The Perpetual Healing Garden - SweetSue's Joyful Return

[Nismo12]

This'll work.

Are you doing soil or soil less mix sue? 5.52 is good for coco or something like that but soil is 6.2 to 6.8 but we usually hit 6.5. I'll go back to see what you have going on.

 

[Canna Montana]

We usually don't have to lower our ph when we feed because the nutes gets it in the right range.
My question is, when we just water, do we have to ph the water? At that point we are just giving them a drink. Does it matter if the ph is out of the normal range?

 

[SweetSue]

If this is their first feeding, start with 1/4 strength, then see how they do on that once a week. As they grow, you can up it to 1/2 strength.

EDIT: If they are less than 1 month old, don't start nutes yet. The soil and their cotyledons will give them all the food they need.

It's in Rockwool. I gave it 1/4 nutrients.

go sue ,ph sucks eh drives me up the wall how crap
my tap water is , if you can collect rainwater l
maybe a bin under the drainage pipe that runs out from your roofs guttering ? just that ive found my local rainwater right on 6 ph

I do indeed have a rain barrel. I'll begin to use it for the hempys. That'll get me through spring and summer for the most part, but I think I can get this ph thing under control. That was easier than I thought it'd be.

PH adjust AFTER adding nutes...you want the PH (& PPM) of the final solution.

You're a lifesaver, you know? I sure am glad you watch so closely.

Are you doing soil or soil less mix sue? 5.52 is good for coco or something like that but soil is 6.2 to 6.8 but we usually hit 6.5. I'll go back to see what you have going on.

I'm growing in perlite, so 5.5 it is until I hear different from the Right Reverend Tead

Thank you all for coming to my aid. It's moments like this that make me so proud to be part of this community.

 

[Canna Montana]

Here is a helpful chart Sue.

 

[Nismo12]

We usually don't have to lower our ph when we feed because the nutes gets it in the right range.
My question is, when we just water, do we have to ph the water? At that point we are just giving them a drink. Does it matter if the ph is out of the normal range?

We do not ph when we water so the the nutes going in will keep a stable soil pH. I tested the soil of our first run and it came out at 6.4 after harvest so the soil was in range.

Sue when you feel you shouldn't have to adjust it if in soil if your tap is 7.2 pH. My .02

 

[Mr. Krip]

FYI...a hempy is considered "passive hydro", but is almost a cross between hydro and soil. A PH of anywhere between 5.5-6.0 should be fine for hempy!

 

[Nismo12]

FYI...a hempy is considered "passive hydro", but is almost a cross between hydro and soil. A PH of anywhere between 5.5-6.0 should be fine for hempy!

I just learned something today.

 

[SweetSue]

Daily Update: Saturday, July 9, 2016

It started off a quiet day in the garden.

Dark Devil Auto (Day 19) has another day or two before she gets topped. She's just about ready for transplanting too, but we'll get that topping out of the way first I think. Hmmmmm..... Maybe I want to do that the other way around with this one. I'll think about it some more.

Med GOM 1.0 (Day 21) has grabbed onto the soil. I can feel the energy. She's bursting with health and ready to get on with the business of growing bushy. Another day or two and I'll start pulling her open.

Blow Mind Auto (Day 5) started crying for food and water as soon as I got over here.

Yep, time to set up the hempy.

Setting up the hempy

Drill the drain hole 2" from the bottom.

Fill with perlite.

Rinse the dust out of the perlite.

Flush until it drains out, but go longer this time, because you're rinsing dust out. You won't do this again.

This is fine particulate matter you don't need in the hempy. It got flushed down the toilet.

Now that the perlite is moistened and free of clogging dust, plant the seedling.

Water with 1/4 nutrients until drain off.

All settled in her new home under her own light.

She's starting to shoot up. I'll have to raise the lights tomorrow.

That's enough excitement for a while. it's good to have the first of the hempys set. In two weeks I set the next one. Two weeks after that I set the tent up and start a Carnival.

Did you hear that? "Click!" Hehe!

