growing Trees with perlite

[SpyderMite]

What up?

Does anyone use 100% perlite as a medium?

Im in the process of setting up a dominate perlite or 100% perlite drain to waste vertical light grow, Im thinking 4 plants and 5 lights(actually 10 Stacked) to get started. I only have experience with hand watering peat based grows but im looking for something auto and i want to cut back on plant count.

I like the simplicity of dtw and seems pretty straight forward. Im thinking im gonna start in one gallons then transfer into 5 gal and ultimatley into 27 gallon tree pots(is that to big?) as i said i want trees

Would a continous drip or a auto top feed multiple times a day be a better schedule for a perlite grow?

Any suggestions on nutes? anyone have experience with Canna Substra?? as i understand it they have hard and soft nutes so should i no longer ue RO since its drain to waste??

im sure im leaving out alot of info to recieve help but please ask away as any help and suggestions are greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

 

[TrichromeFan]

Janus. He kills it to boot.

-TF

 

[Janus]

Perlite and RTW is not practical as the perlite doesn't retain enough moisture. Thus you have to water frequently and if RTW you'll have far too much waste. I use drippers 24/7. I suggest more research before you pull the trigger on one of these systems. Good luck.

 

[SpyderMite]

Perlite and RTW is not practical as the perlite doesn't retain enough moisture. Thus you have to water frequently and if RTW you'll have far too much waste. I use drippers 24/7. I suggest more research before you pull the trigger on one of these systems. Good luck.[/QUOTE


i really like the idea of dtw and what it offers so i need to look into adding coco for more retention then? i heard with dtw u need 10 to 20% runoff so i guess a tree in a 27 gal pot would require alot. i just wanted to avoid chillers and constantly monitoring ph and the issues with other techniques. dtw just seems better in my opinion so whatever medium is needed is fine. im not opposed to anything, i just want something that performs well with my goal of healthy trees

i have some time to figure this out as my current grow finihes. i have alot to learn going from hort and hand watering peatbased to vert and auto top feed but im excited and ready

thanks for your time Janus

 

[kushtrees]

Im actually in the midst of switching from coco dominant mixes to 100% perlite, from what my little "test" grows have concluded on this is that if using 100% perlite you either need to recirculate nutes or have a huge hempy res at the bottom to help keep the medium moist.

Ive read about a couple straight perlite hempys and they get good results, but I feel like without watering the top of the plant more often, root space is lost. You could do what mrdizzle does and run hempys with drips, multiple drips during the day to keep the top moist (no run off for these).

Im finding that the best way to do 100% perlite imo without a chiller is get a recycle timer and do 5 min on 10 min off or any ratio like that to keep you water cool. (same concept as putting an aero cloner on a timer) of course if your doing a large set up just spend the money on a chiller

Another thing is if doing recirculating nutes, Im at least, planning on using my bluelab gaurdian (constant ppm ph montitor) as well as a top off res set at 1/2 str nutes to keep the ppms stable. If you going to be constantly recircluating nutes its always a good idea to be able to check on things in real time.

You should also look into covering the perlite imo unless you have the plant covering it completely because with my test runs I ran into algea from the color of it.

Hope this helps!

 

[SpyderMite]

Thanks Kushtrees

so it looks like i need to find someone whos banging out trees with a run to waste setup as my first thought of 100% perlite for medium is a no go at this point

is it just not practical to run a drain to waste with a large tree?? keep in mind its only 4 trees to start and if everything goes well my new place will only be 8 and a stock plant maybe

canna substra seems like its worth a shot. does anyone have expeirence with this nute??

i want to avoid recirculating systems if possible and stick with dtw and what it offers if i can

Thanks guys

 

[kushtrees]

I currently do "large" (1#) trees with 50/50 coco perlite watered daily on a drip dtw... you can do trees in any medium really its just a matter of veg time and pot size

Ive used substra in veg it works well

Check out mrdizzle thread in the coco forums perlite/ coco dtw hempy trees he kills it very informative thread

 

[GanjaAL]

look up dutch buckets as I think it can be done but alot of trial and error in order to get the watering schedule down. I settled on the UC system as that is as close to 100% airated medium as you can get without having to water by hand everyday.

