SHORT VERSION
Hey everyone at 420, longtime lurker here, and really grateful for all your help!
So i've been trying to follow DocBud's (wherever you are, signore, more thanks go to you than can be told in a life time
) style of hempy growing with the KISS on steroids: OC+, 100% perlite, a few micros, and good tap water (plus 1tbsp/gal molasses).
Short version of my question is: with what should I amend my perlite for the micros? Go with mittledier? and my local water analysis is, TA = 38, avg TA range = 29-48, avg. pH = 8.1, avg pH range 7.2 - 8.5, Ca = 7.46ppm, avg. Ca range = 4.81-9.62
LONG VERSION
Here's the longass winding story like version:
I started my growing journey 5 years ago testing out some alternative lighting because I'm a small scale personal grower and I am super concerned with keeping my environment dialed in. So I worked with LEDs and CFLs for a while, but now I'm doing PAR T5s, very cool, very fun stuff; but I'm still working out my other preferences, trying to become a good all around grower. I've done some cool stuff with DIY self watering containers (some super dank white rhino from a homemade earthbox was an awesome grow) and wanted to try out a classic hempy set up. So i started reading up on hempy about 3 years ago and have slowly caught the fever to try it, but DocBud mentioned that taste can suffer in the simplest version of hempy, so I tried to incorporate some organics in order to take advantage of the taste and smell increases that growing style provides.
I'm finishing up a run of 3 girls (2 northernberry from peakseeds and one lemon haze) right now in a hempy I tried to modify: 75:25 perlite:FFOF--yes you read that correctly, perlite:FFOF. I was hoping to get some wicking action a la vermiculite from the FFOF, as well as a source for nutes in the first week after transplanting from Doc's mini-hempy cup (a 100% success rate for germing there, thanks again Doc, you really are a saint!). This grow didn't really work out the way I hoped and there were some serious fuck-ups on my part (had to be gone for two extended periods during which my autowatering system's res grew some nasty shit, my FF MicrobeBrew from two grows ago went bad which I didn't notice until after feeding the girsl with it in the nute soup). To keep things organic I went with Earth Juice's organic line because I heard if you pour it in some aerated tap water, then aerate the soup for 24-48hrs, pH is no worry. Doc's experiment where his organic tea/slurry held pH at 6.4 after ridiculous amounts of acid gave me great confidence in all of this. But, something was wrong with shit because I ended up with some serious pH lockouts after some overfeedings and potentially a little overwatering--FFOF.
SO, i'm done with jumping into this trying to tweak things off the bat without seeing anythnig from seed to harvest in the true hempy style. I'm going to grow out 2-6 plants with the same substrate, lighting, water, and environment to see what happens with taste etc. In other words, I'm not going to preemptively try to tweak something finer and more aesthetic like taste and smell until I see what happens from seed to smoke without such tweakage. In that vein, I'm looking for help on what to amend my perlite substrate with. I know docbud uses the mittledier additive, but I've already got things like epsom salt, dolomite lime, Earthjuice microblast, molasses , and earth juice catalyst. I'm also going to be growing Northernberry again, lemon haze, and I've got some headband seeds that came from a hermied headband plant that my buddy grew out (kinda horribly i might add, super harsh, fast drying, no cure, no flush, horrible environment for the plant during her life). I will also be watering with molasses throughout flower to try to help the taste, and, again, this is Doc's "100% perlite, OC+ just put a damn hole in the damn bucket, water it, and grow some plants" methodology.
Any thoughts or suggestions are so incredibly welcome and thank you all in advance esp the ones who read the long version!
Be easy,
Dr.J
P.S. I'm not able to get to some of the threads because "i am not authorized" or something? it asks if i'm trying to edit someone else's post but i'm just trying to get to the "just put a hole in a bucket" thread...any ideas? anyone got a working link?
Hey everyone at 420, longtime lurker here, and really grateful for all your help!
So i've been trying to follow DocBud's (wherever you are, signore, more thanks go to you than can be told in a life time
) style of hempy growing with the KISS on steroids: OC+, 100% perlite, a few micros, and good tap water (plus 1tbsp/gal molasses). Short version of my question is: with what should I amend my perlite for the micros? Go with mittledier? and my local water analysis is, TA = 38, avg TA range = 29-48, avg. pH = 8.1, avg pH range 7.2 - 8.5, Ca = 7.46ppm, avg. Ca range = 4.81-9.62
LONG VERSION
Here's the longass winding story like version:
I started my growing journey 5 years ago testing out some alternative lighting because I'm a small scale personal grower and I am super concerned with keeping my environment dialed in. So I worked with LEDs and CFLs for a while, but now I'm doing PAR T5s, very cool, very fun stuff; but I'm still working out my other preferences, trying to become a good all around grower. I've done some cool stuff with DIY self watering containers (some super dank white rhino from a homemade earthbox was an awesome grow) and wanted to try out a classic hempy set up. So i started reading up on hempy about 3 years ago and have slowly caught the fever to try it, but DocBud mentioned that taste can suffer in the simplest version of hempy, so I tried to incorporate some organics in order to take advantage of the taste and smell increases that growing style provides.
I'm finishing up a run of 3 girls (2 northernberry from peakseeds and one lemon haze) right now in a hempy I tried to modify: 75:25 perlite:FFOF--yes you read that correctly, perlite:FFOF. I was hoping to get some wicking action a la vermiculite from the FFOF, as well as a source for nutes in the first week after transplanting from Doc's mini-hempy cup (a 100% success rate for germing there, thanks again Doc, you really are a saint!). This grow didn't really work out the way I hoped and there were some serious fuck-ups on my part (had to be gone for two extended periods during which my autowatering system's res grew some nasty shit, my FF MicrobeBrew from two grows ago went bad which I didn't notice until after feeding the girsl with it in the nute soup). To keep things organic I went with Earth Juice's organic line because I heard if you pour it in some aerated tap water, then aerate the soup for 24-48hrs, pH is no worry. Doc's experiment where his organic tea/slurry held pH at 6.4 after ridiculous amounts of acid gave me great confidence in all of this. But, something was wrong with shit because I ended up with some serious pH lockouts after some overfeedings and potentially a little overwatering--FFOF.
SO, i'm done with jumping into this trying to tweak things off the bat without seeing anythnig from seed to harvest in the true hempy style. I'm going to grow out 2-6 plants with the same substrate, lighting, water, and environment to see what happens with taste etc. In other words, I'm not going to preemptively try to tweak something finer and more aesthetic like taste and smell until I see what happens from seed to smoke without such tweakage. In that vein, I'm looking for help on what to amend my perlite substrate with. I know docbud uses the mittledier additive, but I've already got things like epsom salt, dolomite lime, Earthjuice microblast, molasses , and earth juice catalyst. I'm also going to be growing Northernberry again, lemon haze, and I've got some headband seeds that came from a hermied headband plant that my buddy grew out (kinda horribly i might add, super harsh, fast drying, no cure, no flush, horrible environment for the plant during her life). I will also be watering with molasses throughout flower to try to help the taste, and, again, this is Doc's "100% perlite, OC+ just put a damn hole in the damn bucket, water it, and grow some plants" methodology.
Any thoughts or suggestions are so incredibly welcome and thank you all in advance esp the ones who read the long version!
Be easy,
Dr.J
P.S. I'm not able to get to some of the threads because "i am not authorized" or something? it asks if i'm trying to edit someone else's post but i'm just trying to get to the "just put a hole in a bucket" thread...any ideas? anyone got a working link?
