I'm not trying to talk about anyone else's experience - just hempy didn't work out well for me.
This is mostly because I don't want to learn about the subtle difference between calcium deficiencies that require cal-mag and calcium deficiencies due to nutrient lockout after too much cal-mag.
Some of my hempies recovered after correcting the PH, and some of them stayed looking ugly.
Completely understandable. If a thing does not work for you - and especially if you know that a different thing
does - then it is a simple decision, indeed.
"Hempy" is just a type of passive hydroponics. Therefore,
in theory, it can be somewhat more productive than soil and somewhat less productive than active hydroponics methods.
In theory, lol. In reality, which method of growing works best for any one specific individual depends on several factors. Environmental ones can be significant. Even, when it comes down to it, how well that individual likes a certain method compared to other ones.
I've often thought that a great deal of a plant's health depends on the amount of oxygen available to that plant, via its root system. And I also feel that certain variables can affect this amount. Hempy-style growing seems pretty simple (and it is, basically,
but...). One grabs a container, puts a hole in the side, fills it with medium and a plant, and (feeds & ) waters it once in a while.
But where does one place the hole? "It doesn't really matter." Oh, yeah? Then why not drill it in the rim of the container, lol? Or a quarter-inch from the bottom? Too high, and it becomes a DWC hydro setup - but without the active oxygenation.
Those don't work all that well. One "drowns the roots."
I think that setting up a "sacrificial" DWC, getting the plant to a healthy, reasonable size... and then unplugging the aeration device(s) might be an educational thing. One can then watch the plant drown (or suffocate? IDK which term would be more appropriate...) due to lack of dissolved oxygen in the reservoir's solution. The plant's health would suffer and, eventually, it would either die or provide a rather poor harvest. I wonder how many people, not knowing the scenario, would take a look at that suffering plant and think, "Nutrient deficiency of some sort (possibly multiple elements)." Or toxicity. Or deficiency/deficiencies caused by an out-of-range pH? If that happened, no amount of tinkering with the nutrient ratios or pH adjustment would help. Trying to feed a starving man - who happens to be drowning at the time - is not the best plan, lol. Give him a meal, sure - he will appreciate the chance to get his belly button a little farther away from his back - but first... give him some air, so to speak.
[ Above paragraph centered because I could not find the "increase indentation" button in the message editor. Please consider it to be such.
]
Too
low... And one could almost say it is then becoming an active hydro setup, only with the gardener acting as the pump/dripper system. Lights on, water the plant. Hour later, water the plant. Hour after that, water the plant. Or something like that.
Like most things in the universe, of course, it is not quite so simple as that. Medium choice/mixture plays a part. Add - for example - vermiculite to perlite, and the mixture holds more water. Take some of that vermiculite away (feel free to laugh at the person trying to do this one bit of vermiculite at a time in a functioning hempy - it's just a figure of speech) and the resultant medium holds less water... but more air.
I'm not positive, but I
think that dry roots, even surrounded by oxygen, are not the best able to access it. When the grower pours the liquid into the container, he/she is wetting the substrate and the roots - which makes it a different situation. Those dampened roots can better access however much oxygen is available to them (IMHO).
But how much is that? Was that liquid aerated, or has it "gone stale" before being poured in?
Err... I just forgot where I was going with this, lol. It is unfortunate that this method failed to work for you,
Radogast, and I hope that you get back to productive harvests - and enjoying the activity - soonest! When it's all said and done, whichever method works best for YOU... is the best method
for you.
. The hole in the side ought to be easy to add during the creation process. A drinking straw filled with solidified candle wax (for rigidity) when the material is poured, then removed after curing might do it, IDK.
