The Official Hempy Bucket Thread

[palmero]

Salt build up and PH?

Salt build up and PH?

....This method requires regular flushing. I recommend you avoid letting the bucket go dry. Instead water with less water but more frequency. I water 4 times a day just until I see runoff coming out of all pots, then I stop the water - probably 30 seconds or so. It results in about 1/4 of the runoff I would look for if I was watering daily.

...
For example, if you start with plain water with a pH above 7 and add nutrients and correct pH to 6.2, and your runoff pH is 5.5. That means you must have had lots of salts sitting around that were mixed into your most recent watering so your recent feed not only had a pH out of range, but was too strong. If the pH rose to 6.8, your probably not feeding your plants enough.

The whole thing about allowing some runoff every time you water is to keep a stable pH. So, if you are putting in the correct pH and strength of nutrients every time, you don't have to worry about what is coming out in the runoff.

Ok guys 1st thanks alot for all the valuable info in this thread.

I am experiencing fast yellowing older leafes with my outdoor Hempys, 5 weeks into flowering. @ the moment much worse than you can see in the attached picture. The yellowing climbs upwards.

First i tried epsom salt (1/3 Tsp a gallon); darker new leafes but no help for the older ones.
Measuring run off starting with 100ppm (0.5 conversion) and PH 6.0 resulted with different plants in a range between 400 and 1000 ppm(@ 0.5). PH of all plants was nailed @6.0.

The ppms could be salt build up but do you have any ideas about the PH result???
I am using mountain water PH 6.7 @ 50 ppm with GH Flora 0/8/16.

What to do? A good flush?

Thanks for your help.
Saludos

 

[the 45 king]

I recently had yellowing at the bottom because of undewatering from the 100 degree temps.
Bottom leaves just fell off and no issues since.

 

[nerd4life]

i was doing a little research on the hempy style grow. I saw some growers growing in relatively small pots but getting decent or over achieved yields. I was wondering how would setting up some 5 gal buckets hempy style and then setting up the lights vertically would work?

Has that ever been done before?

I know folks that use the hempy style system they usually do it in small buckets, usually 3 gals the most. But would yield double with 5 gal especially when having the lights hanging vertically?

I have 2 600w ballast but was thinking about upgrading to a 1000w.

Opinions and feedback are gladly appreciated.

 

[Capt.Ahab]

Hey Nerd4life.
I say give it a shot although Im not sure that a larger bucket would simply result in larger yields unless you veg for a longer period.
Personally from my experience I think 5 gallon buckets are overkill but may have some advantages over smaller ones. If you are planning on growing large plants the 5 gallon buckets will give you more stability. I had plants wanting to fall over in 2 1/2 gallon buckets towards the end due to being top heavy.
From my limited experience with Hempys I would be concerned with the amount of time it would take for the roots to hit the reservoir. I had small plants in 3 gallon buckets in my last grow that didnt really seem to send a lot of roots into the reservoir. The plant/medium ratio was off by too much. The plants seemed to have more space in the medium than they needed.
My other concern would be the amount of nutes you would need to use to fill the reservoir in each bucket and is the larger bucket worth the added cost vs yield ?
I dont have any experience with vertical lighting.

 

[bobman]

i was doing a little research on the hempy style grow. I saw some growers growing in relatively small pots but getting decent or over achieved yields. I was wondering how would setting up some 5 gal buckets hempy style and then setting up the lights vertically would work?

Has that ever been done before?

I know folks that use the hempy style system they usually do it in small buckets, usually 3 gals the most. But would yield double with 5 gal especially when having the lights hanging vertically?

I have 2 600w ballast but was thinking about upgrading to a 1000w.

Opinions and feedback are gladly appreciated.

i have done 5 gallon, 3 gallon and right now i am 3 weeks into flower with 2 liter coke bottles and 1 gallon gh nute bottles with the tops cut off. i do perlite only hempies and have been growing this way 4 about 3 years. i flower when the plants r 18-24 inches tall and the tops have been pinched over several times so they r bushy. couple of things i am noticing.

5 and even 3 gallon pots are overkill for my method. i am not sure if its the type of plastic or shape of the bucket my plants really explode in solo cups and 2 liter bottles. i know you can do what u r thinking but i would pot up to get the fastest growth. i would go solo cups to 2 liter or one gallon then go to 2 or 3 gallon then to the 5 gallon. hempy seems to do best when they can grow roots into a small area fastest. at least in my experience.

 

[bobman]

let me also add. i do not expect any yield difference from the 1, 3, and 5 gallon with my method. for anyone doing all perlite more narrow tall small buckets do better. vermiculite wicks great but without it the surface area of a big bucket makes it get to dry near the surface. smaller more narrow buckets help keep the moisture near the top.

