Switching to hydro

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
RO was the first upgrade I made. My tap water is around 330 ppm and going to the store to fill up 5 gallon buckets got real old real quick! That being said would I be able to simply move those hempy buckets from my veg tent to the flower room when they are ready to flip?
Yes. Quite easily. I veg in nursery tents and then move them all to the flower room to complete their flower cycle. I take clones from them just before the 12/12 flip.
 

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
Wow great looking setup! So you veg for a few weeks in perlite then transplant? I'll have to look into that. I assumed the perlite would kind of fall apart when trying to transplant.
After they come out of the cloner tote they remain in perlite for the remainder of the grow. Transplanting with perlite is easy. Just like with soil plants. Tip the cup / 1 gallon bucket over into your new container. Let the loose perlite fall to the bottom. The root ball will encase the perlite in the bottom of the container in a neat little sack, so as it comes out the root ball remains intact with a bunch of perlite. I usually fill the bottom of the new container about 4-5" of chunky #4 perlite and then insert the transplant. Fill perlite around transplant. Water with 1.8 EC fertilizer at 5.8 PH.
 

MissTHC

Active Member
After they come out of the cloner tote they remain in perlite for the remainder of the grow. Transplanting with perlite is easy. Just like with soil plants. Tip the cup / 1 gallon bucket over into your new container. Let the loose perlite fall to the bottom. The root ball will encase the perlite in the bottom of the container in a neat little sack, so as it comes out the root ball remains intact with a bunch of perlite. I usually fill the bottom of the new container about 4-5" of chunky #4 perlite and then insert the transplant. Fill perlite around transplant. Water with 1.8 EC fertilizer at 5.8 PH.
Is it easy to get the perlite clean and all the roots out of it after harvest?
 

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
Is it easy to get the perlite clean and all the roots out of it after harvest?
I throw it away every harvest. Some say they clean and reuse the perlite. I would suggest hydroton clay pebbles if you would like to reuse the medium. I think it's too labor intensive, but many people reuse their hydroton. I have a bad back and monkeying with cleaning and picking little pieces of roots out of clay pebbles for hours on end is just not something I can physically do every 9 or 10 weeks. Trimming alone is a 2 week process with my wife and I taking the weekend off to rest. It would take me another week to clean 14-20 5 gallon buckets of clay pebbles. The thought gives me shivers. No fun it is.
 

MissTHC

Active Member
I throw it away every harvest. Some say they clean and reuse the perlite. I would suggest hydroton clay pebbles if you would like to reuse the medium. I think it's too labor intensive, but many people reuse their hydroton. I have a bad back and monkeying with cleaning and picking little pieces of roots out of clay pebbles for hours on end is just not something I can physically do every 9 or 10 weeks. Trimming alone is a 2 week process with my wife and I taking the weekend off to rest. It would take me another week to clean 14-20 5 gallon buckets of clay pebbles. The thought gives me shivers. No fun it is.
I'm with you there! I work full time night shifts and with the kid and house stuff I cram harvest into a day and a half literally trimming for almost 24 hours straight. Back/shoulder breaking work that does not need the added pain of cleaning my medium out. Although getting rid of 126 gallons of soil and roots was difficult too. The tree line behind my house is helpful but I can't sustain that!
 

MissTHC

Active Member
Your setup sounds awesome, I'm envious! Coco can definitely be reused, there are some good threads on it here somewhere. I've reused it three times max, was scared to try a 4th, and there was not much difference between grows. I use organic base nutes, but add some salt based ferts during bloom, so honestly, I'm not sure if 100% salt based ferts all the way through would build up more. I also use enzyme products to hopefully break down some roots, but truthfully, I think they don't matter. When I'm done with a batch of coco, it goes straight into my outdoor garden-wonderful stuff.
Is it easy to get the roots out of the coco so you can reuse it? That stuff looks like soil to me...
 
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