AKGramma's Perpetual Grow

SweetSue said:
Well done AKgramma! :bravo: I'm gonna be chomping at the bit before its time to drop my first seed. :laughtwo: I'm determined to space them every two weeks and get this perpetual going properly. I'll be watching your grow to see how it works for you.
Click to expand...

I was waiting for you to comment, since I saw you were still up. I am SOOOO excited! I expect she will wilt a little, then get her second wind tomorrow. So you can use just about anything you have lying around the house. The jug I used was just perfect for the space I have it in.
 
AKgramma said:
I was waiting for you to comment, since I saw you were still up. I am SOOOO excited! I expect she will wilt a little, then get her second wind tomorrow. So you can use just about anything you have lying around the house. The jug I used was just perfect for the space I have it in.
Click to expand...

I was looking at the small paint buckets I bought to do the drenches when my kit girls were in one gallon pots. They make some just a little bigger than them, but they'll hold a gallon each. They'd need to be painted, not a difficult thing at all. Tomorrow I'll check the Dollar General across the street. They have some 2 gallon black buckets that're real inexpensive and may do right nicely.

Hmmmmm..... I need to take the drain hole and the spray from that into consideration, don't I? Need to take a closer look at the space tomorrow and start thinking about catch basins.
 
SweetSue said:
I love the fact that you use CFLs, kinda like I do. I'm a new entry into LED too, but where there's study and make the choice before purchasing, I had mine come to me unexpectedly through the contest win. My comfort zone is still CFL, most particularly the efficiency of the 40 watt and this wonder 23 watt bulbs you can get right up inside the plant.

My new Timber Vero 240 is like having a sunny closet in the corner of my living room. I don't even have a door on the closet.

Which reminds me, I use scallions, planted with my cannabis, to control the smell. This is amazingly effective, but you'd mentioned earlier about a DIY odor control???? Care to elaborate? Since my grow was compromised I packed away all the big equipment and went back to the tiny closet. I don't want to use a fan and filter combo with this grow if I can at all avoid it. If there's some other trick I can utilize to keep the smell down I'm all ears.
Click to expand...

I can't find my post for the DIY odor sink, so I'm posting the pics here. One version of this you put water in the bottom to humidify your room, but you don't have to. I just put the solid odor disks in the bottom.

DIY_Odor_Control_open.JPG


DIT_Odor_Control_assembled.JPG
 
SweetSue said:
I was looking at the small paint buckets I bought to do the drenches when my kit girls were in one gallon pots. They make some just a little bigger than them, but they'll hold a gallon each. They'd need to be painted, not a difficult thing at all. Tomorrow I'll check the Dollar General across the street. They have some 2 gallon black buckets that're real inexpensive and may do right nicely.

Hmmmmm..... I need to take the drain hole and the spray from that into consideration, don't I? Need to take a closer look at the space tomorrow and start thinking about catch basins.
Click to expand...

The buckets are so light, you can easily lift them and take them to the sink or shower to feed and water. The runoff might be a bit much for the grow room.
 
AKgramma said:
filled the jug with Perlite
Click to expand...

A little bit of coco coir mixed in would help retain moisture throughout. I've seen where lots of people used up to a 50:50 mix, but after trying that I came to the conclusion that less coco would be better. Vermiculite would work too, of course - and might be better if the medium is likely to dry out completely between waterings.

Straight perlite will work. It has even been used in "traditional" pots where there are drain holes on the bottom (IOW, no reservoir), just requires more frequent waterings. But I believe that a degree of moisture retention throughout can be helpful. This is, after all, a hydroponic method.
 
The water coming out was white from the dust in the Perlite, so I repeated the process.
Click to expand...

Ya know... I forgot to mention the dust in my previous words. Spot on AKg. It will dissipate as time goes by, but you'll see little chunks of perlite coming out when you water. Since you'll be moving the pot for watering, you might be a touch more susceptible to hole clogging. Moving the bucket around can shift the perlite some. Be sure to keep a tight eye on the drain hole to make sure you're not plugged.


According to a tutorial I saved from somewhere, it needs to sit with just plain water for a while to give the roots time to find the reservoir. Since the roots already reach all the way down, I will give her the first feeding in a couple days.
Click to expand...

I hadn't realized your "juvenile" was so large. Yea... I bet that thing had roots way down.
I think your plan here is solid.... give her a few days to settle, then start a feeding regime. Keep a tight eye on her and try to detect any potential issues. She's kind of just gone from full speed to no speed.... so I wouldn't be horribly surprised to see some minor issue develop.


