Azgrow
Well-Known Member
here we go....
i have since found that chunky perlite is the best to use but usually can only be found at hydro shops or online....
also 1 3.5green bag fills 5 5gal buckets
first off some of you may be awar of hempy buckets some may...i did not start this method...its just something i feel is a benifit to the marijuana comunity asa whole....the "offical" name for this hempy buckets..started in the late 80's buy a guy named hempy hence forth hempy buckets...the system was set up to be simple cheap an ez to use, it requires a soilless medium..there are several ways for this..i use 100% perlite..other include parts vermaculte or coco coir...i use the 100% perlite for its ph nutrality...so i dont see much fluction in root zone ph...i personally use r/o water ped to 6.0 an work from there...but i know plenty of people who use this an dont ph at all...using mixs of coco coir an vermaculte can sometimes shift ph....
NOW ON to containers...the pot or "bucket" for this is typilly a cup or bucket ranging in sizes from 16oz to 5 gal....plant size dectates pot size always...you want a container that has no holes on the bottem...you then cut a small hole opn the side of the container 1-2inches above the bottem ...the bottem inch or so now acts like a mini resivor for the roots to work there way to an soak up...the hole acts like an overflow valve an making sure you dont water log the plants...SO NOW come the point of real terms the hempy bucket is a passive hydro system whose growth compeates with that of dwc/swc...so depending on your final plant size most people use between 1-3 gal plastic trash cans/mop buckets from any home supply store....personally ima sog grower so i grow plants in 32 oz cups then bog those on top of 1 gal water jugs all 100%perlite...your pot size will vary on what you decide you want to do....
ON to nutes....in a system like this you want to use hydro nutes..but organic teas an coco specific nutes work well to...seedlings an clones in small container's need to be watered everyday untill root establishment...after this every other day or so an once you get into bigger containers it may be every 2 days depending on your size pots...the lifting method works well here...in my system i go like this for a feeding schudal...water heavey feed water water heavy feed water ...this keeps salts from building up an cusing problems....now that you know...i would like all hempy grower to
as you can see in the pic the 1 in hole is covered by a screen....5 works..somtimes justa a pin hole...this system is very user specfic...peace az
i'll interject here..an say that i have switched to using ready grow plugs then puttin these into 16oz cups for seedlings an clones...the organic material helps feed the young plants....start the clone/seedling in a party cup like 16-32 oz...wait till it fills up with roots then transplant into the larger containers...with no mesh..just like a soil pot...peace az
you dont need a screen just helps stops perlite overflow from the hole...you can use pvc glue to attach screens..but i'd go with a lil bigger piece just to overlap to the bottem an cover it in place...i personally wouldn't use the glue but i know people who have an had no seen problems...
i prefer to use the gh flora line ran under the lucas formula...you can use soil based nutes yes as long as there disolved in water..i have seen folks use organic nute teas with no problems
for an outdoor container i would get a ruber maid type contaier...at least 18 gal..ina long outdoor season you want as much room for roots as possible...hempy yeilds always..indoors or out...
i have found that a bucket with 50/50 coco perlite yeilds the best...you can use your normal nutes with this aswell since it's not pure coco....make sure the coco is flushed out of excess salts...Another option that I use with my Hempy setup is Turface. The media has the aeration qualities of perlite, and the water holding properties of vermiculite.
this can be done but like coco needs to flushed an ph'd first before use...also rw drys out quicker then perlite imo so you'll need to increase watering's by 20/40%....could you use rocwoll in this set up?? if I have a seedling in a rocwool cube couldnt I just put it in a pot as describe, fill the rest in with rocwool and go from there?? also how often do you water this??
If you are using clones, once your clones take root, you can put them immediately into flower. Remember, they share the same age and genetic makeup as the mom, so you can flower immediately. However, your yeild won't be that much if you flower a 4" clone. Unless you are doing a SOG and have a bunch of them that size going.
everything is strain specfic...you veg for x amount of time you flower for x amount of time..
