New 4x4 grow some advice?

Larry3215 said:

I dont hink brand matters much, but size does.

What is perlite good for? Uses, types, and comparing growing media

Perlite boasts extensive benefits as a growing media for indoor and outdoor gardening. What is it good for? Read on to learn more about this natural rock, it’s benefits in gardening, and comparison to vermiculite.

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You dont want really small particles or the jumbo size. I would recommend medium or coarse particle sizes, with a slight preference for coarse.

One of the main benefits of hempy buckets - maybe THE key benefit - is the aeration that occurs when the water in the bottom of the bucket wicks up towards the top of the bucket.

Roots need oxygen as well as water and nutes. The more oxygen the better. Without oxygen, hydro is a swamp and your plants will die.

There are two key things to note here.

1) Oxygen disperses or diffuses through the air very easily and rapidly - even in soil or a bucket of perlite - IF - there are air spaces. There must be air spaces.
2) Oxygen diffuses/dissolves/disperses through water very slooooowly. It takes a long time for oxygen to penetrate to any depth in water. The top most very very thin layer of water will reach 100% oxygen saturation very quickly, but it is very sloooow to penetrate deeper.

The water sitting in the bottom of a hempy bucket will tend to get stagnant as the roots consume the oxygen. Thats takes some time, so dont freak out.

However, that is more than made up for as that water wicks up towards the top of the bucket. Dont think of that water in the bottom as the main source of food/water for the plant. Its just a reserve for the water that wicks up to the perlite above it. Its there so you dont have to constantly water the perlite every day.

The 'wicked' water in the upper part of the bucket is what makes hempy buckets work. It will be in the form of a super thin layer on the perlite particles. Remember #2 above. Very thin layers of water will reach oxygen saturation very quickly. The roots that are in that part of the bucket will always have all the oxygen - and water - they need - IF IF IF - there is room for air around the particles.

Larger particles will allow more air spaces. Smaller particles will end up holding more water, but its the oxygen that is critical in hydro. The more aeration you have, the better the hydro functions.

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Jmerc said:

Any advice on the brand for the perlite? There seems to be quite a few...

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jonnynobody said:

Mother Earth #4 Chunky Perlite. And make sure you aren't given a bag that's been pulverized to dust. Suppliers try to sell their trash all the time. Do not accept it. If you see 8" of empty bag up top and a pile of dust in the bottom it's trash. If you use a smaller lower grade of perlite it has a propensity to turn into a dusty sludge in the reservoir causing root and drainage issues, especially if you use garden stakes like I do. Inserting and removing the stakes will create a sludge of fine dust that will muck of the root system and inhibit drainage. 4 CU FT is typically about $40-$50. The #4 also ensures efficient drainage during watering. You can rinse it in a cheapie trash can from wally world with holes drilled in the bottom. I toss a plant elevator in the bottom turned upside down. It basically acts as a filter so I can dump all the perlite in and give a rinse with the garden hose and no particulate makes it's way through the holes. I let it drain overnight then move the trash can to a more convenient location for storage.

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Larry3215 said:

Read through that World of Hempy thread above. All your questions about how to do it will be answered.

You can get buckets at any hardware store, paint store, or building supply, etc. You can order perlite from Ebay or most any on-line garden supply, etc.

For nutes Google Jacks321 hydro. I get mine from a guy selling on Etsy, but again, Ebay sells it world wide. Jacks is just about the cheapest nutes available too. Dont use any nutes derived from plants - no seaweed, worm castings or anything organic. Just pure mineral salts. Thats what jacks is.

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Jmerc said:

Jacks 321 should I get the whole kit? Or is it just 3 or 4 different kinds that I will need?

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rkymtnman said:

hempy buckets. check them out if you want to try hydro.

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Jmerc said:

So since I took your advice with the hempy bucket system, I thought I would let you know, I have everything pretty much picked out just waiting for next pay check to complete the amount and order everything... spending about 3k lol but so I have 4x4 grow tent with hlg 600 rspec, going with the 5g hempy buckets all perlite, 4 or 5 of them, jacks321 5-12-26 with the calnit 15-0-0 and added epsom, humic acid and silica, and thinking 6 week veg time, trying to top or fim twice... also I picked zkittles from ilgm, because I want a good yield plant since yield is most important for me, and smell because it does say it smells fruity and that helps since I live in an apartment complex... I have a lot of other things but I feel those are the most important... do you think I should add or change anything? Or any tip or advice?

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Jmerc said:

So since I took your advice with the hempy bucket system, I thought I would let you know, I have everything pretty much picked out just waiting for next pay check to complete the amount and order everything... spending about 3k lol but so I have 4x4 grow tent with hlg 600 rspec, going with the 5g hempy buckets all perlite, 4 or 5 of them, jacks321 5-12-26 with the calnit 15-0-0 and added epsom, humic acid and silica, and thinking 6 week veg time, trying to top or fim twice... also I picked zkittles from ilgm, because I want a good yield plant since yield is most important for me, and smell because it does say it smells fruity and that helps since I live in an apartment complex... I have a lot of other things but I feel those are the most important... do you think I should add or change anything? Or any tip or advice?

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jonnynobody said:

All sounds good. Make sure you get #4 perlite. The small graded cheap shit will cause you nothing but problems. The only reason anyone uses the cheap small grade of perlite is because it's cheap, and the gardener buying it is cheap. It sounds like you're setup for success my friend. The only thing I would add is maybe garden friendly fungicide if you're holding a large reservoir for the week to feed your ladies off of to keep the res sterile. If not skip the GFF, save a little cash, and grow on dude!

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Jmerc said:

Hey guys, I’m starting a grow, first time, I was opting for coco at first now I’m trying to see into hydroponics, now it’s really hard to find complete systems that could be reliable, I will have everything shipped to a country outside the United States so I don’t want something to go wrong and I won’t be able to get a replacement part in time... but if anyone know of any systems that are reliable and come in a complete kit where I will not need to get anything extra that would be super help full... I live in a topically hot climate, but I will indoor grow of course, in an apartment, 4x4 tent... probably go for a 4 bucket system and see if I can have something cooking every 4-5 months thank you in advance for the suggestions

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Jmerc said:

Or any tip or advice?

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rkymtnman said:

top feed them until the roots hit the res (the bottom 2"). after that, don't overfeed them. feed until run-off. keep pH in range.

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Jmerc said:

As far as over feeding you mean allow bucket to empty out before feeding again?

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rkymtnman said:

no, as in keep your ppm/EC at reasonable levels. if you feed them once a day during bloom, you don't need much as far as EC goes.

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