Hempy: Coco Coir vs. Perlite

[TorturedSoul]

(I thought we had a "Passive Hydroponics" section but, if so, I couldn't find it.)

What are your thoughts on the matter? Pros and cons of each, maybe direct comparison experience, if you have it. Et cetera.

 

[Braddah Waiheesohai]

(I thought we had a "Passive Hydroponics" section but, if so, I couldn't find it.)

What are your thoughts on the matter? Pros and cons of each, maybe direct comparison experience, if you have it. Et cetera.

I've just used perlite and it's easy and re-usable. From what I understand coco will hold water longer than perlite and you will spend a little more time balancing out your nutes. You can use everything from hydroton to grow stones and even soil in a hempy if you really want to. I would recommend starting with straight perlite as that's the OG original hempy method if you've never done it before.

Here's some info I found on other sites:
"You can use a variety of different mediums in a hempy bucket, they are quite flexible.

I've seen slightly better results using coco vs perlite. But perlite is easier to maintain, in that you don't have to chase the cal/mag equilibrium.

If you are using coco coir, you will need to use a different medium in the rez area, because the weight & density of the saturated coir is tough on roots. Perlite has been the general choice for some time, but it's been documented that the roots will stop at the coir to perlite transition, this reduces the volume for rooting, but the plants still grow great. I and others have been trying different rez mediums, I've been mixing coco chunk (mulch) with the coir and filling the bucket top to bottom, with really good results, and most likely the winner is Gordon's grow stones in the rez, (it just small rock wool cubes). Which I'll be trying here soon.

Perlite IMO is easier to use, the verm is used to help retain water above the rez level. I don't use it anymore, but I do put a soil cap (top 1 1/2 to 2 inches) which keeps the perlite from floating when watering, keeps the light out of the perlite, and acts like a moisture sponge which helps with the wicking action of the perlite."

"Anything that people use for hydroponic medium "could" be used for a hempy bucket.

Ideally you want something that has some water retention, isn't too heavy, lets air in but water through, isn't too expensive, and isn't terribly hard to reclaim.

Things people typically use:

Hydroton/expanded clay pellets, perlite, vermiculite, crushed lava rock, coco coir, gravel (cheap, but heavy!).

Things I've heard of using:

Rubberized pellet lawn mulch (supposedly really cheap and effective), lego (no kidding, the cracks retain water!), coarse sand, crushed styrofoam packing peanuts (they tend to "float", but they'll work), crushed brick.

They're suboptimal, but I've heard of people successfully running hydroponics on sawdust, shredded cardboard, and even shredded synthetic cloth. The first two, I think would run into drainage and/or rot problems. Shredded cloth could work, but I think drainage could be slow."

"Hempy Style

Hempy buckets are by far the easiest, cheapest and most cost effective way to grow hydroponically. In my 7 years of growing Ive done aeroponics, dwc, bio-buckets and Hempy and there is no comparing the simplicity.
No pH testing needed
No ppm meters
No stress about root rot

Hempy is a run to waste, hand water style of growing. Oh no run to waste! I hate to waste nutrients, you say? No worries, compared to dwc you actually use up to 8 times less water and nutrients. But I cant be bothered with hand watering, you say? No worries, youll actually spend a lot less time tending to your garden.

Hempy buckets can be made out of any plastic container such as trash cans, coke bottles, coolers and so on. You can make a hempy bucket out of anything that will hold water. You probably have something in your home right now that can be converted to a Hempy bucket.

How to make a Hempy Bucket.

Take your container and measure 2 inches up from the bottom and make a hole in the side. The hole doesnt have to be too big, about the circumference of a pencil. This is where the excess water will drain out. Youll need to put your bucket in a small dish or something to collect the run-off water. Any gardening store will have those things for planters and thats what most people use.

My twist on the design is that instead of just a drain hole Ive added tubes (hose connecters) to allow the water to drain out into a container so I can collect the run off easily and measure it if I have to. If you are planning a lot of buckets Id just do a traditional style one but for a few buckets my style really practical.

So why do you make the hole 2 inches from the bottom? The basic idea is that you are replicating a water shelf like in Nature. If you dig down far enough in your back yard youll hit water right? Well thats what we are doing on a very small scale.

What medium to use
The traditional medium for Hempy is a vermiculite and perlite mix but people also use coco and even hydro balls. Personally Id recommend that you just try 100% perlite because its easy, clean and reusable.

Watering and Feeding
To feed your plants you just hand water them like you would any houseplant. If youve never grown anything it might take a while to get used to, but believe me its as easy as pie. During the first week or so of veg youll probably have to water them every few days just a little because the roots havent reached the bottom of the bucket where all the water is, once they do youll only have to water about once a week. Ive gone 14 days between watering before. The important thing is that whenever you feed them you want to add enough so that roughly 30% of what you put in comes out the holes. This helps flush out built up salts and keeps the bucket fresh. Personally I feed my plants with every watering with good results."

 

[bluter]

honestly if you're going to do coco i'd get the fabric bags and just do a straight coco grow. a fabric bag coco grow is generally better than a hard side hempy style for production. it does use more coco though.


i've used hydroton, lava rock, and perlite all to some degree of success in passive hydro. perlite in hempy is simply an easier way to go about it. the cost effectiveness drops dramatically in hempy once you move away from perlite or a re-usable media like hydroton.

 

[bluter]

(I thought we had a "Passive Hydroponics" section but, if so, I couldn't find it.)

we probably could use one, or some sort of sub forum at least.