Just asking cuz I'm picking up one of thes mammah-jammahs this weekend--60 cubic feet!!! It will pretty much fill a pick-up bed and come up over the roof!
Cool!, I think ill give them a try, I have used the ploy ones for years now in my outdoor grow bags....I cant say Ive ever noticed an odd taste or anything of the sort but organic is better....my worry would be that they dont perform as well as there synthetic counterparts! worth a try though!! thanks dudes!
I was considering the same but the contents would have to be re-bagged @ some point (for my purpose) and that would be a very difficult task to accomplish considering the physical characteristics of both mediums... Once Perlite & Verm. starts going somewhere you can't stop it from doing so...@ least I wasn't able to!...lol It was a freakin' mess, kinda like torn appart styrofoam...those little flakes which go everywhere you know?
Hey Ganja Guru, the diaper method works really good? Can you explain to me exactly how you did it. Also, there wasnt any noticable taste issues were there? Id be interested in using it if it works that good. Id like to go organic, but i gotta do what i gotta do.
Yeah I know what you mean. But the price made it worth it--about $90 for 60 cu.ft.!! I'll mix 1100 gallons of soil and bag whatever I have left. I have plenty of private space to do this outdoor, so the mess isn't so much of an issue for me.
Go with the water crystals man. I've never used them in soil, but I've engorged them and let them sit aroud on my counter to see how long they lasted before they dried out again and it was several weeks--and that's in the open air! See these few crystals in this container? When engorged they fill the whole container so full it comes apart. The consistency is like Jell-o.
Damn, gotta get rid of that watermark. Hey, I'll do a little experiment right now. I'll engorge a teaspoon of these things and we'll see how long it takes for them to dry out. I'll post some pics in a while.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question581.htm Says thats what diaper companys use. Do you think they have other stuff in them too besides just the crystals? Otherwise, that seems like a way cheaper way of getting them Btw, do i want the big crystals, the medium, small, or powder? It would be cool to have a little of several of them, but you gotta get um seperately. Lol, it would be cool to throw a bunch of this into a pool and watch it turn to jelly.
I found a cool liquid organic product (I typed liquid polymer like you said Dank and looked around). This stuff just lasts 1 season and then disappears. It's 100 bucks for 20 litres. You need 0,2 liters for 1 m3 so it would be ok for the dozen holes I have planned. I'll pm you the brand if someone wants.
Seen those crystals,they get like 50x bigger when hydrated. I dont think MJ plants would like them nearly as much as they would without as the roots need o2 and when soil dries roots uptake o2 better than when wet. Thats why we allow the soil to dry a bit before adding the next watering. The argument of which holds more water and which is better for aeration seem obvious to me. I use both for dif. reasons completely and vermiculite is like a sponge while perlite does hold water but to a lesser degree,when perlite dries it holds air within its whole size while the vermiculite(like a sponge)shrinks with less air holding capacity.....IMO
Yes, but in my region it doesn't rain all Summer long and hardly in the Fall. The soil will dry out. You still need to water but less. Nice explanation on perlite and vermiculite Ocitown.
Well here are some pics for the purpose of experimentation. The first is one teaspoon of crystals, and the second is what they look like engorged with water. As you can see they're about a cup and a quarter. Now Dr. Dank shall attempt to assess the water retention properties of these crystals by leaving them out on my desk until they return to dry form. I keep it pretty cool in my house...err...laboratory--much like soil in the summer. However, it would be foolish to think we could recreate the underground conditions unless we actually do it during the grow season in the dirt. That's another experiment for another day.
I dunno 'bout that stuff man and let me explain why: You mix an x-amount with soil, let the plant grow in it, water it here with the stuff expanding as drastically as it does and shrinking back down once 'drained' out. What is the drastic expansion going to do to an established root ball?
Thats what there going to find out. Im going to go all out organic and perlite has my name all over it,with a bag as tall as my waist for $17 im ok with that atm.
The idea is to use enough so the soil doesn't dry out bone-dry. When the soil is wet it will suck up some of the excess water, and as the soil dries out it will sweat some of it back into the soil. You don't use much. If it was me I wouldn't use any more than a Tablespoon per hole. That's what these things are for mostly is horticultural uses. This isn't anything new, really. Besides, we're not talking about rare orchids here--just ganja. The roots can take it. I've transplated out of five gallon buckets before and had half the root ball rip completely off and it didn't hurt 'em a bit. They won't even notice.