Hempy Headquarters

Drekoola · Feb 29, 2024

Hello! I know this thread is a little old but I was wondering if anyone has tried calcined clay in hempy or does it sound like it would do good? I’m going to try it out soon. I will germ in 100% perlite and transplant to calcined clay. I think it’s ph is around 5.6.

bluter · Feb 29, 2024

Drekoola said:
Hello! I know this thread is a little old but I was wondering if anyone has tried calcined clay in hempy or does it sound like it would do good? I’m going to try it out soon. I will germ in 100% perlite and transplant to calcined clay. I think it’s ph is around 5.6.

it's more suited to active hydro but it should work. i've run passive with hydroton before.

Drekoola · Mar 1, 2024

bluter said:
it's more suited to active hydro but it should work. i've run passive with hydroton before.

I read this whole thread but I can’t remember who but someone was using gravel of some sort with coco caps. Would the calcined clay be better? It’s actually montmorillonite calcined clay.
https://www.ussilica.com/materials/montmorillonite-clay

bluter · Mar 1, 2024

Drekoola said:
I read this whole thread but I can’t remember who but someone was using gravel of some sort with coco caps. Would the calcined clay be better? It’s actually montmorillonite calcined clay.
Montmorillonite Clay

most things clay won't wick decent enough to support the plant before the roots hit the res. if you run anything clay you'll need to feed more often earlier and use more nutes until the roots make the res.

clay is ok, it's advantage is it's completely re-usable, which could lower costs, but since hempy is a drain to waste system, you will probably wind up using more inputs, increasing your costs.

the best media for hempy is perlite alone hands down. in extremely dry climates a little vermiculite helps out. most of the perlite can be re-used if you want to go to the trouble. it's such a cheap media most don't bother. i buy it in 120L bales at about $40 cdn.

Drekoola · Mar 1, 2024

bluter said:
most things clay won't wick decent enough to support the plant before the roots hit the res. if you run anything clay you'll need to feed more often earlier and use more nutes until the roots make the res.

clay is ok, it's advantage is it's completely re-usable, which could lower costs, but since hempy is a drain to waste system, you will probably wind up using more inputs, increasing your costs.

the best media for hempy is perlite alone hands down. in extremely dry climates a little vermiculite helps out. most of the perlite can be re-used if you want to go to the trouble. it's such a cheap media most don't bother. i buy it in 120L bales at about $40 cdn.

Thanks a lot! I will only try one for experimental purposes.

bluter · Mar 1, 2024

Drekoola said:
Thanks a lot! I will only try one for experimental purposes.

i'd feed it daily until the roots hit the res.

Drekoola · Mar 1, 2024

bluter said:
i'd feed it daily until the roots hit the res.

Ok thanks for the heads up. I’m going to start in mini hempy all perlite before transplanting to that mix.

HashGirl · May 31, 2024

Hello.

I'm currently growing in hempy indoors and I have some pH questions. I've been checking the pH of the water before I add the nutes, in my case, Mega Crop, which is how I thought I was supposed to do it and the pH of the water has been between 5.5 and 6, which I also thought was good but despite increasing the amount of MegaCrop, the leaves on the plants still look quite pale. They're currently 26 to 28 days in veg and were bumped up to 3g/gallon of MegaCrop yesterday. Anyone know what's going on?

P.S. I don't have a grow journal going for them (yet) as I've been having vision problems since early April.

:thanks:

Chuckeye · May 31, 2024

HashGirl said:
Hello.

I'm currently growing in hempy indoors and I have some pH questions. I've been checking the pH of the water before I add the nutes, in my case, Mega Crop, which is how I thought I was supposed to do it and the pH of the water has been between 5.5 and 6, which I also thought was good but despite increasing the amount of MegaCrop, the leaves on the plants still look quite pale. They're currently 26 to 28 days in veg and were bumped up to 3g/gallon of MegaCrop yesterday. Anyone know what's going on?

How big is the container and how far from the bottom is the drain hole ?

Frequency of watering ?

I didn't ph my well water in hempy but I used GH MaxiSeries for that grow....

And fill that cup up with perlite

Cheers

Hash Hound · May 31, 2024

HashGirl said:
I've been checking the pH of the water before I add the nutes,

I'm no expert on phing but I believe you should add the Mega Crop first then check the ph before adjusting it.

bluter · May 31, 2024

calmag if you use it first, nutes second, ph last, then feed. always ph to 5.8 in hempy.

you could use more perlite. something is up with those seedlings. go have a look at my current @SeedsMan purple ghost candy journal for an idea.

i grow hempy style with MC.

