growing in 100% perlite

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endlesslyonline

Active Member
Seems a few people say they grow in 100% perlite, obviously nutes will be a must, I am just wondering if anyone here has attempted it. Seems like a good idea, just not sure on the watering process will work? Because I would think the water almost immediately runs of the perlite and out of the drains, or does one not make use of drains, and let the water just evaporate?
 
Indoor Sun King

Indoor Sun King

Well-Known Member
endlesslyonline said:
Seems a few people say they grow in 100% perlite, obviously nutes will be a must, I am just wondering if anyone here has attempted it. Seems like a good idea, just not sure on the watering process will work? Because I would think the water almost immediately runs of the perlite and out of the drains, or does one not make use of drains, and let the water just evaporate?
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lots of people use 100% perlite in their hempy's.....I prefer to mix in a bit of vermiculite
 
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mainliner

Well-Known Member
oilmaker68 said:
I think I'd flood rather than drip ?? More of a hydro setup. This is a good thread. Never thought of growing in perlite
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you can grow in any medium, so long as it isn't toxic to the plant and supports it and you can get water to the roots?
 
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spek9

Well-Known Member
I've done it numerous times. Pure perlite in 2L Coke bottle Hempy buckets, with a Claber Oasis drip system turned on every couple of days feeding water and nutes.

However, I prefer pure Hydroton, as it is MUCH easier to reuse.

-spek
 
DirtyNerd

DirtyNerd

Well-Known Member
When running 100% perlite you will want a res full of your water and what ever you like to feed your girls a Timer that will be set to go off every 2 - 3 hours for 15mins

Water rings water pump hole at the bottom of the pot to run back in to your res also you will need to flush once a week as your perlite will start to go green in order to cut that down you can get some mylar from your local grow shop cut put a piece to go over the pot and around the base steam as its the light that will make it go green flushing is still recommend once a week in perlite to help with salt build up

What ever size your pot is make sure your res is at least double the pot size so you don't need to top up as much but not to big or its a waste of good food when in veg as she will not be drinking as much

Anyway good luck I also wanted to try it but to lazy I llike mix of coco and perlite saves me need to water or the time or timers stuffing up and my girls dieing
 
Growan

Growan

Well-Known Member
Hempy is my plan for the winter grow but I haven't decided on the medium yet. I'm also not set on a pot size yet, but I have started saving 2 litre cider bottles
Right now, 5 litre mineral water bottles are looking like a good bet as they're square and would make good use of available space.
Sorry, getting a bit off topic there...
 
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mainliner

Well-Known Member
Growan said:
Hempy is my plan for the winter grow but I haven't decided on the medium yet. I'm also not set on a pot size yet, but I have started saving 2 litre cider bottles
Right now, 5 litre mineral water bottles are looking like a good bet as they're square and would make good use of available space.
Sorry, getting a bit off topic there...
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there's no need to apologize,,,i might look into this hempy thing myself
 
akhiymjames

akhiymjames

Well-Known Member
Wassup guys I'm growing in 100% perlite right now. My journal is in my signature. Perlite is a very good medium I think its the best as I've never seen growth as fast in other mediums. Coco is very close to it but that allows for bugs. With perlite you don't have to worry about bugs. Most people think perlite doesn't hold water but it does but it dries out fast so that's why there is constant water to keep the perlite wet. Hempy buckets is very good way to do hydro without the equipment, passive hydro. I germ my beans in a hempy bucket and they sprout in 24 hours always but I notice when the plants are young you have to water a lot more as the roots aren't touching the bottom res yet so you have to water more to keep the young roots wet so they don't dry out. I just killed a seedling a couple months back cus I let it dry out too much. No biggie tho. Once the roots touch the bottom res you wont water as much as they'll drink from the res. But perlite is great and I'll continue to use that unless I do an organic soil. With Hempy your gonna have to water a lil more if you use 100% perlite as lots of people add vermiculite with the perlite in Hempy to hold more water hence why you don't have to water for a few days like soil but straight perlite will need to be watered more. I also noticed in perlite it likes the ph in the 6.0 its does well in 5.8 but my plant has done well in 6-6.2 I think the person who started the Hempy tutorial said set pH at 6.2. If you grow hydro you should def try it and if your thinking about converting from soil you should try it too. Hope this helps Peace
 
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spek9

Well-Known Member
Growan said:
Seems to have the simplicity of soil with hyrdro growth rates. Gotta be worth trying in my opinion.
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What I did was use the 2L Hempy buckets, but mixed up the medium. In some, I'd run just perlite, some just Hydroton, some a mix of both and others with soil.

Mine was a 24 plant perpetual; every three weeks I'd harvest eight, and replace with eight new plants. My 12/12 sig thread has some of the details.

-spek
 
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