Hempy Bucket Basic Questions

Tony Aroma · Apr 6, 2008

I've been reading a lot on Hempy buckets, mostly on other forums, but I was hoping someone here might be able to answer a couple of simple questions. I have been growing for many years in soil but know next to nothing about hydro. So I hope these questions aren't too stupid.

I currently use organic soil with various amendments and add liquid Metanaturals veg and bloom nutrients to my water. But with a Hempy bucket, or any hydro, there are no nutrients in the medium so what's in the water is all the plants get. This makes me a bit uneasy, since in soil in addition to what I add, there are all kinds of other organic materials that I would guess provide various micronutrients. So my question is, can the plants survive and thrive on something like Metanaturals alone (with molasses for Ca & Mg)? Can you, or should you, add stuff like blood and bone meal or epsom salts to the perlite/vermiculite medium? Would a different organic solution be better?

Also, I grow from seed so I'm wondering about getting seedlings started before moving them to a bucket. I read somewhere about someone making a mini Hempy bucket out of a plastic cup and using that to start seeds. I've also read that some start in soil then rinse the roots before putting the seedlings into the buckets. What's the best (easiest, cheapest) way to start seeds for growing in a Hempy bucket?

hempybucquet · Apr 7, 2008

Hey Tony,

If you are an experienced soil grower, let me show you my take on the hempy bucket. It has worked well for me in my outdoor grows.

This idea came out of an article in CC mag....

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/1534.html

1: I take my pot, and fill in any holes in the bottom to make it watertight.
2: Bore a hole 2-3 inches from the bottom to serve as a drain.
3: Fill the pot 1 inch above the water hole with 100% perlite. (Use some screen or lava rocks to plug the hole so that your perlite does not wash out with each watering.)
4: Cover the Perlite with a 1/2 inch layer of coir fiber packed in gently.
5: Fill to the top of the "bucquet" with your normal soil mix.

In nature, the top third of the plant's roots are specialized for nutrient absorption, while the bottom 2/3rd explores deep into the earth looking for water..

My HempyBucquet recreates this environment. It allows the feeder roots to live in soil with all the microbes and other good beasties that make your trichomes taste so good. The coir layer acts as a filter and takes most of the non dissolved goodies out of the water, leaving a clear nute soup for those thirsty tap roots.

I guerrilla grow these low and bushy and they are super portable which allows me to keep ahead of hunters, loggers, etc. They were fed with stream water and fish emulsion, and molasses. (1 tablespoon each per gallon)

Head out to the field, mix up the ferts, and water slowly until the water runs out the vent hole. I watered once every 10-14 days as I was able. Ignorance is bliss I guess, never had any PH or feeding problems. As long as the deer didn't get them, they did as well as the bagseed genetics let them. :rasta:

So pack up a couple of these bad boys, use your soil and normal organics ferts, and let me know how it works for you!

TheBEAK · Apr 7, 2008

Looks like a great setup hempybucquet

I was wondering how big the pot was, for it to be able to be left alone for 10-14 days?

Tony Aroma · Apr 7, 2008

Mr. Bucquet,

That's a great idea and one I've never seen before. Kind of a hybrid soil/hydro approach that presumably offers the best of both worlds. A few questions:

Have you done any comparisons between your design and a normal soil grow or a "traditional" hempy bucket design? I was just wondering if the results would be more like soil or more like hydro or somewhere in between.

Also, I have only a vague awareness of what coir is. And I live in a small town and have no idea where to get it. If it's not available at KMart, WalMart, or Lowes, I'm pretty much out of luck. If its function is mainly to keep the layers separated, would window screen or something like that work?

Regardless, my next grow I'm definitely trying some form of Hempy bucket along side my normal organic soil. Thanks for the help.

Cali smoke · Apr 7, 2008

for seedlings you can start in rapid rooters or soil then transplant into hempy buckets.

hempybucquet · Apr 7, 2008

TheBEAK said:
Looks like a great setup hempybucquet

I was wondering how big the pot was, for it to be able to be left alone for 10-14 days?

5 Gallon buckets painted for camouflage in the field. :pimp3:

With the hole up a couple of inches they pretty much took 1 gal per plant to fill to the runoff point.

hempybucquet · Apr 7, 2008

Tony Aroma said:
Have you done any comparisons between your design and a normal soil grow or a "traditional" hempy bucket design? I was just wondering if the results would be more like soil or more like hydro or somewhere in between.

I have not, would be interesting. When I planned my first grow I needed something portable yet able to stand neglect. I liked the hempy concept, but wanted to stay organic and for security did not want to have to rely on any nute manufacturer.

Tony Aroma said:
Also, I have only a vague awareness of what coir is. And I live in a small town and have no idea where to get it. If it's not available at KMart, WalMart, or Lowes, I'm pretty much out of luck. If its function is mainly to keep the layers separated, would window screen or something like that work?

