No more coco or dwc .. Starting Vermiculite /perlite :)

[Jimboss83]

Hi crew

Sooooo to be fair I’ve had some decent runs with coco and it was the first and only medium I’ve used . Had tonnes of fun battling gnats and I know I should have done more (gnat smack, pot socks , more yellow pads etc etc ) . But after a lot of research and lots of questions on here especially to Sedge, cooper , sooty , Merlin to name only a few I’ve thought I’ll give VP a try !

Dwc - had a good first run, but I simply don’t have the time to maintain it . My online fan in the tent stopped working and the water crept up too 29 degrees and caused root rot - lost 3 tie dyes that were 3 weeks into veg . Also had similar problem with my Africa strain - ph dropped , Aqua one air pump shit itself and all sorts of issues .

Going back to basics .

 

So I am doing 27/30L pots recirc set up back into a 50L tank -

Going to aim to water for 15mins every 3 hours during lights on.

Ratio - perlite 70% and vermiculite 30% is that right ?

If I decide I don’t have the height etc for a recirc then would 50/50 be a better ratio and only feed once or twice a day?

 

Thanks !!!

Jimboss

 

 

 

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[Serrated edge]

If you aim to water that often you won't need the vermiculite,,,,,just stick with the perlite.

 

If you pot them and are prepared to water twice a day then perlite should be good on its own ..

 

Vermiculite just holds water ,,,good if your slack and can't be fucked watering every day...like I often get.

 

IMO,a50-50 mix would be too soggy and I doubt that would good in any system

[SOOTY]

Yeah I'd go perlite only jim, you will love it Haha. Keen to see what you come up with in those decent size pots

 

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[Jimboss83]

Hmmm choices !

I was thinking recirc mainly for the fact of lowering my nute usage to be honest....

the 15 min waterings I thought because the analogue timers switches are in increments of 15LOL

- but if I was to do drain to waste with the 70/30 ratio would 1 min once a day be enough ?

 

 

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[SOOTY]

1 min a day might be ok for a little while but you will need to step that up when they are bigger and more thirsty. I normally hand water for the first week or 2 then set the timer. Have a digital one that goes down to the second. Last 2 grows I have had it set at 6x10 second feeds per day at the start, then upped it when not getting run off. No reason for the 6, just what I've done. Might go back to 3 a day next time and see if any difference.

But I'm in perlite only and a 22lt pot.

 

 

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[pedro de pacas]

No more perlite for me I reckon, going straight coco for me outside pots

 

 

FUCK perlite

[Serrated edge]

Hmmm choices !

I was thinking recirc mainly for the fact of lowering my nute usage to be honest....

the 15 min waterings I thought because the analogue timers switches are in increments of 15LOL

- but if I was to do drain to waste with the 70/30 ratio would 1 min once a day be enough ?

Sent from my iPhone using OZ Stoners

 

It's not so much how long you feed them for but needs to be long enough to get some runoff...I've had mine fed by gravity and manually turning the tap on and off ,that time would vary not only on the size of the plants,, but on how much was left in the holding tank..although if using a pump it would be a consistent amount whether the tank is full or nearly empty

 

And Hey don't think having runoff is a waste of money ,,,the cost of wastage is really little..and your giving them fresh food rather than what they've been sitting in for a week in a recirculating system that has to be dumped anyway.

[Serrated edge]

No more perlite for me I reckon, going straight coco for me outside pots

 

 

FUCK perlite

 

Hmm,,thought the wind was your problem.

[kloud9]

No more perlite for me I reckon, going straight coco for me outside pots

 

 

FUCK perlite

Why is that?

 

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[pedro de pacas]

Hmm,,thought the wind was your problem.

Yeah it is, and the reason I hate perlite, it ends up all over the place

 

not sure I'd use perlite inside with a recirculating system, reckon it might wear the pump out ? 

 

its hard to get rid of, coco just gets mixed into the garden beds or compost,

I do have a couple of coco perlite veggie beds, will see how they go this season 

 

AIR is the best medium, but its a bit hard to get them out in the sun, if I was going to grow inside from start to finish, its the way I would go 

its defiantly the quickest way to veg them 

 

FUCK perlite and coco