HashGirl's First Indoor Grow: Dark Devil Autos In Hempy, 2020

Highya HG.
First off, happy retirement, happy birthday and happy growing!!
Zero need to worry about the algae. As the plant gets bigger it will shade it and it will die off. It is unsightly yet totally harmless.
Once your Hempies get bigger you will have a bit of runoff. If you are an outdoor gardener you can use that runoff to feed your flowers, grass or trees.
You already have a most excellent support team assembled so make sure you slow down enough to enjoy your first grow. It can be a very sweet time indeed.
Everyone here has you covered.
:passitleft:
Hey y'all!:ciao:
 
HashGirl said:
Thank you, Felipe. With nutes or without?
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Always with. Again, it's hydroponics, not soil. Water contains no nutrients. Your plants aren't living in perlite, they're living in nutrient solution. That's an important concept.

As for adding nutrient solution at this stage, even if the reservoir isn't "empty," well... If you're worrying about possibly causing a high concentration of nutrients, don't be. Pour it in until it pours out the hole. If you were really strong (lol) and really patient, you could pour the entire contents of a 55-gallon drum through your container - and you'd end up with a reservoir that had the same nutrient strength as what you mixed to when you filled the barrel up. Hand-watered passive hydroponic setups are often referred to as "drain-to-waste" ones.

Also, you can generally assume that the level of DO (dissolved oxygen) in your mixed nutrient solution is going to be higher than that of what is in the reservoir, assuming it has sat in there for any length of time. One of the reasons why the hempy method works is because the gardener is "regularly" refilling/replacing the contents of the containers' reservoirs. Remember, there are no aeration devices in those containers - YOU are what prevents stagnation.

Also2, if the highest portion of your perlite is not currently damp, you might think about whether or not your little Juinior Miss Cannabis plant has already produced enough root growth to reach the "wet level." If not, well...

But, whether it has or not, you won't hurt it by adding more.

Oh, I forgot to mention (although someone else probably already covered it) : If you add to your container and see that, instead of draining via the hole, you end up filling the entire container, just use a piece of stiff wire, pencil, etc. to stick in the hole and give it a little wiggle. It'll most likely start pouring out. Some folks like to cover the hole with a finger (preferably their own ;) ) or other suitable object, purposely add nutrient solution to attain a level significantly higher than the "drain/overflow" hole, wait a minute or three, then remove the object. That guarantees that the roots and media get wet up to that higher level. And, when you then allow the container to drain, it must pull air downward into the container (and across much of the root zone area).

I have GOT to start some of my own, lol.
 
:ciao:
 
Good afternoon, folks.

As Felipe said, it's time to fertigate and I did. DDA1 is still kind of lying on its side a bit but it looks good other than that so I'm not worried about it.

I gotta tell you though, this whole pH thing is a pain in the butt. It takes longer to get the pH right than it does to water the darn things in the first place. :laughtwo: The final pH number was 5.5.

Also, the hole in DDA2's pot appeared to be plugged but we cleared it by poking it with a wooden stake.

Here are the photos:

Photo 1 - DDA1.jpg


Photo 2 - DDA1.jpg


Photo 3 - DDA1.jpg


Photo 4 - DDA2.jpg


Photo 5 - DDA2.jpg


Photo 6 - DDA2.jpg
 
Do you know if your tap water varies much in pH? If not, once you get it dialed in with respect to drops or ml/gal, it will be much easier. Mine is all over the place, especially later in the summer.
 
FelipeBlu said:
Looks like they got a bit dry - the leaves curling under along the edges. I think 5 days was pushing it.
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Okay, no more 5 days between feedings. Got it.

So, every 3 days then?
 
Yeah, I'd be watering that one often. As someone mentioned, "with a very weak nutrient strength" (or words to that effect). Maybe daily for now. Whatever it takes to keep the perlite a bit damp close to the surface, because I don't expect it to have much in the way of a root system yet.

Difficulty in adjusting pH is one reason to consider mixing nutrients in larger batches. It takes more phosphoric acid (etc.) to lower pH, for example, in a 20-liter amount than it does in a one-liter amount. That has the practical effect of you not ending up trying to change it a relatively small amount and ending up with a massive change. Also, you could get a "perfectly clean" container with a tight-fitting lid, add a measured amount of your pH adjuster, then add a like amount of distilled water to end up with a product that is only half as powerful. Or three parts distilled water to end up with one that is only 25% as powerful. This stuff need not be as difficult as it seems to someone who either has not tried hydroponics or is doing so for their first time, and little tricks like that can help in that regard. You'll probably figure out some on your own, as time goes by, that will both help your garden perform better and make things easier for you.

Who knows, maybe someday you'll end up with a small automated cannabis garden:
OmegaGarden Carousel

OmegaGarden Carousel

  • Media owner TorturedSoul
  • Date added
  • Comments 5
Found on the 'net. The OmegaGarden Carousel - from the makers of the Volksgarden. Six rotating...

...and/or start producing slightly larger buds than you might be doing now:
Large Bud

Large Bud

Is this what they mean by "head bud," lol?

;) .
 
FelipeBlu said:
Do you know if your tap water varies much in pH? If not, once you get it dialed in with respect to drops or ml/gal, it will be much easier. Mine is all over the place, especially later in the summer.
Click to expand...

Our tap water's normal pH is between 6.5 and 7.
 
HashGirl said:
So, I'm still not sure how often I'm supposed to water my plants.
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After transplant, Sue always says that she has to fertigate more at first until the roots grow down and find the reservoir. So at first it should be more often, not less ;)

HashGirl said:
Thank you, Felipe. With nutes or without?
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TorturedSoul said:
Always with
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You’ll never give just water HG - that’s why I started using the word fertigate in my first post here ;)

(Caveat: I know that if problems arise and the medium needs flushing-out then plain water is used - followed by a fresh nute solution at the end.)

IFAIK it doesn’t matter if you do it very frequently, and you can’t overwater it so, so long as it doesn’t dry out, at all, you’re good!

So if it were me, I’d set myself a schedule and do it every 2 days for a while. That way you know it’s ok and you don’t need to make any decisions about it every time - you just make a set time. A simple routine like that can be very helpful in the garden, for both the gardener and the plants. :love:
 
Amy is indeed correct in her recommendation. Hempy is one of the only methods that you can actually fertigate on a set schedule. I fertigate every day until I see growth start to explode, then back off to 2-3 days. A slight dry period will encourage the roots to find the moist spots and fill the pot.
 
feed every two days start to finish works for everything.

i hold back a couple days on sprouts. from seedling on you can do it on schedule, even clones from scratch. if you get in the habit you'll avoid piles of trouble.
 
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