Coir are just fibers from coconut husks. They are inert and in this case are just a barrier and a filter. I buy them in a brick at a local nursery. I don't see any reason why fine screen or maybe polyester batting would be an easy substitute.

The goal is to separate the organics from the "water table". :headbange

Tony Aroma · Apr 8, 2008

Thanks for the info.

hempybucquet said:
Coir are just fibers from coconut husks. They are inert and in this case are just a barrier and a filter.

I was doing a little more reading on coir and found that, while they are inert nutrition-wise, they are supposed to be chock full of beneficial micro-organisms. So maybe they were contributing more to the success of your design than you suspected.

And I see you used 5-gallon buckets. I have 3-gallon buckets and they are only about 11 inches tall. I still think I could use the same design, just that my layers will be a bit compressed.

hempybucquet · Apr 8, 2008

Tony Aroma said:
And I see you used 5-gallon buckets. I have 3-gallon buckets and they are only about 11 inches tall. I still think I could use the same design, just that my layers will be a bit compressed.

Just keep to a 1/3rd soil - 2/3rds perlite ratio and I would think you should be fine whatever the container...

jiboia · May 8, 2008

Sup~

I want to make the bucket using pipes. I was thinking maybe those 4 inch diameter pipes so i can cramp all 10 of the Lowryder#2 under one light.

So the question is what the ideal height for these pipes? I calculated, if the height is at 2 feet, then the volume inside the cylinder would be about 1.3 gallons.

Would this be too tall? Will the roots have problems reaching the bottom?? Whats the ideal height for the hempy buckets??

messn'n'gommin' · May 8, 2008

Tony Aroma said:
I've been reading a lot on Hempy buckets, mostly on other forums, but I was hoping someone here might be able to answer a couple of simple questions. I have been growing for many years in soil but know next to nothing about hydro. So I hope these questions aren't too stupid.

I currently use organic soil with various amendments and add liquid Metanaturals veg and bloom nutrients to my water. But with a Hempy bucket, or any hydro, there are no nutrients in the medium so what's in the water is all the plants get. This makes me a bit uneasy, since in soil in addition to what I add, there are all kinds of other organic materials that I would guess provide various micronutrients. So my question is, can the plants survive and thrive on something like Metanaturals alone (with molasses for Ca & Mg)? Can you, or should you, add stuff like blood and bone meal or epsom salts to the perlite/vermiculite medium? Would a different organic solution be better?

I think that most nutrient concentrations sold will have most if not all the macro and micro nutrients found in soil and even then it shouldn't be all that difficult to correct what a particular company left out. Some companies also have an organic line as well. If nothing else, anyone can make there own organic teas and concentrations.

[QOUTE=Tony Aroma]Also, I grow from seed so I'm wondering about getting seedlings started before moving them to a bucket. I read somewhere about someone making a mini Hempy bucket out of a plastic cup and using that to start seeds. I've also read that some start in soil then rinse the roots before putting the seedlings into the buckets. What's the best (easiest, cheapest) way to start seeds for growing in a Hempy bucket?[/QUOTE]

Just use rockwool cubes or peat pellets, etc. and put the sprout or the rooted clone into the medium and cover the starter cube with whatever medium you're using.

BTW...I read Hempy's tutorial and it said to use a 3-4 part perlite to 1 part vermiculite mix. If nothing else you could use 100% perlite or in a pinch pumice/volcanic/lava rock.

hempybucquet · Jul 27, 2008

I have started a test grow with two identical clones to see how my hempybucquet compares to the traditional hempy.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=94461

Two weeks into the test and the soil/hydro "bucquet" is outperforming about 2 to 1.

spacecadet · Jul 27, 2008

you can buy coco at the pet stores it used for retile bedding thats what i use for my coco grows and have good luck using it all so i am fixing to test run some hempybuckets my self oh was thinking of a improvement to the bucket desine would be cool to add a level indicator like on the single water farm buckets so one where it need to be watered and all so to help drain it when needed

Dalaihempy · Aug 6, 2008

messn'n'gommin' said:
BTW...I read Hempy's tutorial and it said to use a 3-4 part perlite to 1 part vermiculite mix. If nothing else you could use 100% perlite or in a pinch pumice/volcanic/lava rock.

hi all well i need to correct you on this i say i my self like the perlite/vermic mix best and i also use 100% perlite you can use clay rocks coco coco/perlite and other mediums.

Dalaihempy · Aug 6, 2008

Tony Aroma said:
I've been reading a lot on Hempy buckets, mostly on other forums, but I was hoping someone here might be able to answer a couple of simple questions. I have been growing for many years in soil but know next to nothing about hydro. So I hope these questions aren't too stupid.?

