Tead's Indoor-ish, Winter, Hempy, OGK, SOG

[Tead]

We'll give you a pass either way, of course.

 

[SweetSue]

Mighty magnanimous of you Tead.

I've ordered the meter and solutions. They should be here in plenty of time. So Weaselcracker's doing hempy too, eh? Your sphere of influence expands. They're going to wonder what you're feeding us. Lol!

 

[lexort420]

Tead I have had a great time watching you convert lots of different growers lol myself included lol. All hail Tead the hempy prophet! Lol

 

[AKgramma]

I'm a backslider, tho. I mixed vermiculite in with the hempy, just because of the RH problem. I notice, that the hempy pots with both perlite and vermiculite raise the RH in the units. So I'm happy with that. I leave a bit of standing water in the catch bins, after I siphon out most of it. The evaporation lowers the temp and raises the RH about 10 or so.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I'm going away for a few days. These two pots are not Hempies but regular one gallon pots which I'll use in an attempted dtw grow. I have a couple sprouts in them. Will these pots dry out in a few days? Should I push them down into the 'swick' (???????) tray or whatever that thing is supposed to be and maybe fill it with water, or would it not work- would water wick up? Too dry? too wet? Or will the pots be fine for a week left alone? They feel fairly light even though I soaked them down. Any thoughts? I have no idea how this perlite will act...

 

[AKgramma]

WC: I would cover them with some kind of clear dome, or use large clear plastic bags to keep the moisture in. You can poke some ventilation holes in the cover. A large empty cola or fruit juice bottle for each will work, cause your babies won't outgrow it in just one week.

 

[SweetSue]

They're only sprouts, right? They won't drink all the moisture, and I can tell you from experience that the perlite shouldn't be anywhere near dry in a few days on its own. You should be good. I don't know about the effectiveness or even the necessity of the SWICK reservoir. Tead or lexort may be able to answer that for you. Perlite wicks though, so there's no reason to assume it wouldn't work, if you make sure the water level in the reservoir is below the level of the pot bottom (1-2" below). That would necessitate you filling the reservoir to the very top with perlite in order to get enough water below that line to be effective.

Thing is, in your situation, with sprouts, that shouldn't be a concern. You shouldn't need the reservoir.

AKgramma hit it out of the park there. Use a dome.

 

[AKgramma]

Thanks, Sue. I still think like a soil grower. 50 some odd years of growing all kinds of plants in soil is going to stay with me, I'm afraid. Atho the hempy thingy is interesting, and I'm learning a lot I can translate to soil,(like how to get that soil VERY LIGHT) should I decide to go back to my old ways.

 

[SweetSue]

Thanks, Sue. I still think like a soil grower. 50 some odd years of growing all kinds of plants in soil is going to stay with me, I'm afraid. Atho the hempy thingy is interesting, and I'm learning a lot I can translate to soil,(like how to get that soil VERY LIGHT) should I decide to go back to my old ways.

I have two LOS no-tills. I'll always grow in organic living soil. It's part of my DNA, going back three generations. I figure this is a great learning opportunity and it just might be the complement I need for the wasted space in my closet. Plus, I hated not knowing anything about hydro growing. This changes that and gives me at least a rudimentary understanding.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Thank you. Sounds like I won't need the tub then.
The sprouts look so vulnerable in that wasteland of white rocks.
But just out of curiosity - if I was to use that swick idea- You said the water level in the so called swick should be below the bottom of the pots? Why not have the water about an inch above the bottom of the pot- you know- so it goes in the holes- wouldn't that make more sense?

 

[lexort420]

I'm going away for a few days. These two pots are not Hempies but regular one gallon pots which I'll use in an attempted dtw grow. I have a couple sprouts in them. Will these pots dry out in a few days? Should I push them down into the 'swick' (???????) tray or whatever that thing is supposed to be and maybe fill it with water, or would it not work- would water wick up? Too dry? too wet? Or will the pots be fine for a week left alone? They feel fairly light even though I soaked them down. Any thoughts? I have no idea how this perlite will act...

You say they arent hempys so i not entirely sure but i would think your good especially with the swick. But i would rather you go by what tead says he knows more then me lol

 

[Weaselcracker]

Partly I was wondering about the wicking effect in my tub. But I suppose if the pots were pushed down so that the water level came up in them to about two inches- that would basically be the same effect as a freshly watered hempy pot.
So- do hempy pots stay moist enough that my little babies, way up by the surface, will survive in them for a few days without me?

 

[lexort420]

Partly I was wondering about the wicking effect in my tub. But I suppose if the pots were pushed down so that the water level came up in them to about two inches- that would basically be the same effect as a freshly watered hempy pot.
So- do hempy pots stay moist enough that my little babies, way up by the surface, will survive in them for a few days without me?

Thats hard thing to be 100% sure of since in hempys you gotta water a little more till the roots hit the res. Im sure temps and rh will play some factor in there as well but i don't really worry bout that stuff since im always near my plants and i just go by how the room feels (i know very unprofessional lol)

 

[Weaselcracker]

It seems like a weird thing to be putting a sprout in to. Feels sort of dry, looks inhospitable...

 

[AKgramma]

The babies wont be able to reach the reservoir to take a drink. If you don't know if the perlite is going to wick water all the way up to the seedling while you are away, cover the pots, like I said. It doesn't take much desiccation to kill a seedling.

 

[AKgramma]

Oh, and, being Old School soil grower, I wouldn't sprout seedlings in just perlite, either.

 

[lexort420]

Ya i sprout my seeds in peat pucks so ya lol.

 

[Tead]

I'm going away for a few days. These two pots are not Hempies but regular one gallon pots which I'll use in an attempted dtw grow. I have a couple sprouts in them. Will these pots dry out in a few days? Should I push them down into the 'swick' (???????) tray or whatever that thing is supposed to be and maybe fill it with water, or would it not work- would water wick up? Too dry? too wet? Or will the pots be fine for a week left alone? They feel fairly light even though I soaked them down. Any thoughts? I have no idea how this perlite will act...

Assuming you've got a 2" res below your hole, I'd be tempted to let them ride for 6 or 7 days.
My 2L's (1/2 gal) do well with 3 days between watering. I would think that double the size would be good for an extended stay.
AKg's words about the humidity dome seem a wise idea, but that really isn't going to have an impact on evaporation in the bucket unless you cover the entire top.

So... ya... I bet you'll be fine. Where ya headed? Anyplace fun?

 

[Tead]

Partly I was wondering about the wicking effect in my tub. But I suppose if the pots were pushed down so that the water level came up in them to about two inches- that would basically be the same effect as a freshly watered hempy pot.
So- do hempy pots stay moist enough that my little babies, way up by the surface, will survive in them for a few days without me?

OH WAIT.... I thought the black rounds were hempy pots with a 2" res inside.
My previous words about letting them go for a week were wrong. Without the internal res or some other source of water, that perlite will dry out pretty quick.

 

[Tead]

Partly I was wondering about the wicking effect in my tub. But I suppose if the pots were pushed down so that the water level came up in them to about two inches- that would basically be the same effect as a freshly watered hempy pot.

You'll get a similar wetness level with the pots sunk 2" into water, but there are problems with the idea.
You've really created a system with an external res. This res is uncovered and open to light intrusion. Bad things WILL grow in the external res.
In any hydroponic configuration, an exposed res is bad juju. Always protect any res from light.

So- do hempy pots stay moist enough that my little babies, way up by the surface, will survive in them for a few days without me?

Yes. The internal res allows for the water to wick up or evaporate up and moisten the upper levels of the medium.