The Official Hempy Bucket Thread

[bmaster]

Is there a known reason why coco outperforms perlite? Thanks.

Here's a brief rundown on the merits of coco..i hope it helps on your decision..

Coconut coir is one of the most versatile materials man has ever extracted from Mother Nature. It has traveled a long way since its humble beginnings as the ubiquitous tying ropes. Coir today is used to make everything from door mats to rugs, rubberized coir mattresses, decorative rugs, garden articles and growing medium. It is not just a natural product - it also has some winning advantages that make this product a premium choice for modern soil less growing systems.

Properties
Coco coir is a proven best alternative to any growing medium. Its use as a growing medium outperforms any other medium used for growing vegetables, ornamentals and tree plants. Its soft structure promotes easy root penetration and healthy growth. Coco coir is 100% environmentally friendly. It is a renewable resource that is consistent in quality. Coco coir has the best physical and chemical properties to promote better plant growth.
· Coco has high water-holding capacity. It can hold water up to eight times of its weight and release it over a period of time.
· Coco has ideal pH in the range of 6-6.7
· It has excellent drainage and air porosity for better plant growth
· Coco is very low in EC and carries mostly potassium salts, which is an essential major plant nutrient
· Cation exchange capacity is very good
· Coco coir has some antifungal properties that help plants to get rid of soil borne diseases. It inhibits pathogens like Pithium
· Coco is very easy to re-hydrate after being dehydrated
· It is a biodegradable source that degrades very slowly and has a life of three to four years
· Contains significant amounts of phosphorous (10-50ppm) and potassium (150-450 ppm)

As mentioned above Coco coir is not just a natural product with very good properties for plant growth - it also has some winning advantages over other growing mediums.

Advantages of Coco Coir
· It is a 100% renewable resource
· Coco coir is light in weight
· It is consistent in high quality
· Coco coir is completely environmentally friendly
· The top of the product layer in grow bags/pots always remain dry, leaving behind no chances of fungal growth
· Coco coir never shrinks, cracks or produces crust
· It promotes better root systems in a short time

 

[Bobbo4200]

I too did not believe the difference between a perlite/vermiculite Hempy, compared to a coco Hempy... All I have to say is OMG!! I thought because they were both Hempy's, they'd be the same. I also have some other ladies in coco in a fabric pot, and the coco Hempy's are even out-performing those! And since I've switched to coco, my perpetual is getting screwed up lol. The coco lady's caught up to my soil lady's, and I can only do so many plants as I am legal

 

[dreadlock]

blown away with all the of information on here. Nice one guys..
Used Coco/hempy buckets ever since i started growing a few years ago & Love it.

using 15 litre pots with 6 weeks veg, average 5-6 oz of 1 plant. 4 x mod scrogs under 600w. I know i can do better.. a shame when some use half my pot size and get similar results.. not sure where i'm going wrong, can't put a finger on it..

during flower normally watering every 3rd day then 2nd later on. Going to try and water every day during flower now.. 15 litre buckets are covered in roots after 6 weeks, well established zone so should cope with daily watering right? assuming i'll be feeding more i'm going to knock back the EC too..

Any other tips i could use to get the most of the setup?

thanks in advance..keep up the good work. peace

 

[Bobbo4200]

Big shout out to Retrogrow for instructing me to feed every day!! I've fed pretty much every day, except for in the very very beginning and the results are phenomenal! You shoud check out the Coco/Hempy thread! Good luck, and happy toKin'!!

 

[oneshot]

blown away with all the of information on here. Nice one guys..
Used Coco/hempy buckets ever since i started growing a few years ago & Love it.

using 15 litre pots with 6 weeks veg, average 5-6 oz of 1 plant. 4 x mod scrogs under 600w. I know i can do better.. a shame when some use half my pot size and get similar results.. not sure where i'm going wrong, can't put a finger on it..

during flower normally watering every 3rd day then 2nd later on. Going to try and water every day during flower now.. 15 litre buckets are covered in roots after 6 weeks, well established zone so should cope with daily watering right? assuming i'll be feeding more i'm going to knock back the EC too..

Any other tips i could use to get the most of the setup?

thanks in advance..keep up the good work. peace

I think upgrading to a 1k watt HPS setup would benefit you the most to get your yield up.

 

[dreadlock]

I think upgrading to a 1k watt HPS setup would benefit you the most to get your yield up.

mmm not sure if it's more light that's needed, could be wrong! the canopy is always flat and only 7 inches so penetration shouldn't be a prob. the whole idea for the scrog.. what's buggin me is not getting the lower parts to grow which is strange since its their only 7 inch stems..removing everything below canopy + big 15 litre root system should be more than enough to supply the plant.. doing something wrong and been a bit lazy to change in the past..

after learning plants prefer to be fed more often by feeding less i normally start flowering with an ec of 1.1 hitting week 3 with 1.2. have a feeling that i'm underfeeding big plants and that's my problem?