I left the handle on the jug so that I could carry it to the sink for feeding and watering.
Click to expand...

Awesome idea!
 
TorturedSoul said:
A little bit of coco coir mixed in would help retain moisture throughout. I've seen where lots of people used up to a 50:50 mix, but after trying that I came to the conclusion that less coco would be better. Vermiculite would work too, of course - and might be better if the medium is likely to dry out completely between waterings.

Straight perlite will work. It has even been used in "traditional" pots where there are drain holes on the bottom (IOW, no reservoir), just requires more frequent waterings. But I believe that a degree of moisture retention throughout can be helpful. This is, after all, a hydroponic method.
Click to expand...


Spot on TS. There are many options when it comes to Hempy mediums. I still want to try a pea gravel grow some day.... just to give some love to the old-school methods.
I go with pure perlite because of the hot/humid world I exist in. Water retention in my mediums has not been a problem at all, so I don't add anything that would increase water retention.

I often try to gauge my medium's wetness by sticking my finger a few inches down into the medium... just like in soil. I always feel moisture when I do this, even many days after watering. The water at the bottom really keeps the mix evenly moist.
 
TorturedSoul said:
A little bit of coco coir mixed in would help retain moisture throughout. I've seen where lots of people used up to a 50:50 mix, but after trying that I came to the conclusion that less coco would be better. Vermiculite would work too, of course - and might be better if the medium is likely to dry out completely between waterings.

Straight perlite will work. It has even been used in "traditional" pots where there are drain holes on the bottom (IOW, no reservoir), just requires more frequent waterings. But I believe that a degree of moisture retention throughout can be helpful. This is, after all, a hydroponic method.
Click to expand...

TS: I was thinking that if the perlite dries out too fast, I can add vermiculite. I have a lot of it here for my soil grow, because it has the characteristics I want in my mix. This little hempy is an experiment, and I had everything I already needed.
 
I fully expected the plant in hempy to be wilted this morning, but she is standing straight and tall! I guess I didn't damage too many of the root hairs when I rinsed them.

Tead, IMO all pea gravel is way too heavy if you plan on moving the pots. As a compromise, you could put 3" of pea gravel in first so you wont have clogs, and the rest perlite. I have used aquarium gravel in a couple of my soil pots for the same reason, to prevent soil leakage at the drainage holes.

I am going to up-pot another juvenile today and get it out of its 2 quart container. It dries out too fast and needs the root space. If I can find another jug around here that is suitable, I go hempy with that one, too.

I also have to check my baby clones. I forgot to top off the water last night, in the excitement of assembling my first hempy. I might be able to do some mini-hempies with solo cups. I have one more bag of perlite left, and I can add the 1/4 portion of vermiculite to them and compare growth with soil. I've seen a recommendation of 3 parts Perlite to 1 part vermiculite.

ANOTHER EXPERIMENT! Yayyy! Veg area is going to be interesting, with a flux, a full hempy, and about 10 mixed media mini-hempies! If I use solo cups, I'm going to lower the holes to 1" from the bottom. The idea is to have a small reservoir at the bottom, not a 1/3 container full of water.
 
Good Gawd woman... when you jump in, you hit hard with both feet don't ya!

My pea gravel ideas are just an homage to an older era of growing. Not really shooting for anything optimized... just want to tip my hat to growers passed. Sometimes I get all warm and fuzzy inside.

I've seen a recommendation of 3 parts Perlite to 1 part vermiculite.
Click to expand...
Me too. I'm sure it will work well for you.


Oh... and those solo cups will need daily watering. I think it was Lex that did the hempy solos... chat him up about them.
 
When I plant baby clones, I keep them together in a bin to keep them moist, and nurse them till they outgrow the bin. So I don't see a problem with the solo cups, which are larger than what I usually plant them in.

Just got back from a 3-hour shopping trip for the grow....again! Lowes had the big bags of perlite. Fred Meyer had the 3 gallon waste baskets I wanted for under $4 each. The 4 waste baskets are just for hempys. They are rectangular, so fit in the shelving units better. I may eventually go to perlite, vermiculite and a tad of my soil mix for a sort of semi-soiless bins and the perlite with 1/4 vermiculate for the hempys.

One foot in each world, as I compare the pros and cons of each method.

The transplanted juvenile is STILL doing great! No wilting at all. :-)

Definite Pro: much lighter to lift plant and container, even after watering!
 
