Growing In PERLITE/VERMICULITE

morrisgreenberg

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
Am i the only one who gets nute burn from Fox Farm's Happy Frog? i used a 75%Soil 25% perlite/verm mix and got burned, now i am using a 50/50 mix, what i want to know is if i can start my seedling in a soil mix then when i transplant can i go strictly with a perl/verm mix? i had seen it on jumberjacks journal and he, from what i can see from pix, was not in a hydro setup...if this is so, when should i use nutes? i have had very good success using this method for my clones, but i am way too tired of flushing 5gall pots....can someone give me some advice please? i posted on this gentleman's journal but i dont think he checks it everyday, i am just about ready to transplant a few seedlings and this is the method i want to use, i would be gaining more control of the nutes the plant is getting, i would be flushing less, and ofcourse it would be much cheaper
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
Check the Hempy bucket threads. Use a 75% perlite and 25% vermiculite. a 50:50 keeps it too wet too long.


I burned a plant on FF. Also had MG work fine for me. Takes time to figure out a style/method. Don't jump from one to the next. Pick one and tweak it until it works. They all work when done right. Its the learning how to do it right.
 
morrisgreenberg

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
thanks, MG gets a bad rap on this site, thats why i switched to FF in the first place, i have been gradually reducing my mix and still get burned...your totally right about that vermiculite stays wet and soggy like a swamp
 
morrisgreenberg

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
vermiculite has no nutritional value, its only good cus it keeps moisture, drainage and aeration, my first went without verm and it went fine, but its just a conditioner, i think the perlite is most critical
 
Boneman

Boneman

Well-Known Member
Morris, I am doing a hempy grow with 100% perlite w/advanced nutrients. Everything is going fine. Check out my grow journal in my sig. Feel free to ask questions or post comments. :hump:
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
I haven't been impressed with my hempy trials. (still dig the concept and ain't bailing yet)

Vermiculite I don't use in soil *ever* I add tons of perlite and some sphagnum moss to make it airy (remember, airy roots is a key to most hydro set ups) Vermiculite is to add water retention. Soil has that in abundance.

When using fresh soil, don't use nutes for a month if an FF type or 2-3 months if a MG type. Wear out that soil before adding nutes.
(MG soil needs special watering cycles)

A wise man once said that he uses nutes to fix a deficiency (waits until the plant asks for nutes)
 
smalltownDill

smalltownDill

Well-Known Member
perlite pisses me off i don't like it but you can grow a plant in vermiculite water it once with nutes then next time just strait water then nutes then water .ect you know what i mean
 
smppro

smppro

Well-Known Member
Hempys are awesome. I ran them with 100% perlite with great results. Vermicualite wont kill your plants and ive never geard of growing with straight vermiculite, you would get better results with just perlite. Ive transplanted medium sized plants from soil to perlite hempy bucket, i didnt even remove the soil just stick it in there, works the same, its like a hempy bucquet or OBBT or biobox. Either way hempys work great, even with straight 100%coco. Right now im starting a 75%coco/25%compost-perlite/amended with biotone(fungi&bacteria) organicare slow release and some dolemite lime, this with an airstone at the bottom makes for some pretty impressive results. You will see fungus covering your soil within a week. Good luck
 
A

Agronut

Well-Known Member
Lets revive it! I’ve grown in 100% perlite, with no vermiculite in the mix, using blumat dripp system to deliver water and AN nutrients.....It worked like a charm although I had some massive PH issues late in flower to deal with. Normally I’m a soil-guy so a hydro expert might’ve seen it coming.
 
S

SomethingToDo

Active Member
Agronut said:
Lets revive it! I’ve grown in 100% perlite, with no vermiculite in the mix, using blumat dripp system to deliver water and AN nutrients.....It worked like a charm although I had some massive PH issues late in flower to deal with. Normally I’m a soil-guy so a hydro expert might’ve seen it coming.
Click to expand...
I currently have two plants in 100% perlite that are doing great. I have three plants in 50/50 vermiculite/perlite and they're doing horrible, lol. I don't feel like they're drinking at all, showing limited growth, and two of the plants are showing deficiencies even though they have all been watered with the same nutrient solution. Since they're small plants in a 7 gallon fabric pot I believe I overwatered to begin with and the vermiculite is keeping them from drying out. I am not sure what I'm going to do! I really want to dial back the amount of vermiculite I used. Should I just transplant them into a new mixture? I haven't watered in a week plus and the fabric pots are still quite heavy.
 
BonnMac

BonnMac

Active Member
Around the 22 min mark, Bruce Bugbee explains what his university uses to grow.
It’s 50% Peat / 50% vermiculite.
He explains that vermiculite is the only component that contains silica which is beneficial for trichomes. Silica can be added later but it already exists in the vermiculite.
Perlite works well too but after 30 years of research, vermiculite is the university’s preferred media.
Dr. Bugbee explains in good detail a lot of different media that’s commonly used.
Check out the whole video if you have time. It’s a great resource.

 
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S

SomethingToDo

Active Member
BonnMac said:
Around the 22 min mark, Bruce Bugbee explains what his university uses to grow.
It’s 50% Peat / 50% vermiculite.
He explains that vermiculite is the only component that contains silica which is beneficial for trichomes. Silica can be added later but it already exists in the vermiculite.
Perlite works well too but after 30 years of research, vermiculite is the university’s preferred media.
Dr. Bugbee explains in good detail a lot of different media that’s commonly used.
Check out the whole video if you have time. It’s a great resource.

Click to expand...
Oh nice, nice! I am definitely watching this!
 
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