Hey people, spread the joy. Like I need to tell you that.

 

[Mr. Krip]

Looks great, Sue! +REPS!

FYI...the 100% perlite hempy will work just fine, however, the original hempy calls for a 75%/25% perlite/vermiculite mix. The vermiculite will help wick the water to the top of the hempy, but again, is not necessary and I have grown in 100% perlite.

I also recommend the coarsest perlite and vermiculite you can get. The MG stuff will work fine and is easy to come by, but is mostly dust and will wash easier out of the drain hole.

My SOG grow was all done in 2-L hempys!

 

[AKgramma]

I noticed a definite difference in coarseness between the small bags of Perlite and the large. The small ones are much finer. The big bags I got were even labelled coarse.

 

[Mr. Krip]

I noticed a definite difference in coarseness between the small bags of Perlite and the large. The small ones are much finer. The big bags I got were even labelled coarse.

EXACTLY!!! Both the perlite and vermiculite are available in grades Fine, Medium & Coarse:

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][FONT=Arial,Helvetica]For many years, horticultural perlite was understood to mean relatively large and often screened material. Usually it was used to provide aeration and drainage, and fine and medium grades were usually avoided.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica] In newer hydroponic applications, both coarse and screened perlite was initially being used and, again there was little confusion about what size or type of perlite was appropriate.
Beginning in the late 1980's and early 1990's, however, the grades of perlite being used and tested began to change. David Hall and others began working with 100% perlite media where the size and type of perlite being used was much smaller and was not screened. New horticultural studies by Hall and others began referring to fine and medium grades of perlite. Perlite Institute reports from The Netherlands in March and December of 1993, and work in hydroponics from Israel to England began referring to medium and fine grades of perlite being, and reports of turf and agricultural applications in India indicated finer grades were used. Eventually at meetings of the Perlite Institute and particularly during its Horticultural Committee meetings, there was confusion about what sizes and grades of perlite were being used and discussed in the many horticultural and agricultural uses of perlite, and in response a basic grading systems was developed.
Generally everyone in the perlite industry seemed to understand the basic parameters of "fine", "medium", and "coarse." Fines are those grades traditionally used in cryogenic insulation and fine plasters, medium grades have been used for plaster and concrete aggregates, and coarse grades are the two or three coarsest grades available from any perlite mining operation. To more carefully define these three grades, most studies have come up with sieve sizes or basic parameters, while others have just referred to "fine, medium, or coarse" grades in the hope that everyone will understand.
To avoid future problems, and misunderstandings, the Horticultural Committee of the Perlite Institute at the 1994 Mid-Year Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina approved a very basic specification for use within the perlite industry and others.

Standard Sieve or Micron Size		PERLITE GRADATION
		Fine	Medium	Coarse
+16 mesh or 1 mm		10% Max.	60% Max.	70% Min.
+100 mesh or 150 um		60% Min.	85%Min.

---

When compared to the former (and now defunct) NBS Voluntary Product Standard for Horticultural Perlite (PS-23-70), these screen sizes are a little different (calling for a horticultural grade which is not as coarse as today's "coarse". Although this standard is not used anymore, we have included it here as a general reference:

U.S.Standard Sieve Number	Cumulative Volume Retained
3/8 inch	0.0% (max.)
+8 mesh	20.0 % (min.)
+20 mesh	80.0 % (min.)
+100 mesh	97.0% (min.)

---

[/FONT][/FONT]

 

[AKgramma]

In spite of the technobabble, there are only a few choices in the gardening places here. The plants seem to do OK with the coarse, so I'm not going to worry about screen sizes. The article isn't clear as to which is best for different types of gardening.

 

[Mr. Krip]

In spite of the technobabble, there are only a few choices in the gardening places here. The plants seem to do OK with the coarse, so I'm not going to worry about screen sizes. The article isn't clear as to which is best for different types of gardening.

Coarse is a wise choice!

I also recommend the coarsest perlite and vermiculite you can get. The MG stuff will work fine and is easy to come by, but is mostly dust and will wash easier out of the drain hole.

