The Official Hempy Bucket Thread

[hippie420]

So here is a really good one for those of you who want to try your hand in hydroponics but don't have a $$$$ budget... This is a very tried and tested method in the Cannabis Community and I hope you get great results with it and enjoy this thread... Please add any feedback pertaining to Hempy Buckets.

Hempy's Original Post:

"Hi every one i thought id add this system of growing I use and have used from the early to mid 80s. As most of you that know me will already know that im a believer in simplicity and things that work and I only really state facts that I have experienced from hands on.

I like the hempy bucket because of its simplicity and the price of the system (ITS FREE ) to make and has no moving parts that can fail and once the plant has started its root system you can basically water and forget it for 2 days or 3 depending on temps and you can grow any strain from sativa to indica in it .

I basically got the idea from my first hydro kit I ever got that was a tomato hydro kit and I found it really easy to understand. It was basically an aquaponic set up and the guy I had got it from I went back a few years later telling him about my creation and how I got it from his idear and the look on his face and smile sed it all ,Ive spoken to a few people in the hydro industry about it and they all tell me it wont work it will cause root rot so on well there all wrong because this method works and they say a picture is worth a 100 words right lol.

I AM NOT SAYING THIS METHOD IS THE BEST BUT What I am saying is its a option and a easy cheap way to grow hydroponically and nothing more, I have tryed a lot of methods and have all ways gone back to this.


To make a hempy bucket is simple all you need to do is this

Get your self a bucket any color but clear as you will end up with algy forming as the nutes react to the light .

The size of the bucket can very from 1 gal (4lt) to 5gal (20lt) roughly I personally like useing a 10 lt bucket and have had up to 19 oz cured yield from a single bucket but it depends on the strain and given pheno .

Once you have your bucket then get a drill and drill a drain hole in the side of the bucket about 2 inch from the bottom , The drain hole can be around 7/16.

And the medium i use is perlite/vermiculite at around 3 to 4 parts perlite to 1 part vermiculite.You can use volcanic rocks but personally I found the perlite / vermiculite a lot better in many ways.

All you need to do now is basically add the rooted clone or seedling water with nutes and thats it,I would water it daily until the tap root and root system has headed down to the res but once you see a desent growth rate id then start to water every 2 days.

The only thing wrong with it is you need to hand water and you get run off from the drain hole thats it and as far as checking your PH well the only time you need to do that is when you mix your nutes i like useing a PH of 6.2 PH .

If you want to ask me questions feel free .


Like I said im not stating this methods is the best just saying its a option and a free one and it works and works well ................hempy"

[hippie420]

So the hempy buckets have your attention, but you're still not sure exactly how everything works? Lets go ahead and do a minor tutorial in an effort to establish exactly what a hempy bucket really is. These pictures below were borrowed from JessE's album over at mrnice.nl.

So the first step of the hempy buckets is to have rooted clones or seedlings.



Here we have the clones, perlite and vermiculite. All the material you're going to need to set up the hempy buckets initially.



Perlite



Vermiculite



A bucket(3 gallons will usually do the trick)



Wetting the perlite before handling to avoid dust kick ups. Recommended to do the same thing to the vermiculite as well.



Adding the perlite. Add 3 parts of perlite for every 1 part of vermiculite.



And the vermiculite making its way into the mix. Be sure to mix both mediums together each time you do an initial 3:1 ratio.



Repeat the process until your container is full.



Punch a hole on the side of your bucket, around 2 inches from the bottom of the bucket.



Ok time to add your rooted clone or seedlings.



Just place them right under the surface.



So now lets go over the feeding schedule. You will want to have a good hydroponic based nutrient formula. Below are General Hydroponics products.



An empty gallon jug to mix the nutrients in.



Follow the directions on the back your fertilizer on how to mix the nutrients according to the plants life cycle needs.



Add the indicated amounts of each part of your feeding routine to the jug by following the directions on the back of the bottles/containers.



Fill the entire gallon up with water after mixing your nutrients.



Now feeding time. Generally you will feed the plants every 2-3 days, although some prefer to feed them every day. You should feed the plants at full strength from the beginning, as according to hempys directions. All you have to do is follow the basic outline hempy outlined and success will follow.



The run off from the bucket



And an idea of how the plants perform in the hempy buckets




And thats how Hempy Buckets are done! I hope this helps some new growers and pro's alike to learn something new by learning about something old... LOL