 

[RetroGrow]

i was doing a little research on the hempy style grow. I saw some growers growing in relatively small pots but getting decent or over achieved yields. I was wondering how would setting up some 5 gal buckets hempy style and then setting up the lights vertically would work?

Has that ever been done before?

I know folks that use the hempy style system they usually do it in small buckets, usually 3 gals the most. But would yield double with 5 gal especially when having the lights hanging vertically?

I have 2 600w ballast but was thinking about upgrading to a 1000w.

Opinions and feedback are gladly appreciated.

Vertical lighting will have more effect than larger buckets. In Hempys, bucket size doesn't mean as much. A two gallon bucket will yield great (6-12 ounces) if you pump them with nutes daily. I find that the plants grow much bigger if you water 'till runoff every day, creating hydro roots, rather than go with larger buckets and watering less frequently. I have done it both ways, and got bigger plants in 2 gallon buckets by watering/feeding daily. However it is more labor intensive. Hempy uses 2.5 gallon buckets. That should tell you something. Advantage of 5 gallon buckets? Less maintenance, and plants don't fall over from being top heavy like they are prone to do in 2 gallon buckets.

 

[nerd4life]

Ok thanks for the advice retro. is there any grower on here that does hempy style vertically?

 

[Warped1]

What kind of space do you have n4l?

 

[kushie]

Excellent thread

 

[Warped1]

Excellent thread

Yea

 

[the 45 king]

Ultimix at day 49 and femaleseeds c99 at day 31 of 12/12. I believe the high heat and underwatering took a toll on the ultimix but it's surviving.

 

[masamaaso]

This Is my first grow with hempy buckets and I luv it,,probly wont change from this method for a long time,,I like everything it has to offer and my plants do well in them.
I also grow outdoors, and Ive got um in 3 4 and 5 gal buckets and yea the 5 gal do get bigger and bushier but are also a pain in the ass to take care of,, for me,,,the 3 gals are just alot easier to maintain,,and as far as grow results go ,,these are 9 weeks in their hempys, outdoor grown 8'N in the rainy season.

 

[grassott's dad]

Here's my mate's 400w hempy grow which he grew a while back. The strain is Shiva Shanti II...

 

[nerd4life]

What kind of space do you have n4l?

we are using a a small room, that's about 6x8. We are definately gonna do hydro. But i have my mind on either dwc hanging vertically or hempy verts. At first we were going to do a rdwc but not only is it complicated you need a lot of capital to start it off and we don't have that yet. I just wanna get the most yield possible out of that small space. which way you think is better?

 

[bobman]

we are using a a small room, that's about 6x8. We are definately gonna do hydro. But i have my mind on either dwc hanging vertically or hempy verts. At first we were going to do a rdwc but not only is it complicated you need a lot of capital to start it off and we don't have that yet. I just wanna get the most yield possible out of that small space. which way you think is better?

how much growing experience do you have? seeds or clones?

 

[nerd4life]

^^^^ this is going to be my second grow. My first grow was a bit of a bust but it was in a closet. So in that short span of time i went from a closet to a small mini room. All my plants were from seeds. Lol I live in the eastcoast buddy can't find nobody with clones to give me lol.

 

[bobman]

walk before you can run. you need to concentrate on other factors i.e. light and temps. that's where i would put my money if i was you. i would do soil amended with tons of perlite if i was you unless you have a mentor. you need to learn how to read plants. soil will yield just fine. seedlings can be tricky enough. did you plan on starting them in soil at least?

starting seedlings in hempy can be tricky so i would have a ph meter handy, normally i do not use one but with seedlings ph is more vital and your feeding ratios will be weaker so ph will be higher and need adjusting. if you are dead set on this i would start them in soil then transplant into hempy.

i live on the east coast as well its not that hard to get clones. thats how i started 20 years ago.

 

[nerd4life]

^^^ for some nice elite cuts it hard. I don't know anyone who grows out here only us. Plus me being a chick many growers out here won't take me serious.I mean I've been reading a lot about hydro. I have a clear understanding about ph and temp. Verts been catching my interest a lot because of yields. I did plan on starting them in soil, in little solo cups. this might sound like a dumb question but if I start them in soil when it's time for the plants to go in the hydro set up wouldn't the soil on the roots get mucky in the netpots or go in the water?

 

[bobman]

if you r going hempy no problem. first hempy plant i did was a 12-16 inch soil plant. i just took it out knocked as much dirt as i could and put it in a hempy bucket. i think i even sprayed the roots off with my sink hose. i think your big thing right now is just getting a couple grows under your belt. i would not worry about vert you are going to have enough things to worry about. plenty of lighting and good environment ie temps is what you want to concentrate on. any other questions let me know.