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Hempy Buckets

S

streetbmx

Has anyone ever tried these/even heard of them? Search google for "hempy buckets" and you will be linked to quite a few (mj) forums about this hydroponic growing method. This is one of the better, more complete threads that I have come across (http://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/59705-hempy-collective.html)

Basically its a bucket, maybe 5 gallon, maybe ANY other size, with one hole drilled on the side of the bucket generally 1-2 inches from the bottom, depending on the size of the bucket. The growing medium can probably be any non-soil medium, hydroton, perlite, perlite/vermiculite, etc. Then you manually water the plant with a hydroponic nutrient solution of your choice, until the solution just bearly over flows out of the hole, several times a day to once every couple day depending on the water retention of your medium. The portion of the bucket below the hole that was drilled will be your reservoir from which the plants roots will feed from when your are not watering.

I thought this sounded pretty neat, simple, and cheap and I'm going to try it. Im currently germinating a bhut seed in perlite. I have on order a kit of GH Flora 3-part. I didnt use a bucket, with a hole, but at wallworld I found a pot called the "plant spa" which is essentially the same thing, in a nicer commercial design, except that I will be top watering rather than bottom watering as the label suggests.

Can anyone provide thoughts on this method with growing chilies?
 
Sounds bass ackwards to me. I can take a 5-gallon bucket, drill a hole in the lid and stick a basket in it. Drill a hole a few inches from the top in the side and run an air hose through it to feed a bubbler. Add nuits once a day and be done with it.

Mike
 
Thats what I was going to do, but further research I read that dwc is not as forgiving for a hydro noob as some other methods. ie root/stem rot and ph fluctuations as the system recirculates the water...
 
What do you mean? Root rot and Ph fluctuations are characteristic of all hydro systems and not specific to DWC; both of these problems are easy to control in any hydro system.
 
That sounds like a good system if you do not want to deal with pumps.
Do 1/4 or less of their max strength in tap water for starters and it may just work fine.
 
streetbmx said:
Thats what I was going to do, but further research I read that dwc is not as forgiving for a hydro noob as some other methods. ie root/stem rot and ph fluctuations as the system recirculates the water...
Click to expand...
DWC systems don't recirculate. Root rot is caused by either virus or lack of oxygenation. Both are easily prevented in any type of hydroponics.

I would suggest that you learn a lot more about hydroponics before building a system, unless you can afford the cost of failure.

As for types of hydroponics:

Ebb and Flow (fill and drain), DWC (deep water culture), NFT (Nutrient Flow Technique), Drip, aeroponics, and hybrids of two or more of these types.

Hybrid systems that use both NFT and Drip are becoming pretty common. The systems compliment each other.

Good luck in your experiments.
 
Hempy buckets are AWESOME and I can highly recommend them. I just started a sh!tload.
 
In my case, a "real" Hydro system with a tank would not be viable. It's scorching hot where I am, the water would still go bad and grow all kinds of stuff. Worse, I would not have an easy way to exchange 125L of water in the tank every week or two. (No drain on balcony). This would be a pain in the ass with a hose from from the bathroom etc.
 
Hempies are like a manual hydro system and the results are amazing. What's good about it, the classic Hempies are 4:1 Perlite/Vermiculite. You can experiment with this because more Perlite means more drainage, more Vermiculite means more water retention. But the original 4:1 formula I think is perfect.
 
I also had sort-of a Hempy system set-up with small, external containers. (Normal pots set in containers, as opposed to pots with closed bottoms and a hole on the side). The issue here is that Hempies are of course entirely passive, there is no aeration of the water etc. So if the external container is a little too big so that the water sits there too long ("too long" I'd say 3 days) you will run into massive problems like algae, root rot etc. The art is either use real Hempies (where the reservoir is about 5cm high INSIDE the pot)....or only a slightly larger outer reservoir than the actual pot. They must drink the water in two days max so it doesn't have a chance to become stale and oxygen depleted. (If you must use larger containers you can also fill them with stones etc. so that the capacity of this "tank" is only a little more than if it were inside the pot, without outer container)
 
You water them "normal" like you were growing in soil, you can give normal hydro nutes. I like GH Floranova Bloom although I still have the GH Trio set. Don't even need to ph the water, FNB does this already pretty well.
 
hemp.png

(Left: Hempy bucket, with a hole        Right: Normal planter with holes at the bottom, sitting in a tray. Can even be a air pot or tex-pot. This is even better since you can combine air-pot/tex-pot with Hempies)
 
>>
Basically its a bucket, maybe 5 gallon
>>
They will become MONSTERS, you don't need large pots with Hempies at all. 5 gal would already be very big, IMHO. The peppers I grew last season, the biggest ones were those which I grew in 1L pots! (In soil). Don't ask me why. So for my new Hempy setup now I put them all in 2.2L pots which is 0.6gal. I will also put some in 0.8gal pots. Definitely no need to use very large pots.
 