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1 i just use the pots for the bucket with holes all throughout the pot yes? i have seen these at my local hydro store before but didnt buy them because i use soil.
no those are net pots made for a hydro/aero system where the roots are suspended in air then hit with water....what im saying is buying a plastic bucket with no holes anywhere an cutting a hole 2 inches from the bottem...
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3 how long is it safe for the roots to be growing towards the water at the bottom of the bucket?
as long as your not overwater everyday...the roots will be fine....
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4 could i just use store bought small rocks for soil? i think that would be cheaper than buying the coir stuff. lol. as in question 1 the holes in the pot i saw were pretty big so i dont think just using perlite would work. it would just fall through.
use the right containers an the perlite/vermaculite will work fine..these supplies are meant to be bought at home supply stores not hydro stores since most of the time they mark up everything....
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2 will my organic iguana juice grow work for nooting the water for the roots an everything. also do i do anything different to the water at the bottom 2 inches of the bucket for the roots?
yes you can use those nutes an no you dont have to do anything special to the water in the "resivor"...
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I'm a little confused. Do you just use one bucket that has the hole in the side, or do you put that bucket into something else? Where does the liquid that drains out of the hole run to?
Is this same bucket the one filled with the medium and the plant, or is there another container that goes inside this one.
you use 1 bucket..but for the first couple runs you'll want some kind of overflow catch..but you'll get to the point of knowing how much to water each time with out spilling...
Ok, I'll reiterate the HB method:
Get a container with no holes - the bigger your container, the bigger your roots, the bigger your plant, the bigger your yield, conceptually anyway. Once you have your container, make a hole about 1" from the bottom. One hole only. The size of your hole should be proportional to the size of your container and how "fine" your medium is (more on this later). Usually a hole between 1/2" to 1" would do. Now the space inside your container from the bottom to the hole will serve as a reservoir for your water and nutes.
Now you fill your container with your SOIL LESS medium - I used equal parts perlite and vermiculite. Remember neither of these mediums contain any nutes whatsoever. They are only there to provide support for the plants as the roots grow. If it weren't for the medium, your plant would just topple onto its side.
Now water your medium with PHed water and VERY light nutes. I stress LIGHT because you don't want to burn your precious little plant. I start out with about 1/4 of the recommended dose. Add the water until you see water coming out of the hole on the side. I water my plants in my bath tub and let it drain there before putting it back in my grow cab. There will be water sitting at the bottom on the container after the excess drains.
Next, you put your seedling or clone into medium. For this method, I'd recommend you raise your seedlins in rockwool or peat moss cubes or similar. I'd stay away from raising your seedlings in soil (just harder to work with with transplanting). Personally, I think using the HB method on clones is best.
Now once your seedlings/clones are in, that's pretty much it. In the beginning, you should add water with nutes once a week. Even though the tiny plant doesn't need all that water and probably doesn't even have roots that reach down that far into the reservoir, adding new water is critical to prevent stem rot. By adding the new water, you are displacing the "stale" water and refreshing the oxygen in the reservoir (hence you don't need a air stone and bubbler). Once your plant gets bigger, you may need to water more often. I'm at 2x week on my flowering plant. Also, slowly increase your nutes as you water each time until you are at the recommended dosage but monitor your plants carefully as you increase the nutes to ensure you aren't burning them. If you notice nute burns, flush with plain water and go back to the lower dosage and increase slowly again.
Finally, you should flush the plant occasionally to remove any salt buildups. On the plant in the above pics, I flushed once in flowering and have been giving it plain PHed water the last week and will do so until I cut it. This will greatly improve the taste
Hope this helps. Good luck!!
i find that lining your grow floor with a tarp works best...if you have overflow it evaporates in the air...
i dont like to feed everywatering...this is considerd fertigating..an just requires you to mix nutes at less strenth but more often so it's essentially the same....Depending on your environment, you may have to water seedlings and young plants twice daily. Their roots have not reached the resovoir on the bottom yet and will starve in the lifeless medium you have thrown them in!
