i took too many clones.... see what i did...

Vansterdam

Well-Known Member
That's a fantastic experiment. I have 11 plants on the patio in 3 gal pots, I can only imagine the difference had I gone heavier on the perlite...
 

johnny12r

Well-Known Member
the key is soil-less if i mix the soil with heavy perlite its not the same.and the water can't drain from the bottom it needs to be an inch or 2 up so some water stays in just like a hempy bucket..i'll go get you a pic of my 3 gallon hempy's in a few...
 

johnny12r

Well-Known Member
ones that r clear u could wrap with electrical tape
i painted some and left some clear ..i can see the green stuff in the clear ones but they grow just the same i would not waste a bunch of tape but maybe one piece of duct tape around the bottom would be fast and easy and block most of the light.
 

Auzzie07

Well-Known Member
Cool stuff. I honestly didn't know you could do an all-perlite medium. You learn something new everyday, right?
 

Vansterdam

Well-Known Member
the key is soil-less if i mix the soil with heavy perlite its not the same.and the water can't drain from the bottom it needs to be an inch or 2 up so some water stays in just like a hempy bucket..i'll go get you a pic of my 3 gallon hempy's in a few...
I read another thread where a guy pulled 4oz off a fairly small indoor plant, 6 weeks veg (I think 2 gallon bucket). I will likely pull 3-4oz off my outdoor patio plants which were put out in July and are currently around 3.5 feet tall in 3 gal pots. Now I'm thinking hempy pots next year, but I still want to keep the plants under 4 feet for security. I'm thinking one could pull off 2 summer harvests, early summer by inducing 12/12 and then a fall harvest. I'll set up a reservoir with a pump so that I can take off for more than 3 days when I have to...
 

johnny12r

Well-Known Member
these are 3 gallon buckets full of perlite i put 2 inches of hydroton on top for the weight because the wind keeps knocking them over ..the right is strawberry cough the left is big bud..the big bud seems the take a few weeks longer but its good.. i don't take very good care of these but i already pulled a bunch of clones from them...i'm thinking 5 gallon buckets from now on for me but i'll only put 3-4 gallons in them to keep it a little lower..
 

johnny12r

Well-Known Member
Now I'm thinking hempy pots next year, but I still want to keep the plants under 4 feet for security. I'm thinking one could pull off 2 summer harvests, early summer by inducing 12/12 and then a fall harvest. I'll set up a reservoir with a pump so that I can take off for more than 3 days when I have to...
it would be easy to set up an auto feed but the perlite is so light your bucket needs a wide bottom so they don't fall over and they will need help to hold up the weight i get the marker post from lowes for like $1 each the roots in perlite just can't hole up a big plant.but a 3 gallon bucket like i have in the pic grows a 4ft plant easy..i think 2 gal would be a nice 3 footer
 

Vansterdam

Well-Known Member
I just really like the simplicity. I spent over $500 this summer on soil and organic soil additives. Between my patio plants and my guerrilla location (30 plants total), I'm probably going to pull off around 5-7 lbs. It's a 2 hour drive (back and fourth) to service 20 plants. Next year I'm going to do 3 hempy bucket grows, spring, summer and fall, all 3-4 foot plants super-cropped (on the patio).
 

Vansterdam

Well-Known Member
it would be easy to set up an auto feed but the perlite is so light your bucket needs a wide bottom so they don't fall over and they will need help to hold up the weight i get the marker post from lowes for like $1 each the roots in perlite just can't hole up a big plant.but a 3 gallon bucket like i have in the pic grows a 4ft plant easy..i think 2 gal would be a nice 3 footer
Yep, I'll buy flat buckets and add some weight. How old are your 4 footers? Had they been planted in Soil, can you estimate how tall they would have been in comparison?
 

johnny12r

Well-Known Member
i think a 3 gal plant in perlite is about the size a 5 gal of soil would be.those last pics are older plants not sure how old but they have always been in 100% perlite.there about 4ft tall the stems are about as thick as a broom stick but they still need the poles to hold them up..i tried doing the same thing but using hydroton instead of the perlite but that don't work,they never get any bigger and they always look over watered..
 

Vansterdam

Well-Known Member
i think a 3 gal plant in perlite is about the size a 5 gal of soil would be.those last pics are older plants not sure how old but they have always been in 100% perlite.there about 4ft tall the stems are about as thick as a broom stick but they still need the poles to hold them up..i tried doing the same thing but using hydroton instead of the perlite but that don't work,they never get any bigger and they always look over watered..
Tomato cages. My hydroponics store sells these cages specific for growing pot...
 

johnny12r

Well-Known Member
i just got the first 3 of the good looking 1 ft plants i have 5 but 2 need another week..the 3 dry and trimmed in a jar was 40 grams im very happy with that..
 

johnny12r

Well-Known Member
i've been looking around and its called force flowering ..you take a clone and 12/12 it as soon as its well rooted..i think i'm going to try to do 20 of these under my eye hortilux 1000w super hps maybe even 30 i'll see how they fit..it will be just the 2l bottles full of perlite and fresh clones i'll take tomorrow night
 

Sice

Well-Known Member
Does perlite hold water?

This idea seems good but I can't get over the fact that perlite helps drainage so wouldn't that mean that the water would just run straight through the container?

Or do the containers have NO holes?

Im using perlite about 1/2 with soil (half soil/ half perlite) and the plant has been growing perfectly fine from seed. I might be wrong about perlite and drainage. Does perlite hold water like a sponge?

I want to try but Im confused!!!!!!! Do you water more often with perlite??????
 

johnny12r

Well-Known Member
the hole is 2 inches from the bottom...the perlite does not hold water but the bottom 2 inches stay wet and you can water them every day or every week just don't let them go dry...
 
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