Hempy bucket ph problem

So I though Id post this in it's own thread...

I'm doing a hempy grow and I've been having some ph issues, I think at least. I've never done this type of grow before.

My problem is that that the runoff water from the buckets is coming out ph 7.5 or so but the water I'm watering with is ph 6.0. I discovers this a few days ago and so I flushed with ph'd 6.0 water (about a gallon for each 2.5 gallon bucket)

I think it might be that I forgot to wash the perlite before I put the plants in. Can that be it?

Is there anything I can do? The roots aren't very extensive and there in rockwool so I could probably take them out and flush the perlite. But Id rather only do that if I have to.

I ran into the problem recently on a plant. i'm reasonably sure it was due to watering too often with excess bloom nutes. I'd check the ppm of the runoff as well as the pH. Mine was running off at about 800 ppm and the pH was +7.5. she has recovered mostly though the runoff is still showing a pH of 6.4. i'm a newb at Hempys too. good luck.

You shouldnt be worried about runoff p.h. too much. Just make sure its the right p.h. when you water it. rockwool is not the best to use in a hempy bucket because it retains too much water. Rockwool that has not been "flushed" will cause your p.h. to be higher than you want it to be.

*If your roots are that small they dont need too many nutrients yet, which also means you really dont need to worry about p.h. yet.

I never thought that the rockwool might be to blame. I haven't started them nutes yet and I'll prbly wait a few weeks till I do that. Isn't the runoff an indicator of what the ph of the rez/the perlite is?

I've only done one grow and it turned out ok but I did learn that paying attention to the tiny details makes all the difference.


Are those English bulldog puppies in your pic? Dude I wanna get one! Their the coolest dogs

Bro, I wouldn't even bother with rockwool ever, it just does crazy PH stuff. I do a hempy setup and I just go from cutting to Rapid Rooter to a hempy party cup when it starts to root then on to the big hempy bucket.

Ok so the rockwool might be screwing things up. They haven't grown much in the past week, and there still only an inch or two tall. Can I take them out of the rock wool and just out put them straight in the perlite/vermiculite? There still only a week and a half old.

DON'T attempt to remove them from the rockwool! you'll likely damage them at this stage.

I have been doing hempy for about my last 5 grows and I love it. I am no fan of rockwool either. Retains wat too much water and the whole idea behind the hempy is to have a dry medium except for the res at the bottom. I use 80/20% perlite /vermiculite mix. The vermiculite gives the roots something to hold on to so the plants do not fall over. I use fogponics to clone and root and then straight into hempy cups.

So what do you use instead of rockwool in hempy bucket grows? Can you just put the germed seed straight into the perlite/vermiculite?

I'm gonna keep things the same for this grow but I wanna keep going with hempy buckets on my next grows. I've got like 20 seeds to work with. with all these promos attitude keeps having.

Straight into the perlite/vermiculite. Here is a picture of a WW I have going now. Germed and planted straight into my mix.

Cruddy picture is too small - I will try again.

That's better. :-}

What nutes are you using?

I use pureblendpro grow and bloom with my hempys and the run off is usually 5.8-6.1

I am currently using Dutch Masters Grow A&B - Bloom A&B - Grow Max & Bloom Max. For flowering Supplements I am using Open Sesame, Beastie Bloomz and Cha-Ching.

So the high ph in the runoff must of been from the rockwool. I forgot to flush em before I put the seeds in. There just so small still, they grew alot for the first week but now it seems they've slowed down. I wish I would have started in a small bucket then transfered over like you did. I figure once the roots reach the rez they should start growing like crazy.

Yes, there is nothing like the satisfaction you get when the roots hit the res and explode with growth..

So when is the best time to start nutes? Is it by age or size?

I start 1/2 strength nutes as soon as they are well rooted. Once they hit the res I switch to full strength. I hear so many people saying to wait to feed. I understand that this is true for seedlings but unless you are foliar feeding they will start to yellow on you or bleach out without any nutrients. It is not like growing in soil where there are some nutrients already available.

That would explain some things. They do seem stunted in growth and are slightly yellow. I've never done a hempy grow, I'm just used to soil grows.


Also, can I use hydroponic nutes for a hempy grow? I'm using general hydroponics floragro nutes.

youre supposed to use hydro nutes for hempys