Once the plants are "established" you should use hydro nutrients and feed with every watering. I have never had a problem using 3/4 strength hydro nutes and I water/feed "established" plant every two/three days
you dont need to overflow...that would be more of a prefrence thing....but everyonce inawhile you should leach all mediums of built up nute salts....
this fella from overgrow.com named BOG (was a breeder too from what i know) made a guide for his transplanting method... BOG transplanting... where you remove the bottom portion of the container and just slightly bury that exposed root bed into fresh soil/medium...
it avoids shock that comes along with a hasty/clumsy transplant...
there really is never a definitive watering plan... it all depends on your own RH and medium being used and how much water the plants are uptaking... which is why its important to get a feel for how heavy your pots are wet and dry...
there are always potential pest issues... so have a clean room and keep some diatomeceous earth and neem oil around (and maybe something mite specific depending on if they're a problem or not)
ya we use the big green bag perilite...
i have since found that chunky perlite is the best to use but usually can only be found at hydro shops or online....
also 1 3.5green bag fills 5 5gal buckets
Hey Az. I have the Hempy in full rotation. I started with a 3 gallon but after seeing what was possible in a one gallon I moved down to about a 3/4 gallon. Actually I grab whatever trashcan's or containers I find at the 99¢ store. Works wonders! I have an almost Identical afghani in a 3 gallon hempy that last cycle I did a 5 gallon soil affy, and this one kicks the soil affy's ass all over the closet, no contest. I use the perlite with a maybe 7-10% vermiculite but if I run out its no thang.I just use pure perlite. I also started last cycle with my R/o water checking diligently my ph, but as I also used pure tap on some with no difference I now just use straight tap full strength GH floranova and some additives and my ph is 6.0-6.5 ALWAYS , so it hasn't been an issue. I bought a super expensive drill bit for plastic with the angled bit so you can make the hole as big as you need... I do mine about 'pinkie' size. Seems to work well. I know the original hempy buckets were designed for a 1000 w so us smaller guys can scale down a bit, although my smaller buckets do get dry every day or two tops. Hempy for Life! ok, how about for now? cheers! oh, PS I don't know if anyone has posted on this but I have transplanted 10 or more soil started plants into hempy's by filling to the res hole
with the perlite then placing the rootball right up to it. They take off pretty quik if not immediately if anyone was worried about stress, don't! I did everything from shake off ALL dirt to plop the entire dirtball in there. no difference.
ps. I also have used the Miracle grow perlite. The fert. ratio is less than 1.0-1.0-1.0
but all those places just ask the dude working for the bulk stuff they have the big bags in the back! lol.
I went to the dollar store thay had pails that are supposed to be for kids you know for the beach.. about 1 gal size $1each in every color under the rainbow,
i have found that after you run a crop or 2 the re-used perlite cause less shock an the plants respond more favorbly to it...this is what the big time tomatto farmers do...an the only time i see transplant shock in hempy is taking fresh clones from the bubler an putting it into the medium for the first time...
if you plan on going organic with this with the fish poo... i'd recommend making teas before watering... organic nutes aren't *immediately*availible to plants like hyrdo nutes are... it takes a system of beneficial bacteria to convert the organic material into the raw N P K and micronutes that plants need...
if you do plan to do some organics... have a resevoir, an air pump and bubble stone, and bubble your nute tank for atleast 24 hours before applying to medium... fish poo stinks, so 1 tblsp of molasses really helps cut back on the smell... as well as providing micro nutes for your plants and carbs for that micro heard of bacteria i already mentioned, they eat the shit up and multiply.... so also look into mychorrizae innoculations.... some fulvic and humic acids are also important to increase the proficiency of the nutes you'll be using...
best of luck
i just wanted to add to this... another reason you MUST bubble your water and WAIT atleast 24 hours before adding your organics to TAP water (disregard this if using RO water or anything that isn't chlorinated... i.e. rainwater) this will allow for enough of the chlorine to evaporate off...
otherwise the chlorine will kill those beneficial bacteria and thus make your organic feeding much less effective...
you must also stay away from H202... as it will def. kill off all the bene's as well...