i always have 2-3 cuts flowering beside my scrogs, tops around 1-2' from the scrog canopy, way below yet growing decent size buds.. another reason to show the light should be good. oh and my room would be too small for a 1000w. wishful thinking in my case.. i use a 600w in a 80cm parabolic.. 100cm one was a tight fit.. i'd deff have to go air cooled with a 1000w i rekon.

any idea what i should be averaging with my setup?

bear in mind room is 1.2 x 1.7m. not very big..

my first guess was foilage, and maybe trim alittle after stretch..since outside leaves allow more then 30% of the natural light to pass through..where as an hps only has around 30-40% usable light for a plant with added foilage would greatly reduce penetration i think.. i tried trimming once might do it again.. not sure really running out of idea at the moment.. need to chill out lol

feel free to drop me a pm or anything dude's.

talk soon

 

[dansbuds]

Its been awhile sense I ran any Hempys ..... I think I might run a few next round with my drippers hooked into them . been doing coco DTW . i'll run a strain i've done recently to see if theres much of a growth difference .

maybe i'll do 4 3 gallon smarties dtw next to 4 2 gallon coco hempys for a side by side . same strain , same nutes ,same veg time , same training ... all in the same room .

should be interesting

 

[dreadlock]

i'll be keeping a close eye come across multiple threads where drippers and coco work super.

the idea of having pipes and pumps all over the place puts me off to be frank. always growing 3-4 different strains so i like moving things around allot during the grow for easy access to plants and room.. need to sit down and re evaluate the setup for sure.

... Any idea if i can add a air stone in the res for each bucket and simply connect all 4 buckets to an air pump, maybe going on at intervals to keep water temps low. I keep hearing mixed reviews so puts me of years ago.. its simple to do and won't be a problem when taking plants out of the room.. should get extra growth from the oxygenated roots, more feeds.. wondering if anyone here has tried it before with good improvements?

another easy method although requiring multiple pumps is to place each bucket in a wider basin acting as the main res with a pump submerged pushing water over plants so constantly flowing past roots.. read about it here i think only down side is no of pumps and wear and tear due to length of use..

regards to more light, rekon by adding 2 fluorescent tubes or a few low watt cfls below canopy will help..?

few simple ideas which are easy to apply without making big changes to the setup... let me know what you think. am i missing something..

thanks for looking

 

[dansbuds]

To be honest dread .... hempys are super easy & produce well without having to complicate them . thats what nice about them once the roots hit the rez ..... theres very little to do to them till harvest except feed,em .the whole initial idea behind the hempy was to get hydro results from a bucket that could be fed every 3 or 4 days instead of everyday . but with the introduction of coco & coco's ability to be fed more for better results has changed the original idea .
by adding pumps & airstones & all that .... your just creating more of a hydro scenario & less & less a simple hempy bucket .

you want better yields ? make sure your environment is as close to perfect as you can possibly get before working on the strains & how they grow . once the enviro is dialed then you can work on the plants . plants just need food air water & light to grow .... make sure all those things are in range & in top working order & your plants will reward you for it .

coco fed drip to waste on a pump & timer is probably the easiest & best producing of any type medium . I am curious if having a rez in each bucket constantly replenished will make a big difference or not .... but thats just 1 step closer to deep water culture so ..... i guess as men we're just meant to keep reinventing the wheel

 

[dreadlock]

exactly my thought at the moment dan! feeding everyday with run-off would be allot more work as i have to collect run-off each time and dispose...

rooms ideal imo, taken me over a year to get to this stage. temps, rh are where they should be. sounds like i'm going to have to try out a few idea on single buckets and see for myself.. best way to find out is to try it for yourself lol i've got nothing but time anyway.. more fun

dudes any thoughts if i can get away with feeding with no run-off? idea just came to me.. so instead of giving 6 liters every 3rd day.. feed every day with 3 liters at low ec so every 3 days there now getting 9 liters.. low ec should prevent and salt build up.. once in while make sure there is run-off to clear and build ups.. should work imo

well it's back to the drawing board.. appreciate it guys

over n out

 

[bmaster]

exactly my thought at the moment dan! feeding everyday with run-off would be allot more work as i have to collect run-off each time and dispose...

rooms ideal imo, taken me over a year to get to this stage. temps, rh are where they should be. sounds like i'm going to have to try out a few idea on single buckets and see for myself.. best way to find out is to try it for yourself lol i've got nothing but time anyway.. more fun

dudes any thoughts if i can get away with feeding with no run-off? idea just came to me.. so instead of giving 6 liters every 3rd day.. feed every day with 3 liters at low ec so every 3 days there now getting 9 liters.. low ec should prevent and salt build up.. once in while make sure there is run-off to clear and build ups.. should work imo

well it's back to the drawing board.. appreciate it guys

over n out

It is advisable to get at least 10% runoff for coco, though if you use House and Garden Drip Clean, it breaks up and dissolves the salts in the medium, thus reducing the need to flush or have runoff (in theory).

Just a thought but Imo, running low ec levels seems to be counter-productive when trying to push the girls to get better yields.