 

[SpyderMite]

I currently do "large" (1#) trees with 50/50 coco perlite watered daily on a drip dtw... you can do trees in any medium really its just a matter of veg time and pot size

Ive used substra in veg it works well

Check out mrdizzle thread in the coco forums perlite/ coco dtw hempy trees he kills it very informative thread

looks like your the man i need to talk to Hah

i was planning on starting in one gallon, then into 5g and ultimatley into these 27gallon pots i found. i was guessing a min of 8 weeks of veg or so. im not to sure about veg time being this way is all new and not sure if my heavy duty fruity will do well as tree but its all i have access to for right now

if i cut back to a say 80%perlite 20%coco mix do you think that would work? would that provide enough retention u think?

would running a continuos drip benefit me more than just top feed multiple time per day. im just finding about all this stuff and have alot to learn fast

from what i understand canna substra is designed for dtw. no issues with that? you mentioned just veg. any reason why you didnt use it for flower?

ill go check out dizzle now

thanks for all ur time bro

 

[iscrog4food]

I am at week 6 of flower in my first vert grow and I used 50/50 perlite to coco in a DTW and I only have to water every other day. So far I am loving the results but after seeing Janus' pics I too am considering doing 100% perlite. I dunno though DTW is just sooo simple!

 

[SpyderMite]

I am at week 6 of flower in my first vert grow and I used 50/50 perlite to coco in a DTW and I only have to water every other day. So far I am loving the results but after seeing Janus' pics I too am considering doing 100% perlite. I dunno though DTW is just sooo simple!

Hey

Do you mind sharing some details about your current grow please?

Any thing would be helpful. Size of containers and plants? Nutrients? Veg time? how much run off

Do you think if you cut back on the coco ratio and increased your feedings from every other day to everyday or even more would it benefit the trees in your opinion?

Thanks in advance

 

[kushtrees]

27g is plenty big for any size tree your doing in coco and perlite. I personally use 2g pots in veg and 10g brutes in flower with the 50:50 mix. The thing with the coco and perlite mix is the more perlite the more you have to water. When I did 100% coco dtw i watered every 2 days in veg adn every other day when they got real big.. with 50:50 I water daily or they get too dry.

veg time is all strain dependant

4:1 is really good ive tried it vegging a couple extra plants and it was much faster then 1:1 coco perlite. In this case i didnt have a hempy res so I watered 3 times a day and recirculated nutes; dtw isnt pracical unless you water at most once a day imo other wise your wasting tons of nutes and recirculating is easy with a good quality nute I use canna aqua and ionic for my perlite dominant mixes.

The reason I havent flowered in 4:1 or 100 perlite is I grow for multiple people and need to be sure things go smoothly

hope this helps

 

[Confuten1]

Thanks Kushtrees

so it looks like i need to find someone whos banging out trees with a run to waste setup as my first thought of 100% perlite for medium is a no go at this point

is it just not practical to run a drain to waste with a large tree??

Thanks guys

I run dtw vert bulbs in perilite/coco/ hydroton 18-27 gal hempy tubs, feed once a day(sometimes everyother day when im lazy) with 20% runoff Plants 5-7 ft tall.
Ive been expermenting on which mix (i.e. perlite to coco/ perilite to chunky coco/ perilite to hydroton etc to use. So far the 60% chunky perilite 40% chunky coco and 50% hydroton 50% chunky coco are doing the best! theres a noticible diffrence in cola sizes and overall weight on plant. Im only at day 35 but i can see a diffrence.

It is very pratical to run dtw with large trees its just the more perilite u use the more often u will need to feed them. using a hempy bucket does help with that but as janus said perilite doent retain that much moisture. Hope this helps,

Confu.

 

[SpyderMite]

27g is plenty big for any size tree your doing in coco and perlite. I personally use 2g pots in veg and 10g brutes in flower with the 50:50 mix. The thing with the coco and perlite mix is the more perlite the more you have to water. When I did 100% coco dtw i watered every 2 days in veg adn every other day when they got real big.. with 50:50 I water daily or they get too dry.

veg time is all strain dependant

4:1 is really good ive tried it vegging a couple extra plants and it was much faster then 1:1 coco perlite. In this case i didnt have a hempy res so I watered 3 times a day and recirculated nutes; dtw isnt pracical unless you water at most once a day imo other wise your wasting tons of nutes and recirculating is easy with a good quality nute I use canna aqua and ionic for my perlite dominant mixes.