Here's my opinion.  I've done a couple of Hempies with coco coir and perlite.  I was a newbie.  For me, that's where Hempy buckets belong.  They are fun toys for newbies, and useful innovations for underdeveloped nations, but it's just a fast and lazy way to grow. (or a way to grow where there is no land or useable soil)
 
For a couple of those replies, there were some that neither know what this system is, nor took the time to even briefly familiarize.  DWC is roots in water.  Hempy is a cross between DTW (drain to waste) and sub-irrigated.  It works best for short grow cycles, as you accumulate salts in the bottom of the bucket.  It is not a good system to use with organics.

Because it is so limited in scope, I don't rate it.  In fact, it's really a great tool for somebody wanting to grow some cheap skunk bud in a hurry in their apartment, but I wouldn't grow food with it. 

I suppose it would be a great way to crank out crop after crop of bland tasting peppers, but you would ideally want to treat the pepper plants you produce as you would determinate tomatoes - aim for a maximum first harvest, and then cull the plant, start over.
 
Same basic design as these? I had used one of these from Lowes 3 or 4 years ago... (slightly different than the one pictured, but same concept)
 
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dynamic-Design-Newbury-12-in-x-12-in-Lotus-Green-Self-Watering-Poly-Planter-NS1208LO/203629983
b6abda71-d89f-44cb-b733-5490b2af3a07_400.jpg

 
Comes in plenty of sizes, shapes, and color options: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dynamic-Design-Newbury-16-in-x-16-in-Black-Self-Watering-Poly-Planter-NS1606BK/203629990
 
And doesn't cost too much either.
 
Basically, even though you can't see it from the pictures, there is a platform that holds the soil up about two inches from the bottom of the planter. The soil wicks up the water. Petty simple. And no, doesn't have to be soil.
 
 
 
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Yeah, that's basically it.
 
The DIY Hempy is a 5 gallon bucket with a 1/4" hole drilled about 2" up, and filled with perlite up to the hole. (maybe just a bit beyond)  Coco coir is added for the rest of the volume.
 
Advantage:  You can start seeds directly in Hempy, and you can rinse your coco coir directly in the Hempy, simple, grows fast (like all hydro)
Disadvantage: bad taste (like most hydro), the inability to rinse out the crud at the bottom of the bucket.  (thus necessitating a short grow cycle and full rinse), incompatible with organics.
 
 
Good points with the pros and cons! It holds true in canna as well, especially the growth vs taste parts. I wonder if the taste loss would be noticeable with all veggies...
 
 
 
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solid7 said:
I suppose it would be a great way to crank out crop after crop of bland tasting peppers, but you would ideally want to treat the pepper plants you produce as you would determinate tomatoes - aim for a maximum first harvest, and then cull the plant, start over.
Click to expand...
 
I am wondering why you say the peppers grown in Hempies would be "bland tasting"? Wouldn't the taste be ultimately decided by what kind of nutrients you use? (Among other things, like your lights etc.)
I see no logical reason why peppers from Hempies would be worse than, say, peppers grown in an actual active hydro system.
 
I think Hempies are a real good alternative where a "real" Hydro setup can not work (for whatever reasons), they combine the easiness of soil with hydro.
For me, the biggest advantage of soilless/hydro/Hempies is that I have full control over what I give the plants. This was not the case when I grew all organic, it started already with the ph of the potting mix which (IN MY OPINION) was way too high, at 7.2ph. Here, with Hempies I make my watering/nute solution and I know it's always down in the correct range.
 
it is also my understanding that the difference between Hydro/"organic" doesn't matter so much with peppers as it would with "medical plants", but I might be wrong. There are lots of posts of people who grow peppers hydroponically and I haven't seen one where someone said the peppers turned out bland, bad, poor etc. I just at some time reached the point where I got fed-up with organics/soil...lots of problem, yellow leaves, bugs etc...
 
I can't help what other people say.  I have grown many crops of fruits and veggies hydroponically.  Doesn't matter what nutrients I use, nor what trace elements or organic supplements I add near the end of the grow, I never liked the taste of the hydro stuff.  It was only good for me for bumper crops.  Grows nice and fast, but never quite up to par on taste.  I'm really not the only person who has made this comment, so it's unlikely that my opinion is an isolated one...
 
I'm not going to open this up into a thread of organic vs. everything else.  I'm just going to end it by saying that organic not only works well for me, but best.
 
Hempy buckets work fine for growing in a pinch.  However, if you have good soil, and a long enough season to utilize it, Hempy is just an indulgence.
 
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