DB's Hempy Perpetual/Breeding experiment

[Darth Budder]

Hello Everyone!

This is my... 5th grow? I am loosing count but I am setting up to keep an perpetual grow going. I have trained a few plants into mothers for cloning and have been pulling cutting for the past 2 weeks. It takes an average of 14 or so days for my clones roots to pop out of the peat puck.

My goal here is two fold, pull 2 plants a week with at least 1/2 dried on each of them. Secondly I would like to selectively breed myself a plant out of some bagseed stock I have. I call it JB, i have grown 4 plants so far, and have 2 that I am using to cut clones off right now. Sex still unknown. I will be selecting and keeping females based on finished product, males based on if i think it will be a good plant or not, or contribute or solidify a trait i want. I take 4 clones a week, keep the first 2 that show roots and ditch the rest.

Stats:
------------------------------
Cones: I have a clone of a White Label Double gum, and Bagseed that I call JB which i intend to improve through breeding that i am using to provide clones
Medium: 50/50 perlite/vermiculite
Pots: 5 quart paint buckets from the depot, hole drilled 2 in from the bottom. Covered in black all weather duct tape because they were too translucent for my liking. The res turns out to be about 5 cups which is about 1/3 of a gallon.
Nutes: Jacks 2 Part Hydroponic from JR Peters, Epsom salt from the pharmacy. Tap water left to warm to room tempature
Lights: 12x26watt home made cfl for veg
2x150 watt Mini Sunburst hps
Veg Box: A wardrobe box from the big orange store
Flower room: 2x4x4 area under the lights

The Story so Far:
-----------------------------
My first Hempys will be 2 clones form a know white label double gum mother. They roots popped out of the peatpucks yesterday and the day before, and they were planted. I am going to veg em out for a few days to a week to try and get some height and color into them before tossing them into flower.

My overfull vegbox, gonna set up another for my Clones and dedicate this to my moms:


Next two sets of clones, JB#2, the JB#1.


And last but certainly not least my first two hempys:


Feel free to post here, not too formal.

DB

 

[hbbum]

Along for the ride on this one.

 

[Darth Budder]

Along for the ride on this one.

Great to see you here HB!

 

[budbro18]

sub'd to the dark side just for the grow.

 

[hbbum]

You guys and your hydro grows. I am too lazy to leave my soil Seems like a lot of hassle measuring PPM and pH

I just dumped a bunch of shit (literally) into a pot of water with a bubbler to let it percolate overnight w/some molasses and dump that in my soil

 

[Sir.Ganga]

You guys and your hydro grows. I am too lazy to leave my soil Seems like a lot of hassle measuring PPM and pH

I just dumped a bunch of shit (literally) into a pot of water with a bubbler to let it percolate overnight w/some molasses and dump that in my soil

I left soil for ease of use...no clue what your talking about...it does not get easier, IMO...once you understand...that is...its O.K....hydro isn't for everyone...some just don't can't grasp the concept.

 

[hbbum]

Yeah, I just don't get it I guess. I also have to consider that often times during my grow I will need to be gone for 3-4 days at a time for work, it seems like with hydro that would be more of a challenge. I considered building a hempy container with an auto feeding reservoir, but not sure if that would allow me to leave it for days at a time without checking the pH and PPM of the res. The idea of cleaning our the reservoir every week also does not appeal

If I got this all wrong, maybe I need to do some further research.

 

[budbro18]

Yeah, hydro makes me anxious cause im always worried that the electricity is going to go out, which it does occasionally and often times for several hours which can kill plants in a hydro system like dwc or even an ebb and flow when its in the beginning of flowering.

I like the safety of soil(less) and with the right tweaks and a slightly longer veg i can get the same quality/quantity as a hydro system.

Im gonna try out a little, single plant, DWC system where i stay cause ill be able to monitor it 24/7 but the big shit only gets checked on every other day or so, and it pays the bills, so its gotta be PRO-MIX.

