DrDoob
Well-Known Member
You guys are way more careful than I am. I guess it shows the versatility of hempy.
there are different sizes of perlite media. the medium and smaller sizes are not as good as the large stuff for hempy. the only stuff i can get here is kind of medium -small mixed. i could order it on the zon but the shipping negates any saving, so i just put up with it
years ago when i did soil we used to add peat moss to it and i felt the same way pulling large chunks of wood out of it.
Ugggggg
The small stuff must be a nightmare for sure
Sucks bud
The small stuff must be a nightmare for sure
Sucks bud
i'm going to have to use more on the next grow. if you have a look at my buckets you'll see the level has dropped about 3 inches from the top. it settles first, then the smaller stuff breaks down and washes thru at watering, dropping the level. i think the plant actually breaks up and consumes some of it as well.
Buck5050
Well-Known Member
Some colors coming through in flush.
Lovely @Buck5050 !
I’m interested in your flushing of hempy before harvest. Do you always do this? How long before chop? What do you see as the major benefit?
I’m interested in your flushing of hempy before harvest. Do you always do this? How long before chop? What do you see as the major benefit?
Buck5050
Well-Known Member
I will probably go 10 days of flush. the above picture is at 6 days. The flushing forces a obvious change in the plant. They use all the stored energy in there leaves and push it into the flowers. "Flushing" is the common term used and I find it projects an image of someone drowning the root zone with water for 10+ days straight. I believe "Finishing" would be more appropriate term used for what most growers do. I feed the plant with just water only (ph'ed appropriately) and let the root zone dry out between watering like I normally would. With out the nutrients the magic begins so to speak. I have visually noticed the plant push out more frost as if to say "here you go this is all I have left". As far as the smoke goes it can smooth out the hit and round off the taste.
Ganjagrowergu
Well-Known Member
I feel like "flushing" aids me because I dont really cure my pot. Before I started making sure my plants experienced senescence prior to harvest all of my stash had that chlorophyll/minty/bleck after taste and was harsh on my throat. In the summertime I sometimes have dried buds in 2-3 days, buds with dark green leaves become horrible. Just my $0.02
I just smoked a bud with a 7 day flush, been hang drying for about 4 days.. Pretty tasty. She will hang probably until tomorrow morning and then get put in a cardboard box. If the she lasts long enough to be bone dry, I toss it in a tiny jar or throw it in the bag of "butter buds"
I just smoked a bud with a 7 day flush, been hang drying for about 4 days.. Pretty tasty. She will hang probably until tomorrow morning and then get put in a cardboard box. If the she lasts long enough to be bone dry, I toss it in a tiny jar or throw it in the bag of "butter buds"
now there is someone who definitely knows his stuff ....
good job and good explanation buck5050
Indeed! 
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thanks for sharing your experience!
I have grown just three plants start to finish in hempy pots. All three were Dark Devil autos. I fed them with 50% strength nutrients from the time they hit the fifth node until I quit giving them nutrients at day 85 (post germination) and gave them nothing but PHd water for the last 15 days. I believe the plants might have benefited from a 90 day harvest as opposed to the 100 days I ran them. But what I did the first of the 15 days was put a piece of duct tape over the hole, fill the pot till the pot was full and let it set there for 5 minutes. I took off the tape and poured out as much as I could and then filled the reservoir with water. Every other day I was flushing about 1 gallon of PHd water through the reservoir. My goal was simply to get as much of the nutrients out of the perlite as I could. Less in the perlite = less in the plant.
Thanks Beez. 
For future use, it would probably interest you to know that perlite really doesn’t absorb much. One good fill and release should rinse off >95% of any residual (soluble) salts remaining on the outside of the perlite.
For future use, it would probably interest you to know that perlite really doesn’t absorb much. One good fill and release should rinse off >95% of any residual (soluble) salts remaining on the outside of the perlite.
I've searched Zon and looked around elsewhere, but can't find the huge chunky stuff in any significant quantity. I can find 1qt-ish sized bags, but I've been hunting for big bags of the 1-2in chunky stuff forever without finding it.
I did a little testing with the 1-2in chunky stuff and just love it.
DrDoob
Well-Known Member
Good to know my perlite turns yellow/orange from the nutes and this never seems to go away from soaking so I always figured they were holding on to lots of stuff.Thanks Beez.
For future use, it would probably interest you to know that perlite really doesn’t absorb much. One good fill and release should rinse off >95% of any residual (soluble) salts remaining on the outside of the perlite.
DrDoob
Well-Known Member
The yellow/orange color only happens with MegaCrop, it’s not from algae, although there is also a bit of the usual hempy green algae too.I think that’s probably algae.
Ah yes, you are using MegaCrop too. The yellow-orange staining might be from the iron oxidizing. My perlite is only yellow-orange on the surface. If I dig down, it’s still white.
Wow, those tiny bags of perlite AREN'T cost-effective around here. Not quite the same as buying six individual printer ink cartridges for $140 vs. a set of bottled ink for $30, but reminiscent of it. I just jumped on the Fox Farm website and did a search for locations near you (I think) that carry that company's products:
New Orleans
Urban Roots Garden Center
2375 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70130
504-522-4949
The Plant Gallery
9401 Airline Highway, New Orleans, LA 70118
504-488-8887
Harold's Indoor & Outdoor Plants
1135 Press Street, New Orleans, LA 70117
504-947-7554
Grow Wiser Garden Supply
2109 Decatur Street, New Orleans. LA 70116
504-644-4713
Jefferson Feed (New Orleans)
309 North Carrollton Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70110
504-448-8118
Any of these locations - and the 25 or so other ones in LA, and all the ones in the next state over, and... - should be able to easily stock Fox Farm's "Big & Chunky Perlite" product (and may already have it, IDK).
There are two plant nurseries worthy of the name within about 40 miles of me. Neither one of them normally stocks "big chunk" perlite. The one farther away gets it in four-cubic foot bags, and I noticed that the bags list about four different sizes (with a checkbox beside each, and the place that fills them marks one to designate blah blah blah). I asked and was told that they can order the big stuff, but that they tried getting a mix of sizes one year and had trouble moving it, so they generally just get the (IIRC) second or third (choice of) size. Then she said I could have them order whichever size I needed and they wouldn't charge me for a special order since it'd just come with the regular shipment (probably wrapped on the same pallet). The catch? They order it ONCE per year, and I always manage to forget until a month or two after they've already gotten their yearly shipment. But yeah... If you catch the right person, at the right store, at the right time, they should be willing to help you since it won't be a hassle (and some folks still remember that spending little effort to be THE store that can provide what a customer needs is how you capture and retain new customers
) .But I'd check your local (etc.) Fox Farm dealers first.
You may have already done that, lol, IDK.
Sctanley007
Well-Known Member
Absolutely following this.
Just started my first hempy from a Black Indica clone that rooted in Happy Frog and moved to perlite. So far she’s doing great. Once I have room I’m potting up to the same bucket as yours.
It was an experiment and now I have 5 plants I’m waiting to flip until this one gets repotted and established. The pink is aquarium stone. Figured it would hold moisture and keep the perlite from turning green.
Just started my first hempy from a Black Indica clone that rooted in Happy Frog and moved to perlite. So far she’s doing great. Once I have room I’m potting up to the same bucket as yours.
It was an experiment and now I have 5 plants I’m waiting to flip until this one gets repotted and established. The pink is aquarium stone. Figured it would hold moisture and keep the perlite from turning green.
