Verts an Hempy buckets

[HookedonPonics]

whats up everyone, im building a 12k Vert room and have been debating what route to go. So many options MPB's, UC, Coco Trees. im shooting for simplicity and something that works time and time again and right now dont really wanna risk plunging into the deep end with RDWC. Ive been researching hempy buckets and like the idea of them especially them being highly aerated and being able to feed several times a day. Has anyone done a similiar method with verts and tree growing. i searched the forum and hardly anything came up on larger hempys. also interested in what a 80% perlite 20% Coco ratio would do. i was thinking for my present setup 30g hempys and was wondering if this is too much and an estimate of around how many times a day id be feeding them once they fill the pots in. My room is 18x18 and wanted to do some pretty large centers. any input would be appreciated i remember dizzle had a few posts in a thread about this but i cant seem to find it now.

 

[HookedonPonics]

Also looking into making my own smart pots that hold around 30g and are about half the height and around 30" wide. hoping to promote more horizontal growth than vertical

 

[sedate]

I would do straight-up hydrobuckets before I would do hempy's.

In fact I clicked on this thread because I thought it said "verts an hydro buckets" ... which is how I grow.

Coco/Perlite < Hydro/DWC

Nevermind all that fucking coco and perlite is going to cost like $450.

A 12 outlet Active Aqua air pump, 50L of hydroton, 12 black PVC buckets, Net Lids, tubing, and airstones - $300 before the RO filter you need anyway.

And then you can reuse it again again again again - changing airstones and hydroton as needed.

Instead of another $450 for a fucking U-haul load of coco and perlite.

 

[HookedonPonics]

I understand this and no i am not trying to use hydroton i ran hydroton for 4 years back in the late 90's and never had the results i did from a perlite coco mix. also once again i am shooting for SIMPLICITY deep water culture is about as far from that as possible. this is one of many gardens and by far the smallest so im aiming to keep it as low maintenance as possible. And honestly whats 450 dollars in this business..? especially when it comes to something as important as medium. This is the most highly aerated mixture i could think of that isnt a water culture and isnt gonna turn into a nightmare if something (a pump or chiller etc) craps out and is left unattended for 24 hrs. anyone whos actually ran this mixture or something similiar wanna chime in?

 

[sedate]

I understand this and no i am not trying to use hydroton i ran hydroton for 4 years back in the late 90's and never had the results i did from a perlite coco mix

You could get hydroton in the 90's!? Who'd a thought.

Uhh - I mean in a netpot/lid for the buckets - obviously the majority of the bucket is water not hydroton.

I would sort of imagine rooting wholly into hydroton would produce anemic yields and growth rates.

also once again i am shooting for SIMPLICITY deep water culture is about as far from that as possible. this is one of many gardens and by far the smallest so im aiming to keep it as low maintenance as possible.

Well - then I suppose DWC would not be for you.

Buckets need daily pHing and are a fucking pain to move and change - so this I definitely get. I put 2ish hours a day into my 15-plant hydrobucket garden.

Very productive but if your time is spent divided up I get you.

This is the most highly aerated mixture i could think of that isnt a water culture and isnt gonna turn into a nightmare if something (a pump or chiller etc) craps out and is left unattended for 24 hrs. anyone whos actually ran this mixture or something similiar wanna chime in?

I mean I tried to xerox Dizzle's Booty Clappin thread but I couldn't do it - my results were shit and I lost - I dunno maybe $6000ish at least - I'm sure a few more runs woulda had it down pat but without the explosive veg growth of DWC I couldn't really get the method to work in the time-frames I needed.

And honestly whats 450 dollars in this business..? especially when it comes to something as important as medium.

Um. I'm at a point where I'm like a nice five-figures into my room - not including electricity month over month - and I really pretty much hate every fucking dollar I spend at the hydroshop. Every single fucking dollar.

One more thing - the coco/perlite is an impossibly perfect home for root aphids - I had a fuck of a time w/ 'em in that mix.

Anyway, for the coco/perlite mix, I recommend that you start here:

 

[HookedonPonics]

Dont take anything i said the wrong way no disrespect intended. and yes i agree completely a dollar saved is a dollar earned and im always down to save money but there are things i dont like to cut corners on unless im getting it from a wholesaler. and yes i used a expanded clay pebbles mixture in that time period it wasnt hydroton but a VERY similiar mixture and i know the hydroton comment had nothing to do with the DWC just stating i dont think my setup is meant for either. And between owning a business, a small fam and a few decent sized gardens that i run full time on my own my time is usually never for myself, which im sure you understand. On another note i just bought a small 12 site UC im gonna play around with in my garage with some extra equipment i have laying around collecting dust.. but dont plan on spending virtually anything on this one besides on some ionic nutes an electricity and once i get it dialed i might fully setup one of my real locations, who knows only time will tell. About the aphids ive had problems with those little fuckers the first two times i ran pure coco and now i ALWAYS give a preventive feeding once every now and then thru veg and early flower of a few diff products ive found worked for me , along with foliars weekly in veg for other buggers. Thanks for the link and ill pm you here in a second about a friend i have who owns an internet shop and seriously saved me around 15gs the last set up i did