The Official Hempy Bucket Thread

[Capt.Ahab]

Megas. I started my seeds in seed starting mix. I planned on doing a soil run but changed things up and decided to do Hempy pots instead. I put the plant with it's soil right in the Hempy pot. No problems.
You cant keep the seedling in just the peat pellet too long. It isnt very large and has no nutes to speak of. The most I do when transplanting peat pellets is to take the plastic membrane off that holds the peat pellet together. Gently. It will stay together enough for you to put in another pot. If it has a lot of roots coming out of it I just split the plastic where I can and leave it loosely attached to the peat pellet.

 

[dubwise]

I too start my seeds directly in the planting mix an it works just fine. Though I am looking at experimenting with coco...perlite/vermiculite work well at starting seeds.

 

[Megas]

So to dumb it down a bit for me and for anyone else who might be reading into this later. At about what height of the seedling would YOU start giving it nutes?
I think I am really just scared I am going to poison the thing with nutes to early.

This video seems to show what to do with the pete pellet, I'm just surprised how tall the little guy can grow with the energy it has in something without nutrients like the pellet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCg39XCSh_Q I'm going to stick them into a cup full of coir instead of perlite though.

This guy starts giving them nutes a couple days after sticking them into the cups. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrkW...xt=C32f131cUDOEgsToPDskImenDo02uzGAQSSH1HrluI

So could we say a rule of thumb is when the plant has its first tiny shoot come above the initial leaves such as this?

or

 

[RetroGrow]

Start with a very light feeding. There should be a dosage for seedlings listed on your nute package. Take that and cut it in half to be safe. The seedlings look good. Use Rhizotonic for your roots from the beginning, but use lightly. After another week or so you can boost the feeding.

 

[Megas]

Start with a very light feeding. There should be a dosage for seedlings listed on your nute package. Take that and cut it in half to be safe. The seedlings look good. Use Rhizotonic for your roots from the beginning, but use lightly. After another week or so you can boost the feeding.

Just want to note the pics above are not pics of my plants, just used them as a reference. I plan on using the Lucas formula, I'm gonna keep this simple to begin with. There's a coco formula for the lucas amounts so cutting that in half will be the way to go.

Does mold occur on coco often?

 

[RetroGrow]

Just want to note the pics above are not pics of my plants, just used them as a reference. I plan on using the Lucas formula, I'm gonna keep this simple to begin with. There's a coco formula for the lucas amounts so cutting that in half will be the way to go.

Does mold occur on coco often?

Seedlings should NOT be fed half the Lucas Formula. Those numbers are for grown plants. When you have seedlings, you don't feed them at all the first week. Then begin with a very light feeding. GH Flora Bloom is basically the Lucas formula, or Kool Bloom, same thing. GH Flora Bloom calls for 1/2 teaspoon per gallon for seedlings, so I give them 1/4 teaspoon after the first week, along with some Rhizotonic. Tread lightly on seedlings. The cotyledon is enough to keep them fed for a week to 10 days. As the plants get bigger, say six inches or so, then start giving them the full dose of Lucas but increase nutes gradually.

Edit: Should have said Maxi Bloom, not Kool Bloom.

 

[dubwise]

Read the plants....not the bottle. When the ladies begin to fade in color, add a weak amount of nutes and build up. Some strains can handle more up front than others, but it seems best to take it slowly and watch 'em grow.

 

[Herbophile]

Seedlings should NOT be fed half the Lucas Formula. Those numbers are for grown plants. When you have seedlings, you don't feed them at all the first week. Then begin with a very light feeding. GH Flora Bloom is basically the Lucas formula, or Kool Bloom, same thing. GH Flora Bloom calls for 1/2 teaspoon per gallon for seedlings, so I give them 1/4 teaspoon after the first week, along with some Rhizotonic. Tread lightly on seedlings. The cotyledon is enough to keep them fed for a week to 10 days. As the plants get bigger, say six inches or so, then start giving them the full dose of Lucas but increase nutes gradually.

Not that no feed doesn't work but I slightly disagree. I've found that coco doesn't like being fed straight water even for seedlings. Maybe I've just been lucky but I use maxibloom and always water at 3g/gallon until the plant starts to take off and then gradually move up to full strength of 7g/gallon. It works for me anyway but your milage may vary.

Lucas formula and kool bloom are not the same thing. Kool bloom is a booster only and doesn't contain all the ingredients a plant needs.

http://lucasformula.com/

 

[Herbophile]

Does mold occur on coco often?

I've never got mold on or in my coco but I do occasionally get some algae growth on the surface. The algae has never caused me any problems though and I usually just stir it up a little bit on the surface and mix it in. This only happens to me on the smaller cups though and doesn't show up for me on the larger final container.

 

[dansbuds]

Theres 2 ways you can treat a seedling or clone in coco you can add your seedling/clone to a dry batch of straight coco & feed it after the transplant with some calmag & a tiny dose of nutes or ..... you can precharge your coco with calmag & a tiny dose of nutes then put your seedling/clone into an already moist & precharged coco & feed with plain water once or twice .... with no runoff so the nutes stay in the coco & the plant can use it if it needs it . but coco has to be fed calmag at least so the pottasium it holds does not cause the plants problems .
If your using tap water with a PPM of 150 or more you could feed it straight tap cuz more than likely theres enough cal mag & other micro nutes to keep a seedling happy for a few day .... the coco also , but only if you have hard water .RO water would HAVE to fed calmag .

