Boocoodinkydow
Active member
LET’S GET IT OPERATIONAL.....
Of course the key ingredient is the perlite. I live in a judicially intolerate state with no grow shops available. Perlite isn’t real popular in my little podunck town so sources are limited. I was initially ordering through amazon but only small quantities were available and shipping was expensive (prior to prime). About a year ago my local Home Depot started stocking this 2 cubic feet bags at a reasonable price.
I’ve found it to be of acceptable quality and size. It’s not excessively dusty but do take proper precautions when pouring it up. Inhaling dust from perlite is not healthy for children and other living things. I’ve seen some actually rinsing perlite prior to use but I’ve never seen the necessity of this. Perhaps someone can enlighten me. When using a large amount, however, I generally slowly moisten it in the bag prior to pouring it up.
My basin is roughly 3 cubic feet so I initially pour one bag in and add premixed water/nutrient solution at full strength. The perlite will float until it reaches full saturation so I let it rest overnight. The next day I top the basin off with more perlite.
At this point, I fill my drum reservoir with premixed nutrient and activate the float to bring the solution up to operating level. I’ve found that the 6” depth for the perlite is to my liking with the solution level of 4” as the sweet spot. Many Swick users are bringing water level up to within 1” of the top of the perlite level for soil mediums. I’ve found my coco/perlite grow medium more proficient in wicking moisture so the 2” barrier region is necessary to avoid excessive moisture content in my rag bags.
I’m really anal about preventing light infiltration of my perlite. I’ve only cleaned my basin and reservoir once, after 6 months of use. It was remarkably absent of any slime, discoloration, unpleasant odors or evidence of buildup of salts and I feel keeping it covered may be largely responsible for this.
The Reflectix is a good choice for this chore. It’s durable, moisture proof and highly reflective. I simply cut a hole in the covering to accommodate full contact between my rag bags and the perlite in the Swick basin. All of this is salvage from an experimental 6’ diameter grow box I built using Reflectix for the walls. It was an attempt at a donut style vertical grow that failed miserably.
So there she is, ready to go to work!
Next we’ll explore the bumpy road that has brought me to this point. It ain’t been pretty!!
To be continued.....
Of course the key ingredient is the perlite. I live in a judicially intolerate state with no grow shops available. Perlite isn’t real popular in my little podunck town so sources are limited. I was initially ordering through amazon but only small quantities were available and shipping was expensive (prior to prime). About a year ago my local Home Depot started stocking this 2 cubic feet bags at a reasonable price.
I’ve found it to be of acceptable quality and size. It’s not excessively dusty but do take proper precautions when pouring it up. Inhaling dust from perlite is not healthy for children and other living things. I’ve seen some actually rinsing perlite prior to use but I’ve never seen the necessity of this. Perhaps someone can enlighten me. When using a large amount, however, I generally slowly moisten it in the bag prior to pouring it up.
My basin is roughly 3 cubic feet so I initially pour one bag in and add premixed water/nutrient solution at full strength. The perlite will float until it reaches full saturation so I let it rest overnight. The next day I top the basin off with more perlite.
At this point, I fill my drum reservoir with premixed nutrient and activate the float to bring the solution up to operating level. I’ve found that the 6” depth for the perlite is to my liking with the solution level of 4” as the sweet spot. Many Swick users are bringing water level up to within 1” of the top of the perlite level for soil mediums. I’ve found my coco/perlite grow medium more proficient in wicking moisture so the 2” barrier region is necessary to avoid excessive moisture content in my rag bags.
I’m really anal about preventing light infiltration of my perlite. I’ve only cleaned my basin and reservoir once, after 6 months of use. It was remarkably absent of any slime, discoloration, unpleasant odors or evidence of buildup of salts and I feel keeping it covered may be largely responsible for this.
The Reflectix is a good choice for this chore. It’s durable, moisture proof and highly reflective. I simply cut a hole in the covering to accommodate full contact between my rag bags and the perlite in the Swick basin. All of this is salvage from an experimental 6’ diameter grow box I built using Reflectix for the walls. It was an attempt at a donut style vertical grow that failed miserably.
So there she is, ready to go to work!
Next we’ll explore the bumpy road that has brought me to this point. It ain’t been pretty!!
To be continued.....
…….
