Wetting Agent for Peat Based Soiless Media?

[OneMoreRip]

The phenomenon is called hydrophobicity.

so I have heard. Regardless of what it’s called, is there somewhere I can see water with soap (or any ‘wetting agent’), making something wet that water alone would not make wet?

sounds like snake oil with blue dye and whatever else is in it (in dawn’s case), to me.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

I don’t know if it’s economic for you but some peat sellers sell their mix with whetting agent built into it. I tried a bale of pro mix bx and it seems to work well so far, but I’m curious if it washes out over time. If you mix your own media you could possibly add it yourself next run

Yes it will wash out over time. It's a good idea to do maintenance applications of a wetting agent. But you don't have to use it all the time.

 

[OneMoreRip]

Im gong to do a side by side test with video to see if this works with the Dawn. I'll take 2, 5 inch pots (no plants) and feed them equal amounts of water. One with Dawn, and one without. I'll then break them down and see if there are dry pockets/sides.

will there be a time limit and what is the rate of flow on your watering (if top watering)? Top or bottom watering?( Bottom watering optimal for plants imo based off what I know.

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

so I have heard. Regardless of what it’s called, is there somewhere I can see water with soap (or any ‘wetting agent’), making something wet that water alone would not make wet?

sounds like snake oil with blue dye and whatever else is in it (in dawn’s case), to me.

Almost all dish soap has a surfactant in it. You can spray a broadleaf weed with plain water, and it will bead up like wax is on it.... apply a little soap, and the entire leaf gets soaked.... science man.

 

[OneMoreRip]

Almost all dish soap has a surfactant in it. You can spray a broadleaf weed with plant water, and it will bead up like wax is on it.... apply a little soap, and the entire leaf gets soaked.... science man.

that’s cool, never seen it I think. Might try just to see, then again, thinking, a dry leaf in a pool of water gets wet/soaked too, so... yeah

Edit, also last coco I bought came completely dry brick form. Set it in a bucket of water for a few minutes and it’s wet

 

[PadawanWarrior]

so I have heard. Regardless of what it’s called, is there somewhere I can see water with soap (or any ‘wetting agent’), making something wet that water alone would not make wet?

sounds like snake oil with blue dye and whatever else is in it (in dawn’s case), to me.

Read this.

Goodbye from Maximum Yield

In print and online, Maximum Yield is your source for cannabis and cultivation knowledge, with informative grow articles and tips to enhance your life with mmj.

www.maximumyield.com

 

[PadawanWarrior]

that’s cool, never seen it I think. Might try just to see, then again, thinking, a dry leaf in a pool of water gets wet/soaked too, so... yeah

If you add a wetting agent to the pool the leaf will be even wetter, lol.

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

that’s cool, never seen it I think. Might try just to see, then again, thinking, a dry leaf in a pool of water gets wet/soaked too, so... yeah

Then why are all of these leaves floating on the surface of my pond?.. will they sink eventually? yeah. But it takes days.

 

[OneMoreRip]

Then why are all of these leaves floating on the surface of my pond?.. will they sink eventually? yeah. But it takes days.

and once down there they never come back up

 

[OneMoreRip]

If you add a wetting agent to the pool the leaf will be even wetter, lol.

My guess is max saturation is same with or without wetting agent but don’t care

 

[OneMoreRip]

Read this.

Goodbye from Maximum Yield

In print and online, Maximum Yield is your source for cannabis and cultivation knowledge, with informative grow articles and tips to enhance your life with mmj.

www.maximumyield.com

skimmed it, seems most beneficial for things other than ‘wetting agent’, related. Medium is easy to make and keep wet, just use water

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

and once down there they never come back up

I don't have days to make sure a pot is saturated. I like to make sure my cycles are really dry, then really wet. The problem with peat based, is that once really dry, it's hard to saturate it again because peat is a good drainer, and it builds this surface tension that is really hard to penetrate without wasting feed.

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

..... And I suppose that's my whole point here is to quit wasting nutes. Running a 100 plant op is expensive enough. Finding cheap solutions is my goal here.

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

When I get really dry plants (just before wilting), I may pump out 50-85 gallons of feed, and pump 20 gallons out the waste gate. Im just trying to solve 2 problems. Save some money on nutes, and fully saturate the plant without wasting money at the same time.

 

[OneMoreRip]

..... And I suppose that's my whole point here is to quit wasting nutes. Running a 100 plant op is expensive enough. Finding cheap solutions is my goal here.

Bottom feed or water slowly and then 0 waste, from my experience .

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

Bottom feed or water slowly and then 0 waste, from my experience .

My op is not set up that way. I have 3, 20 ft roller benches with a 2 inch drop from one end to the other. I'd waste even more nutes.

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

... besides.. that's a horrible way to try to control your humidity during mid to late flower.

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

Also... They don't all need feed at the same time. I may have 15 one day, 35 the next, 17, 45, 13, .. I check every single one of them every day with a moisture meter.

 

[OneMoreRip]

... besides.. that's a horrible way to try to control your humidity during mid to late flower.

not sure what you mean by that exactly, I think it maters on your setup.

I have auto watering now, bottom feeding (using rope) and the top soil stays dry always. Same as with when using autopots pretty much.

I’m speaking on wetting agent in general, not your personal setup, which if it needs (it doesn’t), a wetting agent, the setup needs improvement.

Top most soil never needs to be so wet to create humidity issues on its own (not science, just what I would believe without seeing any science on it).

just my opinion, not trying to be disrespectful

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

not sure what you mean by that exactly, I think it maters on your setup.

I have auto watering now, bottom feeding (using rope) and the top soil stays dry always. Same as with when using autopots pretty much.

I’m speaking on wetting agent in general, not your personal setup, which if it needs (it doesn’t), a wetting agent, the setup needs improvement.

just my opinion, not trying to be disrespectful

You ever run 100 plants in a sealed room with a CO2 generator, and 18 HLG lights before?