 

[SweetSue]

We do not ph when we water so the the nutes going in will keep a stable soil pH. I tested the soil of our first run and it came out at 6.4 after harvest so the soil was in range.

Sue when you feel you shouldn't have to adjust it if in soil if your tap is 7.2 pH. My .02

I grow in living organic soil. No need to ph. We tend to smile indulgently at people who grow in soil with nutrients and have to ph test. Yet another reason that I decided to do this experiment. I wanted the experience that I'd missed by choosing LOS right out of the gate. I have no point of reference to most of the cultivators on the site and feel incompetent to help the majority of new arrivals when they ask questions. I know I can and will point them to better-qualified help, but it can't hurt to have a rudimentary understanding born of experience.

 

[arteekay]

Here is a helpful chart Sue.

This one looks to be for soil grows. The availability is different in hydro and soilless grows.

Here's another common one you can find around, which has both charts.

We do not ph when we water so the the nutes going in will keep a stable soil pH. I tested the soil of our first run and it came out at 6.4 after harvest so the soil was in range.

Sue when you feel you shouldn't have to adjust it if in soil if your tap is 7.2 pH. My .02

Your soil PH will change even during the course of a single day, so many recommend not paying a lot of attention to runoff PH. After harvest runoff wouldn't tell you much unfortunately.

 

[santb]

I checked my soil (run-off, soil, tap water and rain water) pH for the first time in a year the other day; having some lockout issues but decided it was due to cold temps..
Anyway, I checked 4 times using different methods and all came up between 6.5 and just over 7.. Soil is good like that so I see why Sue wants experience in NEEDING to worry about it...

 

[SweetSue]

Looks great, Sue! +REPS!

FYI...the 100% perlite hempy will work just fine, however, the original hempy calls for a 75%/25% perlite/vermiculite mix. The vermiculite will help wick the water to the top of the hempy, but again, is not necessary and I have grown in 100% perlite.

I also recommend the coarsest perlite and vermiculite you can get. The MG stuff will work fine and is easy to come by, but is mostly dust and will wash easier out of the drain hole.

My SOG grow was all done in 2-L hempys!

Thank you. There's no curtsy emoticon. Use your imagination. I'd read about the start of hempy, and they have great success with the mix. I'm trying it with just perlite because I was inspired by Tead, but Tead's success in part lies in the fact that he lives in the heat and humidity of the swamplands of southern Louisanna. It may come to be that I determine the vermiculite mix may work best in my more temperate, and to a certain degree, climate-controlled environment.

I haven't checked out your 2L scrog yet. Now I'll have to. You have me curious, were you the one who inspired B A R? He started that 2L extravaganza before I arrived here.

I noticed a definite difference in coarseness between the small bags of Perlite and the large. The small ones are much finer. The big bags I got were even labelled coarse.

In spite of the technobabble, there are only a few choices in the gardening places here. The plants seem to do OK with the coarse, so I'm not going to worry about screen sizes. The article isn't clear as to which is best for different types of gardening.

I'm using Thermo-Rock brand, and I believe it's coarse. It's not marked by grade anywhere on the bag, so I may be wrong. It looks to be a good grade for roots to grow in. There was very little dust in what I used today. I've ordered this brand before and been really pleased with the quality.

 

[SweetSue]

I checked my soil (run-off, soil, tap water and rain water) pH for the first time in a year the other day; having some lockout issues but decided it was due to cold temps..
Anyway, I checked 4 times using different methods and all came up between 6.5 and just over 7.. Soil is good like that so I see why Sue wants experience in NEEDING to worry about it...

Made me laugh right out loud. I'm so glad you get me santb. I think it's the educator in me. I need to experience. It's just the way I work.

 

[santb]

It's the only way to truly learn..

 

[Tead]

I just learned something today.

Yup... and as I've been catching up on the thread, it's been a funny little sub-story that's been making me chuckle as I read along. I got worried when I saw the soil PH absorption chart posted up... but I see it's all good now.