Thanks for taking the time to jump in and share and help me

i think i have a better understanding now, theres lots to learn and some options to consider

thanks

 

[SpyderMite]

I run dtw vert bulbs in perilite/coco/ hydroton 18-27 gal hempy tubs, feed once a day(sometimes everyother day when im lazy) with 20% runoff Plants 5-7 ft tall.
Ive been expermenting on which mix (i.e. perlite to coco/ perilite to chunky coco/ perilite to hydroton etc to use. So far the 60% chunky perilite 40% chunky coco and 50% hydroton 50% chunky coco are doing the best! theres a noticible diffrence in cola sizes and overall weight on plant. Im only at day 35 but i can see a diffrence.

It is very pratical to run dtw with large trees its just the more perilite u use the more often u will need to feed them. using a hempy bucket does help with that but as janus said perilite doent retain that much moisture. Hope this helps,

Confu.

it defiantly helps man. im learning alot here

Thanks alot

 

[mrdizzle]

10% coco 90% perlite, I would water untill run off at lights on, then 3 to 4 -1mins feeding throughout the 12hr cycle should keep things perfect without wasting a fuck ton of water

 

[SpyderMite]

10% coco 90% perlite, I would water untill run off at lights on, then 3 to 4 -1mins feeding throughout the 12hr cycle should keep things perfect without wasting a fuck ton of water

Thanks bro,
anythoughts on using canna Substra soft with tap water(its around 120ppm)?? or should i just stick with RO?

you guys have all been real helpful. i cant wait to finish my current grow and set this up. Ill get a nice camera and post pics and updates and im sure ill have a ton of more questions for all of you. this forum is pretty cool and real helpful

thanks

 

[iscrog4food]

10% coco 90% perlite, I would water untill run off at lights on, then 3 to 4 -1mins feeding throughout the 12hr cycle should keep things perfect without wasting a fuck ton of water

Dizzle,
you run this schedule in DTW? DO you have a hempy res at the bottom? What do you keep your ph at for this mix?

 

[iscrog4food]

Hey

Do you mind sharing some details about your current grow please?

Thanks in advance

I am growing 6 White widow with 6 1k digis (Phantoms). I vegged them about 4-5 weeks under a single 1000 MH and then switched them into the vert where I vegged another 12 days or so. I made the mistake of transplanting the same day I changed to the vert and it shocked the fuck out of them and slowed them down some. Dizzle says keep them in the container you will flower in for at least 2 weeks before flipping to 12/12. I use 27 gallon tuffbox containers (Like many of the other farmers) and I use 1 and a half bags of big perlite (Panrhoc 2.5 cu ft) to one block of coco. I am likely going to up the perlite in my next run if I dont go pure perlite ill do 10% coco like Dizzle suggested. Like I said before I only water every other day and they are still damp and no wilt every time so that is why I am gonna up the perlite to feed daily, multiple times. My worry is using coco with a recirc but DTW is super simple and I am loving it. ALso I have a "Hempy" res at the bottom of the bucket so I am sure this helps retain water. My Plants are about 25x25 when I flip to 12/12 and fully grown they are about twice that.

 

[Coxie]

I'm doing 100% perlite trees, 20 gallon brutes, dtw. Used to do mpb's, like dizzle, but hempy's, perlite and top feed are working way good for me. I top feed 3x per day, using a 100 gallon res, (not in the bud room), for 12 trees. This lasts for 3 days. I can remote view my meters for room temp, RH, and to see if all is ok from my webcam. My yields are almost as good as the mpb's, but now I'm almost assured of getting a harvest. With the mpb's, you can't depend on a harvest, as things can go bad too fast. This method is much easier, dependable and safe way for me to grow. Problems are easier to correct with hempy's too. I've had 4 successful runs in a row, with great yields. I'm sleeping much better these days as well, now that I don't worry about massive water leaks with pumps and fittings. Now I'm a dependable caregiver for my patients.