HashGirl · May 31, 2024

Chuckeye said:
How big is the container and how far from the bottom is the drain hole ?

Solo cup and 2 inches.

Chuckeye said:
Frequency of watering ?

Approximately, every 4 days.

Chuckeye said:
I didn't ph my well water in hempy but I used GH MaxiSeries for that grow....

And fill that cup up with perlite

Cheers

bluter said:
calmag if you use it first, nutes second, ph last, then feed. always ph to 5.8 in hempy.

Bookmarked.

bluter said:
you could use more perlite. something is up with those seedlings. go have a look at my current @SeedsMan purple ghost candy journal for an idea.

i grow hempy style with MC.

I've added perlite a few times already but I'm planning on uppotting them this weekend to bigger pots and when I do, I will ensure there is enough perlite.

If my eyes cooperate, I'll check out your journal.

bluter · May 31, 2024

HashGirl said:
Solo cup and 2 inches.

Approximately, every 4 days.

Bookmarked.

I've added perlite a few times already but I'm planning on uppotting them this weekend to bigger pots and when I do, I will ensure there is enough perlite.

If my eyes cooperate, I'll check out your journal.

normally feed every 3 days in the cups. every 2 if they get dry sooner. up pot if you have to feed every second day.

your hole is too high on the solos. it normally lives about one inch from the bottom. perlite should go to the top in the cups. leave it about 1 inch from the top in the buckets when you up pot.

what size buckets are they going into ?

HashGirl · Jun 1, 2024

bluter said:
normally feed every 3 days in the cups. every 2 if they get dry sooner. up pot if you have to feed every second day.

your hole is too high on the solos. it normally lives about one inch from the bottom. perlite should go to the top in the cups. leave it about 1 inch from the top in the buckets when you up pot.

what size buckets are they going into ?

I suspect the main problem is that I've been pHing wrong. I thought you pHed first and then added anything else you needed. I didn't realize it was the reverse.

The new pots are 24x19 cm / 9.44x7.4 in. Here's a pic. The pipe cleaner shows where the hole is (2" from bottom).

bluter · Jun 1, 2024

HashGirl said:
The new pots are 24x19 cm / 9.44x7.4 in.

aw shit that doesn't mean anything to me lol

gallons or litres i can get around.

what i can say is i would've put it up just a touch .. but it will do fine right where you've drilled it. it's just a guess as those look rather large in the pic.

most like a bit larger res if running a maxi hempy bucket.

Chuckeye · Jun 1, 2024

@bluter and @HashGirl

The new pots are 24x19 cm / 9.44x7.4 in.,

Full to the top that is 1.75 US Gallons or just under 1 1/2 Imperial Gallons

Cheers

bluter · Jun 1, 2024

Chuckeye said:
@bluter and @HashGirl

Full to the top that is 1.75 US Gallons or just under 1 1/2 Imperial Gallons

Cheers

lol thanks. they're about the same as the 5L i'm running now then. i drilled the hole at 2 1/4 inches from the bottom.

BigBudsBunny · Aug 3, 2024

It looks like you are only using perlite in the cup, if you use a 3 to 1 mixture of perlite to vermiculite, the vermiculite will hold the moisture/nutrients. If you use straight perlite there is nothing to hold the moisture requiring more feedings.
just my 2 cents of hempy bucket farming for almost 10 years.

BigBudsBunny · Aug 5, 2024

solo cup with a bottle cap (to keep inner cup off the bottom. Inner cup with 3 parts perlite and 1 part vermiculite. feed when cup is light!

hope that helps

I have grown them taller than 2 foot with the 2 cup hempy method (solo cup just catches overflow when feeding and keeps inner cup dark for the roots before transplanting. I don't intend to let them get that tall but stuff happens. I am indoors so I use 2.5 gal black buckets and have grown plants six foot tall with no problems in 2.5 gal buckets. Also don't feed on a schedule like every 3 days - feed as needed (when the pots/cups are light). Additionally PH is extremely important with this method and My PPM's never exceed 600-700ppms (including my water-ppms (125). Always feed enough where you have overflow so you push some of the salt out from the ferts.

good luck - any ?'s feel free

HashGirl · Aug 5, 2024

Hello everyone.

I'm growing hempy indoors and my Carnival is having leaf issues. She's currently 23 days into flower and is being fed 5g/gallon of Mega Crop every 3 days along with Cal-Mag. I try very hard to get 5.8 pH but will also feed my plants at 5.7 or 5.9 if it takes too long. (It takes me about 20 minutes to get the pH right.)