Why are you supposed to wash/rinse your perlite before using it in hempy? I did not know you were supposed to do that when I started my hempy grow, so far no problems that I can see.
I wash it initially to get rid of all the dust. I wash it after a grow to wash-off all the old ferts.
I was led to believe that if it was not washed then you could have lockout issues in flower. I am in week five flower and have not seen any issues yet.
And the left over dust can clog your screen and turn to mud on the bottom of your bucket. No one says you have to but you should.
If you don't wash it look in the bottom of your bucket after the grow to see the cement-like substance that is caked all over. That was enough for me to wanna rinse it, even though it is by far the biggest pain in the ass as anything I do with growing.
That's the part I don't get though. Why bother washing it if it is not going to cause problems with your grow? I don't get it.
that mud is the problem it can trap nutrients so that they don't get flushed out proper and release random things all willy-nilly and cause lockouts
Sand (or silt) + gravel + water = cement. Fine particle dust + water = plaster. Left over nutes cause lock out. Bottom line, wash your medium.
I thought is was to prevent dust while you handle it because the dust is VERY bad for you(vermiculite even more so and it is why it is no longer recommended and hard to find). Even if you rinse it before using, it will break down and creat the dust which will eventually wash down to the bottom of the container. Washing after using it should be done if you plan to use it again so its clean of any nutrient buildup. I do not know if these are facts, just ideas that make sense to me and what I have heard.
Exactly right Look at the bottom of the bucket when you harvest and you'll probably notice white pasty substance on the bottom. You might even notice white run off when you flush. These don't always cause issues but it is more likely to cause one and the problem can be easily avoided but rinsing. I had to show this to the wife because she rinsed some and made buckets a while ago and we started having minor issues. I noticed the build up on the screen about mid way through flower. After harvest I pulled the plants out and you could easily see the paste on the bottom. Now the misses understands to rinse the shit out of the perlite, then mix it around, and rinse the shit out of it again. Can never rinse it to much. Once the run off water of the perlite is clean, flip it around and do it all over again until no matter what you get clean clear run off BEFORE you put it in the bucket. Also, the smaller perlite seems to cause this problem more than the coarse. Not exactly sure why that is, but it is def harder to rinse and avoid the build up in the bottom of the buckets with the smaller grained perlite found at your average garden center vs coarse found at hydro shops. Also a dust mask never hurts when rinsing perlite or handling verm.
Dude who would want to chance it anyway? Clean is always better. I'm all for preventative maintenance! Besides how long would it actually take ? Not a big task at all... Idk that's how I feel anyway! asssit:
Rinse it It is a pain in the ass, especially if you are growing more than a few plants. I had 8 3 gallon buckets going at one point, all hempy. That's 5 full 5 gallon buckets of rinsed perlite. The only way to go is with a sprayer of some kind and agitation. I've used the shower, sink sprayer and hose. Hose is most efficient for large quantities. This is why I switched to RDWC.
The easy way is to buy the larger grade you can find at some nurserys. most of the perlite peices are no less than 1/8 and as big as 1/4 inch in diameter. It rinses very quickly.opcorn-2:
I usually run about 8-12 5 gallons at a time. The easiest way I have found is to take a 20ish gallon totes, drill holes in the bottom......lots and lots of holes...... and then place that on top of scrap 2x4's to lift off the ground and allow for drainage and go to town with a garden hose. Usually takes about 10-15 minutes per big bag of perlite which makes about 5 5gal buckets. You will see the water run white then clear, after it runs clear for a minute I stir up the perlite and repeat until no matter how many times I stir up the perlite it runs clean. I'm considering taking a jig-saw and cutting the bottom out completely of the tote and hot gluing a screen in the bottom to allow for faster drainage. My only fear with is that either the screen or glue might not hold....but someone has gotta try it. I remember a time when I used a spagh strainer to rinse, much cleaner product, but it took forever!!! The biggest bitch about hempys imho is the perlite after the run....my neighbors think I'm half crazy because I'm forever churning perlite into my gardens...but trust me, when you go through 1.5-2 bags a month...it starts to become a pain in the ass on where to take it
