Hempy Headquarters

[FelipeBlu]

Hmmm, blissful ignorance. I can dig it,
as long as the plant looks healthy.

My curiosity started when I was getting deficiency signs down low, and clawing of new growth, all at only 4g/gal MegaCrop.

 

[TorturedSoul]

They are supposed to have better air porosity AND water retention than perlite. And a LOT less dust!

If they're made of glass, there better be NO dust to inhale. Probably no more unhealthy than all the silica dust I inhaled during an average workday for years, but not exactly health food for the lungs.

Well, it can’t be any weirder than what I just went through. On a whim, I checked the pH of the runoff, after watering a very dry plant (nothing in reservoir). The fertigation solution had been adjusted to 5.6, left standing for about a half an hour, and then measured 5.62.

The runoff, of this mix, measured seconds after it started pissing out, was 6.68! WTF?!

Ah. It's good to read that you occasionally rinse out the waste products that the plants excrete via their root systems .

 

[Cannbidoscar]

Just started my hempys, hopefully have some more interested pics to come!

 

[Buck5050]

@FelipeBlu are you usually watering with 5.6 - 5.7 adjusted? When I was that low going in it caused nothing but problems for me in the traditional hempy mix. I could see where the plants having some issues processing calcium or mag at that end of the ph scale.It's possible that it slowed its uptake of those nutes and built salts on the next feeding. This is a possible path to your situation.

 

[FelipeBlu]

Ah. It's good to read that you occasionally rinse out the waste products that the plants excrete via their root systems

I think I must have missed this in the primer.

Yeah, I usually just pour into the one spot (where there’s an opening in the bush) every time - basically to refill the reservoir.

Is it common practice to flush hempy buckets like this, and I just haven’t been paying attention?

 

[Ganjagrowergu]

Is it common practice to flush hempy buckets like this, and I just haven’t been paying attention?

I water until I get quite a bit of runoff. I used to go overboard. Now I am a bit more conservative.

I feed at about 5.8ph . My runoff one day after feeding is always at least 7.0, seen as high as 8.5... I don't chase runoff ph anymore. Drove me nutz, like it's own brand of insanity.

 

[FelipeBlu]

Wow, this is wild!

Has this already been discussed and dismissed in this universe?

 

[TorturedSoul]

I think I must have missed this in the primer.

Yeah, I usually just pour into the one spot (where there’s an opening in the bush) every time - basically to refill the reservoir.

Is it common practice to flush hempy buckets like this, and I just haven’t been paying attention?

I just meant that, since roots are one of the mechanisms that plants use to excrete waste (and not just gas), that you might have seen this when you checked the runoff pH and noticed that it was different than what you poured in.

Another possibility is, the reservoir was dry, plant was hungry, it consumed some phosphorous out of the mix... and this in turn caused the pH of the mix to rise from what it was initially.

A third possibility would be that you mixed - and tested the pH of - your nutrient water somewhere else, then tested the pH of your runoff in the grow room. Interference from one of the electrical/electronic devices in the grow room (or the location you mixed the nutrients in) caused a wonky reading, making the two different. If you did your pH testing in the same location (and with the same set of devices powered up) then this wouldn't be a possibility, of course.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Wow, this is wild!

Has this already been discussed and dismissed in this universe?

Everything has. Also discussed and not dismissed, and never discussed in the first place.

This universe is, after all, a staggeringly huge place, lol. Somewhere there undoubtedly are an infinite number of monkeys who, after pounding randomly on an infinite number of typewriters for an infinite number of years... managed to reproduce the complete works (and/or plagiarisms, depending on who you ask) of William Shakespeare.

 

[FelipeBlu]

I just meant that, since roots are one of the mechanisms that plants use to excrete waste (and not just gas), that you might have seen this when you checked the runoff pH and noticed that it was different than what you poured in.

Another possibility is, the reservoir was dry, plant was hungry, it consumed some phosphorous out of the mix... and this in turn caused the pH of the mix to rise from what it was initially.

A third possibility would be that you mixed - and tested the pH of - your nutrient water somewhere else, then tested the pH of your runoff in the grow room. Interference from one of the electrical/electronic devices in the grow room (or the location you mixed the nutrients in) caused a wonky reading, making the two different. If you did your pH testing in the same location (and with the same set of devices powered up) then this wouldn't be a possibility, of course.