 

[Darth Budder]

Yeah, I just don't get it I guess. I also have to consider that often times during my grow I will need to be gone for 3-4 days at a time for work, it seems like with hydro that would be more of a challenge. I considered building a hempy container with an auto feeding reservoir, but not sure if that would allow me to leave it for days at a time without checking the pH and PPM of the res. The idea of cleaning our the reservoir every week also does not appeal

If I got this all wrong, maybe I need to do some further research.

So i dont plan on doing any of the PH, PPM, Flushing or any of that other stuff that goes with hydro if i can avoid it. Hempy is supposed to be an ultra simplistic growing system, so meters and all that crap just blow it for me. WIth the Jacks, they tell you what the PPM will be if you mix x-grams of product with y/ml of water. With this stuff I am just doing 1 tsp of each powder, shaking it up in some tap water, and watering every three days.

Going away is a bitch for me no matter what system i use, as i grow in very small containers at the moment. With hempy and a 10 cup res i could easily rig up a temporary drip system to keep it all going. Same with soil. Just get a container, tube, pump, manifold and timer. Its not something i would run all the time, but for a week vaca it should keep everything alive.

Yeah, hydro makes me anxious cause im always worried that the electricity is going to go out, which it does occasionally and often times for several hours which can kill plants in a hydro system like dwc or even an ebb and flow when its in the beginning of flowering.

I like the safety of soil(less) and with the right tweaks and a slightly longer veg i can get the same quality/quantity as a hydro system.

Im gonna try out a little, single plant, DWC system where i stay cause ill be able to monitor it 24/7 but the big shit only gets checked on every other day or so, and it pays the bills, so its gotta be PRO-MIX.

I do not understand what the difference between hempy and soiless is? Is there just no res at the bottom? Ie, just use regular pots with Perlite/Vermiculite instead of soil? I think hempy would be easier, and less need to water every day, then that.

DB

 

[Darth Budder]

So the little guys in the buckets looked SUPER hungry. I gave them each 4 cups of a 1/2 feed solution of the jacks (1/2 tsp Calcium Nitrate + 1/2 tsp Jacks Hydroponic).

So far it seems like the media dries out just a quickly as my soil, so so far so good with the perlite/vermiculte mix. It might be different when it gets colder.

DB

 

[hbbum]

DB,
Are you just using Jacks Classic (20-20-20) or the the hydroponics 5-12-26?

 

[Darth Budder]

DB,
Are you just using Jacks Classic (20-20-20) or the the hydroponics 5-12-26?

The two part hydroponic Jacks Hydroponic 15-12-26 + Jacks Calcium Nitrate 15-0-0

DB

 

[hbbum]

I think once I break down and build out for more space I will probably build a hempy with auto feeder, but not until I can get at least 2 plants. I would want to try to do a side by side.

 

[Darth Budder]

I think once I break down and build out for more space I will probably build a hempy with auto feeder, but not until I can get at least 2 plants. I would want to try to do a side by side.

I would like to do a side by side too, but more interested in selective breeding right now. I have been wanting to go hempy since i started learning about growing. The first journal I read was 420fied's (Now KoolKat) Blue Planet 2l Hempy SOG. I was hooked from that moment on. All the benefits of hydro with a simple hand watered system that you can instantly flush in case of mistakes, and immediately correct deficiencies as well. No pumps, no 50 gallon tank to monitor and clean, no tubes to keep unclogged. I water em inside a cement mixing tub with a hole drilled in the bottom and put a bucket under the hole to catch any waste or run off from the hempys. Its pretty much the same as working a soil grow as far as i am concerned.

DB

 

[hbbum]

What I am hoping to do is take a 5g Home depot bucket on the bottom as a res with a pump and food (maybe use a 2 gallon to save vertical space) this would hold the water and a pump that would be set to go 15 minutes every hour up through the top side of the bucket to 2 gallon bucket on the top. The 2 gallon bucket on the top would then have a drain about 1-2" from the bottom that went bak to the bottom res for any overflow.

I am hoping that type of setup would allow me to occasionally be gone for up to a week at a time (as long as not during the flowering stretch)

 

[budbro18]

So i dont plan on doing any of the PH, PPM, Flushing or any of that other stuff that goes with hydro if i can avoid it. Hempy is supposed to be an ultra simplistic growing system, so meters and all that crap just blow it for me. WIth the Jacks, they tell you what the PPM will be if you mix x-grams of product with y/ml of water. With this stuff I am just doing 1 tsp of each powder, shaking it up in some tap water, and watering every three days.