 

[dudin]

another easy method although requiring multiple pumps is to place each bucket in a wider basin acting as the main res with a pump submerged pushing water over plants so constantly flowing past roots.. read about it here i think only down side is no of pumps and wear and tear due to length of use..

I did that but my growroom was way to cold 2-18c but hey it worked. Used 5L buckets and just a tiny pump and airhose straight to the roots. Could leave it for a couple of weeks. With better temps i guess you could make it work really good. Now i run the classic hempy mix in selfwatering pots. Kind of a swc/hempy/kratky thing. Not pumping air or nothing.

The reservoir hempy grow.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=243356

Selfwatering pot with hempy mix 150w HPS
Tiny pot under 3L

 

[dreadlock]

nice plant dude..filled up well, just goes to show what you can do with small light. Picture speaks for itself..curious what EC you feed during flower?

i'm pretty sure my issues is due to underfeeding..i'll start flower of on 1.2ec now on and see how it goes..hopefully won't be too much N to delay flowering..anyway shouldn't be long before i get it back up and running in full swing

 

[dudin]

@dreadlock I haven't got a clue, if they look hungry I up the nutes if they show signs of nuteburn I - the nutes. Never measure ph or ec. For the lazy gardener hempymix and selfwatering pots work great. Tiny rez just over 1L. Can leave it for a week and more if necessary, they can even go dry for 3-4days just living on the moist in the mix and the moist air in the rez. Ideal? Hell no but it works.

here is the rest of the family. Two 150w HPS one in a sj 40x40x120cm tent and one in a 50x55x150cm safe. All are on the same nutes (hesi bllom soil) and have been growing in 2-18c, so super shitty conditions imho. Only have axess to my garden max once a week and only for 1/2h. So it is what it is.

 

[jorgeblen]

hey dreadlock, in my opinion your room is too big for one 600w only. I would add another 400w there and increase the ec a bit.

 

[dreadlock]

@dreadlock I haven't got a clue, if they look hungry I up the nutes if they show signs of nuteburn I - the nutes. Never measure ph or ec. For the lazy gardener hempymix and selfwatering pots work great. Tiny rez just over 1L. Can leave it for a week and more if necessary, they can even go dry for 3-4days just living on the moist in the mix and the moist air in the rez. Ideal? Hell no but it works.

here is the rest of the family. Two 150w HPS one in a sj 40x40x120cm tent and one in a 50x55x150cm safe. All are on the same nutes (hesi bllom soil) and have been growing in 2-18c, so super shitty conditions imho. Only have axess to my garden max once a week and only for 1/2h. So it is what it is.

i understand and can fully relate to not spending as much time due to work n family. It's nice to have somewhere to get away and light one up.. nice plants none the less. Maybe give 1 litre pop bottles a go..more fun they take up little space aswell.. you'll be surprised how well they yield.. i average around 15g of one..taken me a while to get to there but worth it..

@jorgeblen not sure if it will work.. with a parabolic shade i'm using, very little room on either side unfortunately. It would give me great cover i agree..

think i'm going to play around with the setup a bit more before making changes..got all the time in the world to change..

looks like i got more answers than i had expected. once again icmag to the rescue.. one love all & respect. thanks for all your help. peace

over n out

 

[Chloemobile]

I did that but my growroom was way to cold 2-18c but hey it worked. Used 5L buckets and just a tiny pump and airhose straight to the roots. Could leave it for a couple of weeks. With better temps i guess you could make it work really good. Now i run the classic hempy mix in selfwatering pots. Kind of a swc/hempy/kratky thing. Not pumping air or nothing.

The reservoir hempy grow.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=243356

Selfwatering pot with hempy mix 150w HPS
Tiny pot under 3L
View Image

Trying something similar soon....not sure how its going to work out but we wil see in a few weeks.







=D

 

[hush]

Okay that does it... I want to try hempy buckets now!

I hear everyone talking about coco hempy these days, and just when I thought I would be keeping it simple, using perlite/vermiculite, I read this thread. So, tomorrow is the big day where I have to pot up the freshly rooted clones, and I need to decide fast what medium I'll be using.

Somebody sell me on coco, quick, before I buy the other stuff! Also, for coco, do you have to use coco-specific nutes? I have a bunch of flora nova and regular gh 3-part I would rather use up before buying new nutes. Oh, and for those using coco, do you still fill the reservoir part of the bucket with hydroton first? Do you cap it with anything, on top?

I have decided to go with 5x 3gal buckets, in a 4x4 tent, under 1000w HPS. Clones will be vegged for a month or so with LST to fill out the tent. Then flipped.

I spent all my money on the tent, fans, light, and AC, so I can't afford to go with flood and drain like I planned... seems like with hempy I've found a cheaper and possibly better alternative!

This thread rocks!

 

[Lathund]

Edit

 

[Lazyeye]

hush: This is my first grow, using regular hempys: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=253362

Let me tell you, GO COCO! Perlite and vermiculite makes a mess! All the damn time...!

I've been told you can use regular nutes as well, might have to get some calmag for them though.