Okay, thanks TS
You’ve given me some new things to consider.
1. I am amateurly aware of the back-and-forth in the root zone, and actually considered this, until I had already reset the pH a couple of times, with several gallons, held floating the perlite. At that point, I figured that I had to have flushed all of these exudates from the media. After all, perlite doesn’t have a very high porosity or CEC.

2. The reservoir was dry. But how P def could it be without any clear symptoms? Oh, and I use a sulfuric acid-based “pH down”, so the plant isn’t getting any extra P from that.

3. Same location, the kitchen. Lots of potential EMF, but except for the overhead LEDs, everything was asleep.

And probably herb-smoking monkeys, judging from the contents of his pipe.

 

[TorturedSoul]

2. The reservoir was dry. But how P def could it be without any clear symptoms? Oh, and I use a sulfuric acid-based “pH down”, so the plant isn’t getting any extra P from that.

Maybe not deficient, per se. But plants consume it. Granted, you didn't add any via your pH adjuster. But it's probably safe to assume that whatever you're feeding them has some form of phosphorous in it. So: Solution was at a certain pH. It contained some phosphorous. If some of that phosphorous was consumed, then the pH of the solution will rise accordingly.

I observed this as a normal thing when running DWC reservoirs. Plants (especially plants in flower) would feed, causing the pH to rise. I could either grab a jug of water, top off the reservoir, check its pH, adjust it... or pour a little bloom component nutrient into the jug of water, use it to top the reservoir off, and see that the pH was more or less back in line with where it should have been. I usually chose "b," lol.

There's a chart floating around here that has a column for pH (rising, falling, and unchanging), EC (rising, falling, staying the same) in the various possible combinations, along with a third column, "What this means." I think it even made the distinction between, for example, a gradual fall and a sudden drastic one. Plants using a lot of water but not a lot of nutrients (ones in hot locations transpiring, etc.) will cause the EC to rise. Stuff like that.

I know it has been reposted many times, but I can't point to a single specific thread where you can find it. Wait, I believe @Rifleman has posted it (along with some other useful graphics/charts). Maybe he will be kind enough to repost it here if/when he gets my "page." Assuming he has a copy handy, of course. And that I'm not completely mistaken about him having posted one in the first place, lol.

Anyway, if you see the chart, it lists a few possibilities for rising pH. Maybe something on there will cause you to think, "Hmm... That makes sense." Or not, who knows?

And probably herb-smoking monkeys, judging from the contents of his pipe.

For best results .

 

[SweetSue]

Ah. It's good to read that you occasionally rinse out the waste products that the plants excrete via their root systems .

I stopped flushing my hempy plants after the second or third cycle. I’ve seen nothing to make me rethink that decision.

Hempy is all about KISS. Seems the less I did the better they performed for me.

Is it common practice to flush hempy buckets like this, and I just haven’t been paying attention?

It may be, but I wonder why? Lol! Hempy isn’t active hydro. It’s much more forgiving, which is why we’re all still happily playing with the method.

Wow, this is wild!

Has this already been discussed and dismissed in this universe?

There are so many ways to skin a canna cat I hesitate to dismiss anything.

 

[SweetSue]

Just started my hempys, hopefully have some more interested pics to come!

Welcome to Headquarters Cannbidoscar. Get ready to be amazed.

 

[FelipeBlu]

I observed this as a normal thing when running DWC reservoirs. Plants (especially plants in flower) would feed, causing the pH to rise. I could either grab a jug of water, top off the reservoir, check its pH, adjust it... or pour a little bloom component nutrient into the jug of water, use it to top the reservoir off, and see that the pH was more or less back in line with where it should have been. I usually chose "b," lol.

There's a chart floating around here that has a column for pH (rising, falling, and unchanging), EC (rising, falling, staying the same) in the various possible combinations, along with a third column, "What this means." I think it even made the distinction between, for example, a gradual fall and a sudden drastic one. Plants using a lot of water but not a lot of nutrients (ones in hot locations transpiring, etc.) will cause the EC to rise. Stuff like that.

