watering Q

[everest]

:smoke hey everyone ........ gonna plonk these plants into 60l tubs in perlite , anybody know or use a good watering regime ?

[animal]

I'm assuming its a run to waste system. If that is the case you want to aim for a minimum of 10% runoff per watering. Usually run to waste systems use coco or vermiculite in the mix so that the medium will be less wasteful but straight perlite should work fine.

 

I'd start them off on a feed every 6 hours and each feed just long enough to give a bit of runoff. Every 4 hours (which you might get down to when the plant is in full bloom) would be about the minimum in this medium, any more than that and you could easily get root rot.

 

I'd suggest at least two drippers in every pot as well if its an automated system you're setting up. If they are just sitting in saucers and hand watered I'd give them a watering until the saucers fill with water, then when they dry up water them again so in effect you are letting the plant govern when its watered.

[WantDaChronic]

hey everyone ........ gonna plonk these plants into 60l tubs in perlite , anybody know or use a good watering regime ?

 

60L pots are massive, depending on how big the plants get, what lighting your using, how powerfull the water pump is, etc. will all determine how much water your plants will need....it will pay off to sit around the plants at the first watering to see how long it takes to get runoff water from the pots...from there, every 1/2 hour, go check on the plants and see if they start wilting, etc. and when the plants look like they could use a drink, give them one....

 

make sure you write down your findings and then use them as a guidline only because your plants will end up using more water the bigger they get, etc :smoke

 

dont worry, someone with experience in this field will reply soon

[Luke Skywalker]

Perlite is best fed about 3-6 times a day, initiallly with smaller feedings although if in Run-to-waste keep the runoff up more than that 10%, I'd recommend say 30% if you can afford it, perhaps the vege-patch could use the excess.

 

Rinse the perlite well, and wear a dustmask when handling it dry. Bad moojoo that perlite dust...

 

I'd suggest using 4-6mm watering rings, or better yet horseshoes, with a feeding every 3 hours initially, then down to 2 once established and growing, and finally every 2 hours in flowering. This is daylight times, the media will hold enough water in the lights out for the plants. If you're recirc'ing, make your feeds no longer than 1 minute with a good pump and watering ring/horseshoe. This is plenty, just ensure that your system is returning water and if not, it could be increased to 2min. That's if your roots haven't blocked the drain cos' they've grown so damn big!

 

Anyway, you'll be happy with good quality perlite as a grow media, it works excellently IMHO. There is a better brand too, try and find one called "Waterworld" super coarse perlite. The chillagoe and Ausperl brands are far from chunky, and the Waterworld yellow bags of perlite are much chunkier, and less dust.

 

Still, you can grow good crops in the others, but I've found the waterworld stuff much better.

 

Hope that helps, and keep us updated.

[everest]

thanks luke , yea i will keep ya posted mate ....... that reminds me watch for postie nxt week . :scratchin

[Luke Skywalker]

*Grins broadly at Everest.*