AKgramma said:
When I plant baby clones, I keep them together in a bin to keep them moist, and nurse them till they outgrow the bin. So I don't see a problem with the solo cups, which are larger than what I usually plant them in.
Click to expand...

Someone had a journal running here a few years ago in which he grew in 2l soda pop bottles. I think his rooted clones were placed directly into flower. It has been a while and I am a little vague, but, IIRC, he might have stated once that he could stretch watering to once every three days, but they would be dry by that time. I think he was harvesting something like 9-15 grams per bottle. But I can't swear to any of it, lol (the mind, it... err... something).

BtW, what size Solo cups are you using? I am almost positive that I used to use 24-ounce ones back when I'd drill lots (and lots) of ¼" holes in them so that each plant's roots could grow down into its own ~13-25 gallon DWC reservoir (the cups would be completely destroyed long before harvest, lol)... but the largest size I have seen recently is 18-ounce ones.
 
Do you think the layer of pea gravel would work to keep the drain hole open? I have so much pea gravel laying around its not funny, and that would work in the bottom of these trash cans I bought for the hempies.

Good work gal. :high-five: Hit the ground running. I can't wait to see the next picture of the transplanted juvenile.
 
Tead: The solo cups I bought were 18 oz. I use them as toddler pots, when the clones outgrew their coke bottle bottoms (abt 8 oz). That was in soil and the cups placed in a large snack jar till they were strong enough to handle lower RH. I have pics early on in this journal.

Sweet Sue: Pea gravel should keep the hempy hole open. We don't want the system to get constipated, do we? ;) The down side is that it will add a lot of weight to your buckets. So far, I've had no clogging problem with the hole in #1. If it clogs, just stick a chopstick or shishkabob skewer in it, and you'll have water flow.

If you put the pea gravel in your overflow trays, they will raise the RH of the grow areas. An old trick for growing indoor flowering plants like geraniums and such.

The next pic of HempyGirl#1 will be when she goes to flower in a few days. As a 1st gen clone, she has no taproot, just a webbing of secondary roots.

I have enough equipment and material to up-pot the rest of the BBL juveniles. They have been in veg 4 months+ and are more than ready for their big-girl pots. I will do a couple in pure Perlite and a couple in Vermiculite-Perlite 1:3, mainly to compare water retention.

The older plants in 3 gal. soil bins and in flower will live out their lives in soil. They are too big to transplant now.

My grow room is in a massive state of chaos, with bags of perlite and vermiculite, trash bins, abandoned containers, etc. No pics till its all organized and made respectable.
 
AKgramma said:
Sweet Sue: Pea gravel should keep the hempy hole open. We don't want the system to get constipated, do we? ;) The down side is that it will add a lot of weight to your buckets. So far, I've had no clogging problem with the hole in #1. If it clogs, just stick a chopstick or shishkabob skewer in it, and you'll have water flow.

If you put the pea gravel in your overflow trays, they will raise the RH of the grow areas. An old trick for growing indoor flowering plants like geraniums and such.


My grow room is in a massive state of chaos, with bags of perlite and vermiculite, trash bins, abandoned containers, etc. No pics till its all organized and made respectable.
Click to expand...

I think I agree with you about the pea gravel in the pots, but the idea of using it in the run-off basins sounds good, so I may do that.

Transparency baby. Life isn't always pretty and organized. Showing the chaos is part of the charm of this little community gardening experiment we have going. We wouldn't want the kids to think this was always easy now, do we? :laughtwo:
 
SweetSue said:
Do you think the layer of pea gravel would work to keep the drain hole open?
Click to expand...

You could always try cutting a piece of "coarse" (with holes which are still smaller than your media, but not by much) metal screen a little larger than your hole, maybe ¼" to ½" larger all the way around, holding it with something that will keep you from getting burned, heating the screen up until it is glowing red, then pressing it (using your holding tool plus something else) into place on the inside of the container until it cools. It'll probably melt its way into the inner surface of that container and be more or less a permanent part of it afterwards. Plus, the only force acting upon it will be the pressure of the media, so even if the job is not perfect, it should work.

Oh, I am assuming a reasonably thick container, such as a plastic trash can or bucket. I wouldn't try this with a disposable cup or soda bottle, lol. Or if I did, I would make sure to not heat the screen anywhere near as much. If you find that you haven't gotten it hot enough, you can always heat it a little more and try again, after all.

That would allow you to use your lightweight medium all the way to the bottom instead of having to use something like gravel. As my brother says, "Work smarter, not harder," ;) .
 
Back
Top Bottom