I've been using CRF's for almost 3yrs now and over 2yrs using Osmocote products. The pancake girl in the post I made a few pages back is running on OC+ along with the veg plants. During flower I've been mixing OC+ and OC 14-14-14. IMO it's a great product, and it works really well in a hempy.
And simplifies the grow since all you add is water. How's the taste though since you can't really flush, can you?
I just picked some OC+ up, I'll start it up today and see how it goes. This would fit perfectly into the ease of use area!
Correct you can't do a traditional flush. The only time I ever got a funky taste (metallic or like a dryer sheet), was on one of my first runs and I took 1 of the 4 buckets and used clearex to flush, it did something to the prills and it wasn't good. I've also found that by the end of a grow most of the nutes have been used up, this is especially true with the OC 14-14-14 which claims to feed "UP" to 4 months, my experience with the aggressive cannabis plant it lasts about 10wks.
atm i have some big bomb and cluster bomb mothers which are good 8 week strains, i have jut set a few testers straight into flower to see what happens, i will be giving them two weeks veg from now on and you are probably right about trail and error, im thinking if i start with 36 with a view to going to 25, i may even up the tray size to 1.2m@ ineverveg. IMO. Its impossible to offer you any meaningful advice as to how many plants can fit in a 1cubed area. ... You can think of them a bit like Lizards. They usually all start out small but some grow into Alligators and some grow into Geckos. ... To complicate further, there is much pheno variation in the same strains.
I grew some Geckos (Violator Kush) and 1 could get maybe 30 in a 1x1x1m.
Ive just finished growing an Alligator (Lemon Skunk) and its maybe 1 or 2 in the same size area.
SOG can take a little trial and error to learn the particulars of a given strain and how it grows in your setup. Your defo right in doing away with seeds.They suck. lol.
i start them under a 400 and slide them under the 600 after 2 weeks of flower, they will veg under a 250 for 2 weeks, hopefully i can get them to 10" in that time
Do you PH or run straight tap? I've read some run without adjusting PH
The more I read about osmocote, the more I want to switch now! Just looking at how green try stay throughout the grow! Frost and size too! Can you just water with pure RO water without PHing? This would mean I could easily setup an automatic drip without problems!
I ph to the top of the hempy / hydro range, I shot for 6.4 to 6.6, I know that the OC must push the ph down, but I don't know how much.
Generally (because every strain is different) the OC+ will keep a plant in the 85% healthy green foliage all the way to heavy amber trichs, and it's really rare to see a burnt leaf tip during the grow.
Ive not looked at this yet. Its been a while since I thought on the matter.
Ive read it, most informative. Wish I had the head-space to try it.
I'm actually main-lining plants in my grow. I only have a 250w HPS and I use a bunch of cfl's sometimes, so I wanted to keep my plants small. The result is a mini sea of green with hempys, each main-lined to only four tops. Main-lining is a lot of fun and delivers hardcore results. Here is a picture from day 33 of 12/12. My journal is in my signature if you're interested.
Watt,
Ive read it, most informative. Wish I had the head-space to try it.
All these techniques work with the Hempy. Its much like growing in regular pots.
Regarding your previous question about clones hitting the res. Well in Hempy's, there is no reason why you can't transplant in the same way you would if doing soil in pots.
Hope you give it a try, if you do please post a pic or two.