Hempy Buckets

[LexLuthor]

Wud up farmers, the past few days logic and whoever else has been fixing the site because of the recent attacks, so I've been surfing other sites and got some great info on hempy buckets. I was thinking of using 80/20 perlite/soil to get faster growth, but after reading about hempy bucks I decided to go that route since it seems so easy and I can get the hydro-like growth I'm after.

I don't see many people on this site using hempy bucks so I decided to start a thread on it to get more info and to let people know how easy it is to learn when transitioning from soil to hydro. Anybody with exp. using hempy's please let me know what you think and how you liked it.

I already got my seedlings in 50/50 perlite/soil and when I transplant they are going in pure perlite so anybody thats used hempy bucks just tell me your experience with them and feel free to post whatever you like about hempy's, like the type of nutes you use, the medium, and whatever else about hempy, I'm gonna post a "how to use hempy" but its not my tutorial, I'm gonna copy and past from another grower.

 

[LexLuthor]

Hempy tutorial (This is not my tutorial and I am NOT taking credit for this)

I'm not going to discuss anything but the most basic Hempy style here, as this is a thread for Hempy Newbies and Purists. I'll put up another thread for Hempy Variations.

Here's what you need to make a Hempy Bucket.

1. A bucket (2.5 gallons is a good starter size, but any size will do)
2. A drill or other hole making device - a hot nail works great too.
3. Perlite (any size will do - finer is better for the roots, but too fine will run out the hole. Most of the time even "course" grade comes with enough fine stuff)
4. Complete Hydro Nutes (GH Maxi Series, DM Gold, etc.)

First, measure 2" up from the bottom of your bucket, and drill a pencil sized hole:

Then, fill the bucket with perlite.

Add your favorite seedling or clone.

Water with 1/4 to 1/2 strength hydro nutes, and stop watering when you see a good stream of water coming out of the hole.

Depending on where you place your bucket, you might want a tray underneath to catch the run-off. Use the run-off in your garden or discard.

When you first transplant to the bucket, you will need to water daily, until the roots hit the "res" - you will then notice a happier plant.

It's impossible to overwater a perlite hempy, but try to only water when the bucket feels "light".

You can work your way up to full strength nutes, but I usually top out around 1000 PPM. I use nutes with every watering.

Happy Hempy Growing!!

 

[HoamGroan]

Ran a bunch of hempy of hempy grows using 3:1 perlite/vermiculite and the lucas formula worked out great. Also tried a few runs with coco hempys and lucas and it worked out great also.

 

[LexLuthor]

Nice plants, I'm gonna run a pure perlite hempy, because vermiculite is only used to improve water retention so you don't have to water as often. I don't mind watering 2-3 times a day if I have to, so I'll be using only perlite. I'm definately getting GH Flora Series so I can use the Lucas formula and also tweak my own formula's.

You said the coco hempy's worked out great, so could you give me more info about them, I want to learn as much about hempy's as possible, thanks alot.

 

[HoamGroan]

You said the coco hempy's worked out great, so could you give me more info about them, I want to learn as much about hempy's as possible, thanks alot.

Same thing as standard hempys, drain hole 2-3 inches from the bottom in a 2gal bucket. Fill the hempy with perlite up to the drain hole then coco for the rest. Will even work with a blumat setup.

 

[LexLuthor]

Same thing as standard hempys, drain hole 2-3 inches from the bottom in a 2gal bucket. Fill the hempy with perlite up to the drain hole then coco for the rest. Will even work with a blumat setup.

Oh, so you use perlite on the bottom then coco on top, that sounds like a good idea. I'll try coco after I learn how to do pure perlite 1st.

I got another question, from your exp. which type of perlite works better, the bigger course stuff or the smaller perlite?? I've heard conflicting opinions on this subject so I would like to hear what you think.

 

[HoamGroan]

I got another question, from your exp. which type of perlite works better, the bigger course stuff or the smaller perlite?? I've heard conflicting opinions on this subject so I would like to hear what you think.

I've always used the coarse stuff like its cheap and easy to find. I was ever able to find anything that was much smaller/finer locally. I've run the coarse stuff in smaller hempys and it worked just as well (see crappy pic). Not sure if it matters with fine vs. coarse when using just perlite.

 

[HoamGroan]

3. Perlite (any size will do - finer is better for the roots, but too fine will run out the hole. Most of the time even "course" grade comes with enough fine stuff)

Missed that first go around, found this to be true.

Also remember to wash/rinse the perlite before use or use a face mask!

 

[LexLuthor]

Thanks, the reason I was asking is because I can only get the Miracle Gro perlite at Lowes close by and that stuff is really small. I can also get the course perlite at the closest hydro shop (30 min drive). I'm gonna check out Home Depot, its a lil further then Lowes, but its closer then the hydro shop.

 

[HoamGroan]

Thanks, the reason I was asking is because I can only get the Miracle Gro perlite at Lowes close by and that stuff is really small. I can also get the course perlite at the closest hydro shop (30 min drive). I'm gonna check out Home Depot, its a lil further then Lowes, but its closer then the hydro shop.

