Hempy bucket nutrients first grow

heavydog

Well-Known Member
Starting my first grow with Mephisto Double Grape, seed placed in Root Riot cube placed in center of straight pearlite medium. I want to use KISS method of using GH Maxi Bloom for entire grow. I have a general understanding of how this works. My question is should I water with nutes right away and how much should I use. I understand 1 teaspoon per gallon is the standard but should I work up to that or should I start with less and for how long.
 

MATTYMATT726

Well-Known Member
So perlite has ZERO nutes in it for food which means yes you need to feed it from day 1 and with every watering. Like any plant yes you want to start small. If you had a seedling than 1/4 strength for 2-3 waterings or until 2-3 sets of leaves. Than 1-2 strength and than move up to full. Pretty self explanatory imo. Just work up slowly.
 

Buck5050

Well-Known Member
Are you using straight perlite? Or did you add some vermiculite like the original hempy bucket? What size bucket are you starting the seed in?
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
You can use straight water at bottom Rez when seedling is barely rooted in plug .
As long as plug straight hydrated ... the tap root will shoot straight to bottom quickly .

Cotyledon leaves have Nutes stored in those leaves to Start growth.
A light mix of feed at about an 1/8 strength will work too as well as something like Thrive Alive Red with some B vitamins in the water REALLY gets it going . Once roots hit Zrez , it will explode in growth.

I use 2 of the smaller cup size of that spoon it comes with .
You have to mix well to break up powder.
You can also aerate this mix ( with an Airstone ) too.
PH at 5.9 to allow for minor drift.
I use tap water ..... nothing else but ph down.

Feed / water / feed / water .......repeat

Fill Rez EVERYTIME with runoff to flush salt and refresh Rez .
Plants will drink quite fast ...
I am every OTHER DAY with either water or feed.

You can go 100% perlite or 3:1 perlite / vermiculite mix

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Buck5050

Well-Known Member
Straight perlite means more watering for sure. If the plant is small enough pick it up and feel the weight right after you fill up the rez. You can gauge how fast you need to water by that. Perlite dries out fairly quick.
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Yes the beauty of Hempy ... whether 1 gallon or bigger , you can totally tell dry weight.
Plants are highly aerated in these mixes.... the addition of vermiculite keeps some moisture at root level but also dries pretty quick. A simple feed / water / feed will keep things running smooth as Rez is refreshed and cleared of built up salt.

Simple drain to waste scenario. I grow for personal stash but even the lousy 1 gallon kid sand buckets give me plenty of bud and bigger plants than compared to the soil containers I run.
It’s cleaner , buds are more fragrant , simple feeding , fast growth ... what’s not to like ?

You can run a single 5 gallon ( Lowe’s bucket ) and get a fucking tree !
Some growers have implemented other grow tactics like spray rings , air stones in Rez , etc.
but it is NOT NECESSARY.

Another plus is that you can pull cut rootball out of bucket , rinse it over say a black construction pan and reuse perlite .... I reuse a lot of the used perlite and add hydrogen peroxide to water bath to CLEAN IT before re-use.

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Easy Peazy

Tip : Don’t overthink nute choices .... simple 2 part mix or mega crop.
No molasses , no bud blasters , unicorn cum , hobo sweat or multi bottles .
 

SwiSHa85

Well-Known Member
I want to throw a Hempy in one of my tents. You guys think I can get away with like 4 inches of perlite and the rest 50/50 coco/perlite?
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
I want to throw a Hempy in one of my tents. You guys think I can get away with like 4 inches of perlite and the rest 50/50 coco/perlite?
Some guys run a bottom fill of perlite ( chunky ) ( Up to drain hole ) then TOP with rinsed coco.
It pretty much mimics the basic hemp bucket , but coco CAN hold some salt into it.

I don’t see why it wouldn’t work .... I say try it.

Shit ... I think you could use packing peanuts as a medium .
 

SwiSHa85

Well-Known Member
Some guys run a bottom fill of perlite ( chunky ) ( Up to drain hole ) then TOP with rinsed coco.
It pretty much mimics the basic hemp bucket , but coco CAN hold some salt into it.

I don’t see why it wouldn’t work .... I say try it.

Shit ... I think you could use packing peanuts as a medium .
Yea was going to try a 2 gal and a 5 gal as I already have those sizes in my backyard. I keep seeing 2 inches from the bottom of bucket for the hole? but I see buckets with 2-4 inches from bottom. I say the the less perlite I have to use the better as I go through it like crazy when I start everything up.
 

Tejashidrow

Well-Known Member
Yea was going to try a 2 gal and a 5 gal as I already have those sizes in my backyard. I keep seeing 2 inches from the bottom of bucket for the hole? but I see buckets with 2-4 inches from bottom. I say the the less perlite I have to use the better as I go through it like crazy when I start everything up.

I’ve found the 2 inches is perfect for straight sided buckets.
That’s also what hempy recommends.
How ever
If ya want to get technical
Your Rez should hold 20% of your bucket
But I’m gonna let you do the math
 

MATTYMATT726

Well-Known Member
I’ve found the 2 inches is perfect for straight sided buckets.
That’s also what hempy recommends.
How ever
If ya want to get technical
Your Rez should hold 20% of your bucket
But I’m gonna let you do the math[/QUOI see this is old but who cares. I go 2" as well but seen someone say that you should go as high as 1/3 from the bottom. He said you want more than just the bottoms of the roots in the feed. O ly time i ever saw that stance but it sort of made sense. I just go with tried and true 2".
 

Buck5050

Well-Known Member
I am just slightly over 2" right now. Here is some roots from one I pulled down. If you look closely, the chunkier perlite had no roots holding it together and that's what sits in the bottom 2 inches of my containers.IMG_20190707_124316.jpg
You can see that the roots toward the top of the medium have more girth and go into super fine where they are drinking from.

This was the roots from this plantIMG_20190622_185340.jpg
 

Roasty McToasty

Active Member
I always used str8 perlite on bottom to the drain hole, and str8 rinsed coco to the top. I had to water twice daily to keep them moist.

 
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