And, I'm assuming the OC + is better for a straight perlite grow?

I would not transplant 1/2 gallon root balls from dirt into perlite. That's too much dirt and the root structure will be confused. I'd put a solo cup sized root ball into a 2 gallon hempy, however.....that's what I do.

And, due to the fact that the hempy's are a sterile medium, the OC plus is a good choice. Using tap water, I have not had to add CalMag, neither have I had a deficiency of any kind.

 

[Setting Sun]

Hey doc, are you still filtering your tap water through that hose-end chlorine filter?

I was wondering how much that lowers your ppm because of the comment you made above about not needing to add cal-mag to the osmocote+.

 

[Doc Bud]

Hey doc, are you still filtering your tap water through that hose-end chlorine filter?

I was wondering how much that lowers your ppm because of the comment you made above about not needing to add cal-mag to the osmocote+.

Yep....still using the filter.

I don't know about the PPM difference with and without....I'm gonna check that out tonite.