Hydro is simple to understand you need to look at it like this the medium is used to anchor the plant and the nutrent is used to give the plant all it needs to grow.

Tony Aroma said:
I currently use organic soil with various amendments and add liquid Metanaturals veg and bloom nutrients to my water. But with a Hempy bucket, or any hydro, there are no nutrients in the medium so what's in the water is all the plants get. This makes me a bit uneasy, since in soil in addition to what I add, there are all kinds of other organic materials that I would guess provide various micronutrients. So my question is, can the plants survive and thrive on something like Metanaturals alone (with molasses for Ca & Mg)? Can you, or should you, add stuff like blood and bone meal or epsom salts to the perlite/vermiculite medium? Would a different organic solution be better??

You need to feed the plants why you give them nutrents hydro is very simple the only time things go wrong is if one over complicates things and if your water is or close to a nutreal 7ph and you follow the instructions on your nutrent bottle you dont have probleams.

Tony Aroma said:
Also, I grow from seed so I'm wondering about getting seedlings started before moving them to a bucket. I read somewhere about someone making a mini Hempy bucket out of a plastic cup and using that to start seeds. I've also read that some start in soil then rinse the roots before putting the seedlings into the buckets. What's the best (easiest, cheapest) way to start seeds for growing in a Hempy bucket?

Best way is to start them in RW or Coco starters if you grow them in soil you infact stress the plant by washing of soil and infact risk taking over nastys to the hydro medium also you can start them in smaller buckets but you need to understand that you can also stress the plant a little from the transplant to why i always start my new plants direct to the bucket i am going to grow them in the only time i transplant from smaller buckets to larger ones are mother plants im going to refresh and they can take 4 days to a week to recover some times.

messn'n'gommin' · Aug 6, 2008

Dalaihempy said:
hi all well i need to correct you on this i say i my self like the perlite/vermic mix best and i also use 100% perlite you can use clay rocks coco coco/perlite and other mediums.

I stand corrected, hempy. Thank you. Point well taken.

Namaste, mess

Sir_Stickybuds · Aug 9, 2008

yep hempy's are simple, so far i am using a 2-1 fine vermiculite/perlite mix and am using pure blend original nutrients at their stand alone dosage. plant is healthy and strong and much faster growing than its soil counterparts

Pharma Geddon · Aug 10, 2008

Once you try passive hydro imo there's a good chance you'll stick with it for life, it is so very easy but not without a few niggles that need to get sorted. I wouldn't bother doing any transplanting unless really pushed for space and btw, veg wattage makes a big difference to the final yield.

I found that any fault with the ec or pH takes about a week to show up. (My first go I had the mix too weak and the pH too low.) Small seedlings can take full strength nutes and light, the pic in my gallery is of seeds started under the 400w cmh and they have been getting full strength lucas formula from a week of sprouting.

I haven't yet noticed any difference in yield between hempy buckets or regular 11 litre square pots, doesn't mean that there isn't though, am still sorting out the setup. I've been using 100% perlite mainly and feeding every day. Have also used 100% Fytocell with equal results but best to avoid Fytocell if you use rockwool to start the seeds.

Res management is a dream, you only have to get it right once, haven't checked pH for months as it's the same quantities of micro, bloom and pH up into the same volume of ro water each time.

The run off is a sod though. I've now fitted drainage to the garden trays so it just flows away after feeding and drain to waste by its nature is more expensive on nutes but well worth the extra ime.

BigBlack81 · Aug 18, 2008

Pharma, can you use a wick system with the hempy buckets? And if so, how would you suggest going about it if you were to try it? I'm convinced the Dutch had the right idea in the first place; in overall terms, passive hydro is best. What you lack in raw power you gain in security once dialed in, so I'm trying to dig every thread I can on it so I can incorporate that into the designs. Passive hydro has such advantages that I think it's criminal considering the electricity issues we're facing to not be revisited and perfected once and for all.

Cannabis · Aug 19, 2008

BigBlack81 said:
Pharma, can you use a wick system with the hempy buckets? And if so, how would you suggest going about it if you were to try it? I'm convinced the Dutch had the right idea in the first place; in overall terms, passive hydro is best. What you lack in raw power you gain in security once dialed in, so I'm trying to dig every thread I can on it so I can incorporate that into the designs. Passive hydro has such advantages that I think it's criminal considering the electricity issues we're facing to not be revisited and perfected once and for all.

So true. If one fourth the work were put into maximising the returns & methods of using passive in general, the whole pot growing scene would take off like a rocket. How did it ever become "established fact" that pot's hard to grow? Takes all these over engineered, Spiders-With-Antlers configurations with radio antennae on both rear views like an 18 wheeler?

It's a sin.

How many people have looked at forums, gone ''OMG" and left never to come back when if they'd have seen how easy it is to just grow your own..... bah..

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