Going away is a bitch for me no matter what system i use, as i grow in very small containers at the moment. With hempy and a 10 cup res i could easily rig up a temporary drip system to keep it all going. Same with soil. Just get a container, tube, pump, manifold and timer. Its not something i would run all the time, but for a week vaca it should keep everything alive.



I do not understand what the difference between hempy and soiless is? Is there just no res at the bottom? Ie, just use regular pots with Perlite/Vermiculite instead of soil? I think hempy would be easier, and less need to water every day, then that.

DB

well promix isn't soil it's sphagnum moss and coco. Hempys would be something to try. Verm holds water well.
And I use air-pots so they dry out a little faster than normal pots. But they usually don't need to be watered every day. They really help get yields in smaller pots. I've wanted to set up a drip system of some sort. You should still ph your water/nute solution or some might get locked out. I think it's 5.8-6.5 or something close to that. I start at 5.8 in veg since nittogen is more accepted there and creep up to 6.2 by the end of flower since p/k are more accepted there.

you can grab a $10 ph meter on eBay that'll do you good and some ph up/down would run you 10-20.

 

[Darth Budder]

well promix isn't soil it's sphagnum moss and coco. Hempys would be something to try. Verm holds water well.
And I use air-pots so they dry out a little faster than normal pots. But they usually don't need to be watered every day. They really help get yields in smaller pots. I've wanted to set up a drip system of some sort. You should still ph your water/nute solution or some might get locked out. I think it's 5.8-6.5 or something close to that. I start at 5.8 in veg since nittogen is more accepted there and creep up to 6.2 by the end of flower since p/k are more accepted there.

you can grab a $10 ph meter on eBay that'll do you good and some ph up/down would run you 10-20.

Well that is actually the beauty of Jacks, according to the literature its heavily buffered to turn out a ph between 6 and 6.5, so there really shouldn't be an issue. My water MIGHT be a bit alkaline for it though, if it is I've been considering a counter top RO or Distiller, but i honestly don't think it will be an issue. You are really supposed to send them your water and haven them test it, and they will tell you if you need to add some citric acid or something. I figure ill give it a shot out of the tap and see what i get.

DB

 

[budbro18]

Nice never knew that about there products. If you switch to r/o you will only get more acidic. My tap is around 8.2 and comes out of my r/o at about 5.0 sometimes lower. You should ask them about using it with r/o systems.

 

[Darth Budder]

What I am hoping to do is take a 5g Home depot bucket on the bottom as a res with a pump and food (maybe use a 2 gallon to save vertical space) this would hold the water and a pump that would be set to go 15 minutes every hour up through the top side of the bucket to 2 gallon bucket on the top. The 2 gallon bucket on the top would then have a drain about 1-2" from the bottom that went bak to the bottom res for any overflow.

I am hoping that type of setup would allow me to occasionally be gone for up to a week at a time (as long as not during the flowering stretch)

The recirculating res thing is kind of intriguing, but i really trying to avoid moving parts. Comes from my IT days, more moving parts = more broken shit.

Nice never knew that about there products. If you switch to r/o you will only get more acidic. My tap is around 8.2 and comes out of my r/o at about 5.0 sometimes lower. You should ask them about using it with r/o systems.

They actually have a line designed for RO, but its for Orchids so its a 12-3-15, or 4-1-5 ratio which i am not sure is appropriate for cannabis. From what i have come to understand you want a proportionately high amount of N to P and K, 3-2-1 being about correct.

DB

 

[budbro18]

I see. I might have to try some of that out soon. Gonna be runnin dyna gro myself for my indoor little thing.

Ive wanted to make a gravity fed watering res for a while but everytime we get things moving and i start mappin it out something comes up where we have to move something or take down something.

gravity fed is one of the easiest and simplest designs ive seen. just need a rez, a valve, and a timer. No pumps to die or lose power and im pretty sure you can find a battery operated valve to make it very independent.