From what I have just read it seems like a super easy super cheap intro to hydro so I am gonna give it a shot and grow 2 in buckets and two in soil of the same strain to see the difference Will use 4 16oz plastic cups for the first few weeks with 3 to 1 perlite/vermiculite in 2 and fox farm ocean forest for the soil 2 Got 8 seeds germinating as of today (paper towel method) and I'll veg them under CFL's in a 3x3 closet I am not going to bother with tubing in the smaller buckets until I transplant them into bigger buckets, I just drilled holes about 1" up from the bottom for drains, but for the real buckets I'll make them right... Since I have a few days until i actually pot them I wanna know if I should use lower ph water for the hempy buckets then I do for soil, I think it should be about 5.8 as opposed to the 6.4 I use for soil, is this right? Thanks for any input!
Good experiment, I'd love to watch something like that. If only you could get the roots to grow as fast in soil at first... The one thing you will have to do to make it fair is have equal-size root systems or equal size buckets to grow in. Also I'm not sure if a plant will fill out a larger soil pot with roots the same way it will a smaller pot (the reason many growers graduate up in pot size in soil, so the roots grow horizontally more) It would be hard to even make it fair considering having to transplant... When the plant became root bound enough to be transplanted the hydro setup wouldn't skip a beat. If you could get a bucket deep enough though and fill it with a soil-less mix that drained really well it might have a chance. It's just a medium though, with the right conditions it will grow just as fast I believe. It just has to have an equal amount of light and an equal-size root system. If the hydro one is allowed to have a larger root system it would blow the soil away (in terms of growth rate which isn't that important indoors with little veg time, more important for veg than flower) but only because of the larger root system. It's definitely an interesting experiment though!
I'll post pics once there is something to see Mr Goodstuff and thanks for writing! From what I read you're a dedicated mentor when it comes to hydro and I appreciate the time you spend on the boards I'm planning on keeping them both in the smaller containers for the first few weeks, no more than three cuz I know I can't get away with longer than that in the soil ones and have never tried anything else After that they'll all move into bigger 3 gallon containers for the duration. They will have to veg for a pretty long time as I do not have any room to flower them and wont for at least 2+ months my current grow is WAY to crowded as is and they just started flowering. I have 11 girls under a 400 watt hps and they filled out way fast and I still cannot bring myself to chop any more of them down yet, did kill off one weaker female so far and it broke my heart to do so (well it was not really THAT dramatic, but I am not looking forward to killing off another few but I know I have to eventually to maximize yield)
Thanks man, I try- it's worth it to see people not have to change the reservoir anymore in hydro that's for sure. Fuck changing the rez- it's a nightmare and I would love to see the nutrient program that beat this growth rate enough to warrant changing the rez every week of your life... No way, gotta life to live all and I know others do as well! Ya having to cut them back is pretty sad I will agree... But you gotta do what you gotta do... It would suck to have to take down a whole plant, totally feel ya on that one.
you don't have to change the rez regularly in hydro? I woulda never thought that to be the case, but I guess that also depends on what type of hydro method you use, doesn't it? What is a good method/system where you can just keep topping off the resevoir with proper h2o and nutes? I've been thinking (prolly like every other new grower out there) about hydro ever since I started growing and that alone would make all the difference in the world as neither of my grow spaces is all that close to anyplace I could drain it easily I would assume hydro has got to be simpler as its nutes, water, lights and air and nuthin more, is that true?
Not if you are using the right nutrients- and I bet advanced nutrients could work out how to add back as well, but they would prefer you dump it down the drain and buy more You don't even have to flush the plants with the right nutrients, although it would be best if you don't use additives if you go that route. I'm sure that base nutrients don't need to be flushed in hydro if not over-fed (my last crop was not flushed and tasted better than ever) but I'm not sure about additives. You should change the rez at harvest so flushing can be done at the same time you are changing the res for a new cycle. Even if another nutrient program could result in 10% increase in growth rate (and I doubt it would be even close) it wouldn't be worth the ease of use not changing the reservoir provides. I'm seeing the fastest growth ever- haven't changed the reservoir yet and don't plan on it either. But it's called the Lucas formula, it's a nutrient ratio that's designed for marijuana by a guy would studied growing for years (Mel Frank) and has been working for a long time at making gardens green everywhere. Lord knows it took my fried plants and breathed some green back into the leaves, and the growth rate this time has me convinced it's one of the best nutrient programs out there. If only for the ease of use, it's totally won me over. It's so easy that it comes in a single bottle- it's great for most plants but some like it a little weaker, some can take more. From what I've seen the formula will grow them without adjustment, it will only burn the leaf tips a bit if it's a little too heavy. It's a General Hydroponics product, Flora Series. The one bottle form of it is called Flora Nova, there is one for veg and one for flower. You don't have to change the rez for flower either! The best results come from not changing the rez! Here is the thread that will teach you all you need to know- http://www.cannabis-world.org/cw/showthread.php?t=892
seeds popped, though not much of a tap root yet, but damn they split fast! These are not the same seeds as my current grow, but they are still seeds I got from my first grow, just from another plant that is a different strain, but I have no idea what strain any of them are, theys all bagseed children off a hermie dad, very high female to male ratio though! I don't even have the lights hung yet in the closet where these will be living, but I still have a few days til they sprout so I am not rushing to do that today... They can sprout in the bigger grow room then I'll move them and start posting pics as I assume nobody really needs to see seeds splitting nor empty cups, do ya?
There's a spreadsheet out there that someone made (don't think it was actually Lucas himself, but one of his desciples) that you can use to adapt the Lucas Formula to any other nute manufacturer. It's a bit complicated, since you have to enter the exact nutrient profile of each bottle, but once you get all the data in, it'll tell you how much to use. Personally, I'd just rather buy the GH stuff and use the original formula. My time is worth more to me than the price of a couple of bottles of nutes, ya know? lol.
I love this thread already.... Im gonna grow in a hempy bucket as well AS soon as winter passes.... but definatly keep this going I want to see how it goes.
I couldn't agree more Help_Needed as time is pretty much the only commodity we can't replace! I am still way way far away from doing stuff like that but it'd be good to learn about it beforehand at any rate! Thanks for all the info folks
Interesting thread. I always thought and read that the nute reservoir needed to be changed once per week. But if MrGoodstuff says it can be done then he is the man.
Maybe thats how they sprouted so quickly I was talking to them and breathing on them more Co2 !!!!! I had seran wrap over them with holes and I was like breathing into the holes hahahah they sprouted in 24 hours
perhaps... I told them and all I heard em say was "close de door, iz cold" (you have to read that with the right accent or it aint funny) I don't normally see new seedlings for a couple days, though truth be told I don't talk to em either...
still nothin showing, but I did pop in 2 more germinated sprouts so there is three mini hempy buckets and 3 in soil I germed 8 seeds, one did not do anything and I did not want to toss all the other ones so I added them to the experiment The room they live in (also my flowering area) is at about 80 degrees (f) with the lights on and goes down to 70 ish at nigh, RH is about <50 with lights on, only goes up to 60's with them off they all got 6.4 water today til they started draining
diggin the thread man, interesting, good info about hydro and the res and hempy buckets too!!! U gonna post pics man??? "Vision, the universal language" lol