The Official Hempy Bucket Thread

[bobman]

I clone in straight vermiculite in 3oz plastic cups with holes cut at the bottom and get 90+ percent. I use rooting powder and scrap the bottom half inch of the plant. Its nice because if i have to be away for a few days I just fill the tray with water and the vermiculite wicks up what it needs. Plus the cup provides a stable base.

 

[coxie]

hey, people!

i promised yield reports on my 10 gal all perlite plants.

the first is cut and dried and yielded 11.39 oz.

not quite as good as my best in a 5 gal bucket, which was 11.47.

i looked at my yield records for the 5 gal containers and they average 9.86 oz.

one plant doesn't mean much but i've got 10 more coming out a week apart.

i will report those also.

d9

Hey d9, how much lighting did you use to get those numbers?

 

[bobman]

Well all the seedlings broke through the perlite but I noticed something weird. Do seedlings start off pale or yellow then turn green? I do not remember my seedlings looking like this before. Those first two leafs look almost white. 1 looks like it is turning green but the rest look white. Most of the seedlings still have the husk on them but they all look white.

 

[Ty_Kaycha]

I'm going to be switching over to this within the next year after my grow room is built and redesigned with light movers and freshly painted and shed the tent.

http://cch2o.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=31&products_id=96

Great system. Know a couple of locals here running them. Also pretty easy to build yourself. I purchased and ran the 6XL system for two harvests. Liked it but not enough to keep it. The friend I sold it too, loves it and is getting huge yields. I'm starting to travel more with my job and needed something I can easily have my girlfriend take care of when I'm out of town (sometimes gone for several weeks, a few days aren't a problem with the UC).

I know some growers who clone in mini hempy buckets and get 100% success, ....

Some guys just have all the luck & green thumbs!

Well all the seedlings broke through the perlite but I noticed something weird. Do seedlings start off pale or yellow then turn green? I do not remember my seedlings looking like this before. Those first two leafs look almost white. 1 looks like it is turning green but the rest look white. Most of the seedlings still have the husk on them but they all look white.

They always look white/pale to me but I'm also color blind (the politically correct term: color deficient). I've only seen a couple of green traffic lights in my life - most look white to me! I'm always surprised when I actually see a green traffic light.

It might be the strain you're running. What strain and is it new for you? Same lighting as you usually run? Any other new factors, as I don't think perlite is the problem.

 

[bobman]

yea I am thinking its normal. I just never paid much attention before. I think starting off in perlite made me much more attentive. They are just really really light green, almost cant see the green. The strain is ak47 and I have run from seed before but not much luck. I have not even put them under light yet they just popped out early this morning. I am going to put them under t8's in a few hours.

 

[dubwise]

Well all the seedlings broke through the perlite but I noticed something weird. Do seedlings start off pale or yellow then turn green? I do not remember my seedlings looking like this before. Those first two leafs look almost white. 1 looks like it is turning green but the rest look white. Most of the seedlings still have the husk on them but they all look white.

that seems really odd to me. I'm not trying to insult you at all (not my way) but could it be little pieces or dust off of the perlite sticking to the seedling? Also, how old are the seeds? I've never heard nor seen anything like that. Any chance you would post a picture of it? I'm trying to understand your setup...are you popping the seeds directly in the medium? And if so, are they not under lights already?


Good luck!

 

[bobman]

I germed them using the paper towel method about 2 days ago. Once the tap root showed i put them into straight perlite in my closet with low to no light. They just broke ground this morning and about an hour ago I put them under t-8 lighting. My friend got them straight from serious seeds so I would think they were fresh. Now they are under better light I can see a little more green but they still look very light green. Not how I remember seedlings looking but I never really paid that much attention. If you think its odd I will try to get a picture.

 

[dubwise]

sounds like you're doing everything right....I'm not all that sure about the low light deal...how many watts? The reason I ask, is because i sprout all of our seeds under 250w T5 and dont seem to have any troubles under that amount of light....I know it's not 1kw, but it's not 25w either.
Take it easy!

 

[bobman]

I think the the 2 4 foot t-8 tubes are 32 or 38 watts a piece. So 60 or 70 watts. Its a shop light fixture from home depot with daylight tubes. Just for the first couple of weeks until they can handle 1k. I have burned to many seeds under the 1k before.

 

[marywanna2]

bobman: i have always germinated seeds using the paper towel method...

as soon as the taproot emerges, they go into peat pellets/rapid rooters/rockwool cubes under 24/7 light (125-150w CFL starting @ about 2 foot distance from the new starts) until lots of roots are poking thru.

i agree with dubwise... think they may need a light source right away... in order to manufacture the chlorophyll that makes leaves green...

 

[deviant1]

PH problem?

PH problem?

Ok first off hi everyone, I know this is not the infirmary. I'm using only perlite, so I thought the people in here would be more of a help. I started two red cherry berry from seed, and eventually one by one the leaves from bottom to top, start to yellow then die, it also is wilting a little bit. I'm doin everything the same on both, and they both look jus like twins, so I think it's something I'm doing or not doing. So if I could get some suggestions I will really appreciate it. If someone will explain how to upload pix, I have some that go with this post. Thanks in advance to all.