Miracle Gro perlite will work fine, it just gets expensive when you need more than 1 bag.

 

[LexLuthor]

Miracle Gro perlite will work fine, it just gets expensive when you need more than 1 bag.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, I'm using four 3 gallon buckets so I need about 10-11 qts. per bucket. Miracle Gro perlite only comes in 8 qt. bags for $4, so I would need at least 6 bags just to fill 4 buckets, thats $24. I can go to the hydro shop and get a HUGE bag of perlite for $20-$25 and it'll probably fill ten 3 gallon buckets. I'll check out Home Depot and a couple other local spots to see what I can find before I take a 35 min drive out of town.

 

[joehank]

I think you guys are missing something here. From my understanding, a hempy bucket is a bucket inside of another bucket. The inside bucket holds your perlite mix or whatever you choose to use. This bucket also has lots of holes drilled into the bottom of it, that's why most peeps put a layer of hydroton down first so the perlite doesn't fall out. The bottom bucket is the one that has a hole drilled on the side about 2 inches up from the bottom( based on the size of the bucket you use). That is what creates the " resevoir" for the roots to find and sit in.
I could be wrong, but this is what I've found in my research

 

[HoamGroan]

I think you guys are missing something here. From my understanding, a hempy bucket is a bucket inside of another bucket. The inside bucket holds your perlite mix or whatever you choose to use. This bucket also has lots of holes drilled into the bottom of it, that's why most peeps put a layer of hydroton down first so the perlite doesn't fall out. The bottom bucket is the one that has a hole drilled on the side about 2 inches up from the bottom( based on the size of the bucket you use). That is what creates the " resevoir" for the roots to find and sit in.
I could be wrong, but this is what I've found in my research

Sounds like a passive plant killer (ppk) setup, not hempy. Hempys only have 1 hole and one bucket.

 

[joehank]

Check this out:
https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/flowamastas-600watt-uvb-1-plant-monster.46799/

This is one example of a Hempy bucket, and an very successful one at that...

 

[LexLuthor]

I think you guys are missing something here. From my understanding, a hempy bucket is a bucket inside of another bucket. The inside bucket holds your perlite mix or whatever you choose to use. This bucket also has lots of holes drilled into the bottom of it, that's why most peeps put a layer of hydroton down first so the perlite doesn't fall out. The bottom bucket is the one that has a hole drilled on the side about 2 inches up from the bottom( based on the size of the bucket you use). That is what creates the " resevoir" for the roots to find and sit in.
I could be wrong, but this is what I've found in my research

No bro, thats not the original Hempy. Did you read the hempy tutorial I posted above?? Its from a hempy pro on another site. There are ALOT of hempy bucket variations, I'm not exactly sure how Flowamasta does it, but it looks like he has netting in his bucket and I can't tell if he uses 1 or 2 buckets. It doesn't really matter how he does it because I'm talking about the true hempy buckets, not the new variations people invented. Thanks for posting though, peace.

 

[joehank]

Yes he has 2 buckets. In the method you posted, what stops the media from coming out of the hole? Also if you fill the entire bucket with perlite , won't it just continue to soak up any water below the drain hole? With media totally soaked at all times, wouldn't that be bad for roots as far as oxygen is concerned?
I'm not questioning your methods, just trying to understand a little better.

 

[LexLuthor]

Yes he has 2 buckets. In the method you posted, what stops the media from coming out of the hole? Also if you fill the entire bucket with perlite , won't it just continue to soak up any water below the drain hole? With media totally soaked at all times, wouldn't that be bad for roots as far as oxygen is concerned?
I'm not questioning your methods, just trying to understand a little better.

Your supposed to drill a hole 7/16 of an inch, so it won't come out the hole when its wet, and if a little perlite does come out its so insignificant it won't effect anything in a negative way.

Perlite does not retain water that good when compared to coco or soil, so it drains out the hole and the water below the hole is the res. Perlite will wick (soak) some water from the res, but the roots actually "drink" faster then the perlite can wick so it works out perfectly. There is no concern for lack of oxygen, like I said before perlite does not retain water as good as soil and coco, and I've never seen a problem with roots when grown in coco or soil. The perlite actually holds more oxygen then soil and coco when saturated, let me show you a chart that shows the water to air ratio of different mediums when saturated with water.

Notice how perlite holds just about the same percentage of water and air, so roots will not have a problem with lack of oxygen, they won't have any issues with lack of water either because of the res below the hole.

 

[closetgardener]

im curious enough to give it a try.so thanks for showing me.......peace

 

[LexLuthor]

im curious enough to give it a try.so thanks for showing me.......peace

No prob, I can't wait til I start my hempy buckets, I just gotta wait til I sex my plants because I don't wanna waste perlite and time on male plants. Do some more research about it and good luck bro.

 

[619ster]

I can veg for up to 3 months in a solo cup using hempy :)

Just throwing that out there for those who like to sex plants before transplanting. I use pure coco, but have used soil (dirty hempy), perlite, coco and mixes of all of those.