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 Amnesiac
Registered: 10/13/08
Posts: 102
Loc: Under the sea
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 Soil less mediums 
#474105 - 09/08/10 12:52 PM (14 years, 3 months ago) |
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I plan on starting another grow soon and was wondering what soil less medium would be the best for me. I want something that only has to be watered every 2-3 days. I have an abundance of perlite, vermiculite, and peat moss. I would prefer to not use coco because of availability issues. The only growing experience I have is with soil. I will be using GH flora series since I have used it with good results in the past.
The grow space I will be using is 4'w X 6'L X 6'H, but I only plan on using half of it to start off with. It is lit by a 600w hps in a 6" air cooled hood with a 6" 350cfm fan. I am still constructing a 6" carbon filter for it(waiting for the carbon). The pots that I will be using are 4gal square buckets( I have 3 that are tall and skinny and 2 that are shorter and wider). I also have an abundance of 5gal round buckets. I planed on using all of the square pots and how ever many round pots I need.
I was thinking that the 50% perlite, 40% peat moss, and 10% vermiculite would me a good mix but, I am open to any suggestions.
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 TheShroomJew23
The Chemist
Registered: 10/02/08
Posts: 739
Last seen: 13 years, 10 months
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Re: Soil less mediums [Re: Amnesiac]
#474146 - 09/08/10 03:40 PM (14 years, 3 months ago) |
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Sounds good, throw some hydroton in there too if you can get it.
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maryanne3087
Stranger
Registered: 06/27/10
Posts: 1,111
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I don't see the point in hydrotron in a mixture where perlite is present.
Peat also holds a lot of water, I don't see the point in the vermiculite.
I've used Pro-Mix over the years and it's essentially a 75-85 Peat/15-25 Perlite mixture with a wetting agent and they have a pH buffer such as dolomite lime. I do know that peat breaks down fairly rapidly, in a 3month crop you're probably going to notice that your pots are 2/3 as full as they were when they started. The more perlite you use the more full your pot will remain. I think if you're just doing a small scale op you may as well just buy a bale of Pro-Mix for $30 or whatever it costs, and add some extra perlite.
As for feeding with the GH flora series 8 micro / 14 bloom is a tried and proven formula you can use for either veg or flowering. I've lately been using Floranova grow for my vegging plants and micro/bloom for my flowering plants.
Best of luck!
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Amnesiac
Registered: 10/13/08
Posts: 102
Loc: Under the sea
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Thank you for the replies. I have some lime I could add to counter-act the acidity of the peat. I also have some gypsum pellets that I could add that might make the pH more stable in the long run. The main goal is to have a medium that when the plants are in full flower only has to be watered every other day, yet still drains well and holds a good amount of air. Maybe a better solution for me would be to utilize a larger reservoir of water at the bottom than a hempy does, but this may cause root rot if the plants aren't using the water fast enough.  So many things to ponder.
ma3087, when you used pro-mix how often did you have to water during late flowering and what size plant and buckets did you have?
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maryanne3087
Stranger
Registered: 06/27/10
Posts: 1,111
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Re: Soil less mediums [Re: Amnesiac]
#474500 - 09/09/10 07:39 AM (14 years, 3 months ago) |
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I've grown in ProMix for years. Different plants will deplete the water at different rates. I water when things dry out a bit basically every 2 days. I alternate between feeding and water when using hydroponic fertilizer to avoid nutrients building up. I've run Pro-Mix with organic amendments and it's more forgiving as to what you feed with the water. I never feed organics with 100% plain water, and get similar results to ProMix + GH nutes.
I've since switched to coco and can't believe the results. My rootmass definitely grows much quicker, coco can support a bigger plant in a small pot, it's convenient that you "can't" overwater coco, I feed every watering with no ill effect, and it's reusable!
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revman
claw thing
Registered: 09/12/10
Posts: 21
Last seen: 14 years, 2 months
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look up hempy buckets for your first soiless grow i think you'll like the idea.
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Amnesiac
Registered: 10/13/08
Posts: 102
Loc: Under the sea
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Re: Soil less mediums [Re: revman]
#476832 - 09/13/10 11:26 PM (14 years, 3 months ago) |
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I have and they need to be watered to frequently, but I was thinking I could make the hole farther up from the bottom to make the reservoir larger so they wouldn't use it up so fast but, I am unsure if this would lead to root rot problems if I didn't have an air stone. If I have to add an air stone I would basically have a bubble bucket with medium and lots of noisy air pumps so  .
But thank you for you input  .
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maryanne3087
Stranger
Registered: 06/27/10
Posts: 1,111
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Re: Soil less mediums [Re: Amnesiac]
#476962 - 09/14/10 10:21 AM (14 years, 3 months ago) |
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You set an airstone in the layer of perlite in the bottom of your hempy bucket?
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Amnesiac
Registered: 10/13/08
Posts: 102
Loc: Under the sea
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No, if I made a hempy type bucket with the hole higher from the bottom than usual I believe I would have to use an air stone to keep the roots from drowning. The standard hempy uses a hole 2" from the bottom, if I made my hole 4" from the bottom, which would double the size of the reservoir I think the roots would drown and rot without an air stone. I personally would not like to use any air stones because the air pumps make to much noise.
Maybe a gravity fed drip system would be a better option to achieve the results I am after .
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TheShroomJew23
The Chemist
Registered: 10/02/08
Posts: 739
Last seen: 13 years, 10 months
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Re: Soil less mediums [Re: Amnesiac]
#477066 - 09/14/10 04:20 PM (14 years, 3 months ago) |
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Air pumps can be silenced very easily, bubble buckets kill hempy buckets. I also had a friend who would never buy an air pump so what he did was get pvc sheeting that has ridges in them. He drilled holes all over one side of a 1x2ft rectangle. Then he glued walls on the sides so he could control the water. The water would drain from his buckets, ripple across the sheet, and then fall about 8" through the holes in the sheet back into his resivoir. He always said the water fall noise calmed him 
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