 

[Japanfreakier]

Everything being equal in hydro I'd look for bugs or disease.

 

[bobman]

deviant,

hard to tell without a little more info but if I was to take a guess I would say over watering, lack of food or ph. But i think it would look a little different if ph was out of wack How big is the container and how big is the plant. Believe it or not in straight perlite if the roots are small compared to the container I can go 5-8 days between watering. How much are you feeding them?

 

[bobman]

and the leafs look normal now. thanks for the input. I think it was just the initial growth of the plant. i read somewhere that leafs could look colorless when they first pop out. never noticed it before.

 

[dubwise]

@deviant-tell us more about your setup. How old were the plants when they started to lose color and die off? What were you feeding (if anything) and at what rate? I know there have been some 100% perlite grows on here and I'm sure we can figure it out, but we need more information.

 

[deviant1]

All r in 3 gal buckets, feeding gh products, ppm at 6-650, ph goin in was at 5.9-6.2... I checked my run off, it was 6.7, that was a week ago. Since then I've dropped ph and upped feed, 5.3-5.6&ppm to 1500, bout to start switch to bloom soon.

 

[deviant1]

Now I did change one factor in the beginning, the drain hole was at 2-3in from bottom, now I have them at 3-4in from bottom. I did this so I could water less often, but instead I have been watering more trying to get ph down, so it is possible I am overwatering right now, but this has been goin on longer than that.

As for when it started, pretty much after about four weeks old, about the time I feed them and it messed with ph. They both are 24" tall and almost 11 weeks old from seed. The plants are very tall and only 6-9 nodes with only about 6 leaves on each. Only the top of it does grow well, almost all under leaves and older ones too are turning yellow from the tips back, eventually turning the whole leaf within days, then falls off dead. I really wish I could show you pix, it would make this so much easier for you guys to help me out. But really I think I could mostly have ph issue, which I think I'm fixing. And over watering is being fixed too, was feeding them every 2-3 days like 2-3 cups each in 3 gal buckets, never had run off bc of holes being too high to drain anything. Well if still need more info jus ask, I'll try not to jus ramble on and on like I did this time, thanks for reading this novel.

 

[dubwise]

deviant-have you totally flushed them out, then returned to the feed schedule? I would try that first and then go to the water source and see what's in it. You could have it tested. Check the ph before nutes and after nutes and see what happens. We used ph up & down for a long time, then I found that if we added a little more liquid karma then we could go without the ph up & down. It will certainly bennefit you to start with the water and see what you've got. I doubt it has anything to do with the perlite and almost everything to do with your water/nutrients.

 

[bobman]

Alright this is what I would do. I also do perlite only.
1. I would transplant to a 5 gallon bucket and cut the hole around an 1.5-2 inches up. You could probably transplant back to the 3 gallons if you want but get that hole down.
2. I would give it a good flush of ph 6-6.2 water after tranplant. You want to get that medium clean.
3. just resume regular feeding at 6-6.2 after that. Dont fuck around with trying to change your ph by adjusting what your putting in. I flower about 16 plants at a time and I always have one plant that shows a ph problem(its not horrible but you can tell there is a problem). They get get same everything and r the same plant but for some reason I always have one. I have not figured it out yet but I can tell you from experience if you try messing around with adjusting ph by changing what ph your adding you can reallly fuck a plant up. Also from my experience I can tell you ph does not seem to be as big a factor in veg as it is during flower. I have never had a ph problem during veg and I am not that good about ph'ing my water in veg. I usually feed at 6.2ish in veg and then give them water at round ph 7. If you notice a problem and you think its ph flush and start over rather than adjust ph in what your adding.
4. Mix your nutes and let them sit for a day before feeding or adjusting. Gh has buffers that take around 24 hours to work. Your looking at a .3-.5 swing up if you wait. If you have hard water you may also want to look into the hard water gh solution.

I think these steps will help your plant. That 4 inchs of water with you adjusting ph all over the place has been really hard on the plants. Let us know how it goes.

 

[bobman]

Wow just reread your post. I am surprised your plant survived that drop in ph. I once had what looked to be a calcium problem in flower and dropped my ph to 5.5 range and it got fried. I checked my ph runoff and it was in the 4s. This method is very simple do not over complicate. If I see a problem from now on I will flush with around 6.2 water and start a new. What is your feeding schedule? Are you feeding every watering? In veg I can feed every watering if I want but sometimes I will only give them water until I notice a little yellowing then hit them with food. Veg seems to be a lot more stable than flowering. I would get everything straightened out and perfected before I put these into flower. Do the above them give them a week to 10 days to recover and then another 3-4 weeks of veg. Prune them and you should have some nice bushes by then. One other thing I never water until over flow. I am just lazy. I would probably recommend to have the recommended overflow but it has not affected me. Also depending on container size to roots I can go between 3-8 days before I water again. Do not be afraid to let them go a little dry. My method of not using overflow and watering less than normal may cause a salt buildup but I have not seen big problems yet. The fun thing about this method I have found is it you can control the plants by the amount of food you give them. If I cloned to early and need to slow growth I will stop feeding until I see a little yellow. If I need them to hurry up i will feed them hard.