 

[dansbuds]

Megas ... what nutes are you using & what kind of water ? do you know the PPM of your water ?

 

[Capt.Ahab]

Put the plants in the flower room today. Spent a few hours putting in a new floor, rearranging the ventilation ducting and gave everything a good wash down and sterilization.
Ill veg for another week or so. FIM'ed a couple of the taller plants and removed some of the lower sucker branches. Haven't given them a full strength feeding yet. 3/4 strength is the strongest Ive given them so far but they really liked the increase in nutes when I upped it from 1/2 strength.. Ill wait a couple days to allow them to get used to the stronger light then see how they like a full strength blast. The plants in the coco flakes are doing Ok thus far.
12/12 starts in a week, no matter what.

 

[Bobbo4200]

Hey Capt!, what size Hempy's are those? About how tall will they be when you switch to 12/12? Have you run that size Hempy before? If so, what was your yield? What are the strains? Thanks man!

 

[grassott's dad]

...12/12 starts in a week, no matter what...

Hi mate. Just wondering. Can't you veg them for at least 2 more weeks?

 

[Capt.Ahab]

I could veg for another two weeks and take them to the end of this month but I want to start another batch of seeds and Im trying to adhere to a time line for late Spring. I would like the second run to be finished before the beginning of June. I also have to keep 12/12 stretch in mind . I have limited height capability in this space. I suppose if I have a couple of males it will open up some of the horizontal space and I will be able to train the remaining plants in order to keep the canopy low. We will see. My schedule isnt set in stone.

Hi mate. Just wondering. Can't you veg them for at least 2 more weeks?

 

[Capt.Ahab]

Bobbo4200 those are 2 1/2 gallon trash bins.
If I wait another two weeks as Grassot suggests they will be about 2 feet tall at this rate.
I need to watch out for the 12/12 stretch. I only have about 6 feet of clearance in this room.
Never used the Hempy method or any sort of hydro before so this is all new to me. Right now there are three Nirvana feminized Bubblicious ,three of my own cross which are Sweetest Cindy99 x Bubblicious and two Vermont Rosebuds.

Hey Capt!, what size Hempy's are those? About how tall will they be when you switch to 12/12? Have you run that size Hempy before? If so, what was your yield? What are the strains? Thanks man!

 

[RetroGrow]

Not that no feed doesn't work but I slightly disagree. I've found that coco doesn't like being fed straight water even for seedlings. Maybe I've just been lucky but I use maxibloom and always water at 3g/gallon until the plant starts to take off and then gradually move up to full strength of 7g/gallon. It works for me anyway but your milage may vary.

Lucas formula and kool bloom are not the same thing. Kool bloom is a booster only and doesn't contain all the ingredients a plant needs.

http://lucasformula.com/

Right. I meant to say Maxi Bloom.....

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Seedlings should NOT be fed half the Lucas Formula. Those numbers are for grown plants.

I'm sorry, but once a plant has 3-4 roots about 4-6" long... the strength of your nute solution is dependent upon the strength of the light... not age of the plant.

Seedlings get full strength nutes (And full strength lights) when I grow them... but ONLY with a nute profile like lucas. Anything else runs the risk of burning the crap out of them.
Clones are the same way... soon as they show decent roots they get full light and nutes.

Lucas is balanced... more light, more nutes. You give my seedlings half strength and they'll start eating themselves for food.

Stay Safe!

 

[dubwise]

My cuttings get full strength of Jack's once they've established their roots. There's a difference in what the cutting can take compared to what the seedling can take.

 

[RetroGrow]

I'm sorry, but once a plant has 3-4 roots about 4-6" long... the strength of your nute solution is dependent upon the strength of the light... not age of the plant.

Seedlings get full strength nutes (And full strength lights) when I grow them... but ONLY with a nute profile like lucas. Anything else runs the risk of burning the crap out of them.
Clones are the same way... soon as they show decent roots they get full light and nutes.

Lucas is balanced... more light, more nutes. You give my seedlings half strength and they'll start eating themselves for food.

Stay Safe!

Have to disagree with that post. As we all know, nutrient companies tend to exaggerate the amount of nutrients needed, so they can sell more nutes. Even so, you will not find any nutrient company that recommends full strength nutes for seedlings. The original question was from a new grower trying a new system using seeds, not clones. Therefore, I think it's best to err on the side of caution. I have been using Lucas for ages, and I never given full strength nutes to newly germed seedlings. I start at a very low dosage and a bit of Rhizotonic, and increase as the plants grow.
Even General Hydroponics recommends low dosage of Flora Nova Bloom (Lucas) for seedlings.
Here's a link to their label:
http://www.genhydro.com/genhydro_US/product_labels/floranova_bloom_qt.pdf

Note they recommend 250 PPM for seedlings, 500 PPM for early growth, 950 for later growth, and 1350 for rapidly growing/flowering plants. I personally never go that high, but that's their recommendation.
Most would agree that in reality, you use less than they recommend to be safe, which is especially true with vulnerable babies. Hence my recommendation for light feeding at first, and gradually building it as the plant grows. We don't want him burning his babies. YOU may use full strength nutes on your babies, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to someone just starting out with this system, or anyone else for that matter. It's a pretty well known fact that the two most prevalent mistakes by new growers is over watering and over feeding.
By the way, I usually start seedlings under 1000 Watts of metal halide. At that stage, they are getting food from the cotyledon, and from the light, and can easily go a week with no feeding at all, although I am not saying you should not give them a very light feeding if you want. Just don't over do it. Lucas or not.