Okay. I get this about DWC. What’s happening here seems different - like instantaneously - in the seconds it takes for the solution to go from top to bottom. Do plants really react that fast? And then, if she was that hungry for P with the first amount, is she still hungry enough to suck down P like that on the next 5 gallons?

I stopped flushing my hempy plants after the second or third cycle. I’ve seen nothing to make me rethink that decision.

Hempy is all about KISS. Seems the less I did the better they performed for me.

Thanks for that Sue. Good to know that this has been experienced by other hempyites. I can dig KISS. Gonna chill now.

There are so many ways to skin a canna cat I hesitate to dismiss anything.

I sometimes get turned around and forget which universe I’m in - some of them are pretty damn similar.

 

[Rifleman]

@TorturedSoul it's in my journal somewhere. I'm travelling right now with only a phone, can't dig it up but somewhere in the last 30 pages I'd guess.

 

[TorturedSoul]

@TorturedSoul it's in my journal somewhere. I'm travelling right now with only a phone, can't dig it up but somewhere in the last 30 pages I'd guess.

Two-wheeled paradise? I feel bad for disturbing you, lol. Mine might as well be in several boxes, although I did manage to get it to briefly fire one cylinder last Autumn when I used some of my "survive through Winter" money thinking I'd manage to start the Spring with mechanical transportation.

Enclosed: One motorcycle. Some assembly required. For riding... much assembly required . So I'm with ya in spirit. Got a wrench?

 

[TorturedSoul]

I sometimes get turned around and forget which universe I’m in - some of them are pretty damn similar.

If you look around and see yourself, you're still in the wrong one. Or standing near a mirror, which can lead to all kinds of errors, which is why I only own one and keep it wrapped up and stored in a drawer.

Okay. I get this about DWC. What’s happening here seems different - like instantaneously - in the seconds it takes for the solution to go from top to bottom.

That's why I mentioned waste products possibly getting rinsed down into your catch basin (whatever you collected the sample from to test). Possibly along with some unused (built-up slowly over time) nutrients, if applicable.

Do plants really react that fast? And then, if she was that hungry for P with the first amount, is she still hungry enough to suck down P like that on the next 5 gallons?

No Idea. It was an alternative theory. I'm not a bookie, though, and don't offer odds. If pressed, my gut is willing to speculate that they'd be somewhat low.

I don't remember what you stated the EC of the runoff was, and what the EC of the nutrient solution going in was. Could you refresh my memory, please?

 

[FelipeBlu]

If you look around and see yourself, you're still in the wrong one. Or standing near a mirror, which can lead to all kinds of errors, which is why I only own one and keep it wrapped up and stored in a drawer.

Oh yes, this one.

I don't remember what you stated the EC of the runoff was, and what the EC of the nutrient solution going in was. Could you refresh my memory, please?

Well, since I only have a TDS pen, all I can provide is that the ppms were about the same coming out as going in (about 750).

 

[Lazarus13]

My $.02 on flushing hempy... I water til i just barely get runoff most times but every 4th or 5th time i use extra until i get runoff equal to twice my rez size and i do the same when i transition to flower. I just feel like its good to rinse out some of the excess salts that can build up and can lead ro lockout/deficiencies. Its what GH recommends with their maxi series and i just kinda carried it over to megacrop... Which i just ordered 5lbs of cuz i got a coupon. Im really loving the new megacrop formula but man is it a pain when ot gets humid. Such a mess. Its coats anything it touches in a sticky brown paste.... Or am i the only one who is experiencing this? Its also difficult to weigh out small batches. Do i need more white pebbles or more of the brown powder? Smells good tho.

 

[bluter]

i sorta flush....

what i do is plug the hole, and water the bucket til it reaches the top. i use ph'd ro with cal mag and h202. i use the 29% stuff at 1 ml to 1 l, about full strength. i let each plant soak for 20 - 30 min and then let drain. the h202 helps clear crap out the roots, and adds some oxygen. plants always surge after this. like nuts. but you have to feed them within 24 hrs. i'll flush once in veg, and once in flower.

i do this when trying to clear problems as well. quick flush, reset the nutes, and generally all gets well.