ISK
Well-Known Member
thanks dude...sorry to hear you gave up on hempy but you are right they are typiclaly more work than soil...as I have to feed every second day
I predict one day you shall return to the dark side my old hempy friend
KISS my Hempy
- Thread starter ISK
- Start date
I predict one day you shall return to the dark side my old hempy friend
Yeah ph-ing sucks...but I figured out 8 drops/L for me...so I just keep it at that. No need to constantly measure your water's ph IMHO.
WAY too much problems with my former organic grow, fungus gnats, wrong potting mix ph (7.2 it says on the bag, way too high!), calmag issues etc. ...got tired of soil.
WAY too much problems with my former organic grow, fungus gnats, wrong potting mix ph (7.2 it says on the bag, way too high!), calmag issues etc. ...got tired of soil.
I live in Spain. You can't get SHHH here in Spain and often I have to buy the simplest thing from the UK or Germany (socks, t-shirts, lol)...but if you can get ONE thing here it's everything for growing incl. seeds. It's amazing. You have a 5k village here, anywhere, rest assured it will have a grow store or two. I get quality seeds here for €1 a pop. I long stopped to buy those overpriced seeds like Royal Queen, Sensi etc.
The smaller, less known grow stores all sell bulk seeds, one even a bulk-seed/store brand ("Geaseeds") which I like a lot. €1 and until now each one germinated and turned out great. And they even have their own package/label.
ISK
Well-Known Member
estuve trabajando en gijon asturias por 6 meses.....me mola españa
GrowUrOwnDank
Well-Known Member
I'm just lazy. And I don't trust my cheap ass eBay ph meter anymore. It's all over the place. Hempy is awesome man. I just have to be trying something different. I got some happy frog soil, and had some Amazon bloom I got for my lime tree left. And It's just easy. The happy frog is hot as hell and caused some nitrogen hang over for sure. Dark green leaves curled under. It probably didn't help I fed it Maxibloom using Lucas formula early on. While the soil was still hot as hell. But, it didn't miss a lick just looked ugly. I'll still use the Maxibloom Lucas formula but will wait on the soil too cool off. Now. Straight water till...... I'm def still a hempy bucket fan no doubt.
I would die for getting my hands on MaxiBloom here in Europe - ANYWHERE. It's impossible! I already researched the net up and down. Only way for me would be ebay and then like €35 shipping importing from the US. So I am getting Floranova Bloom. Really, I can get almost anything here...BUT the stupid Maxibloom!!
As for the cheapass ph meters - I got exactly one of those from ebay two weeks back. It's a total worthless piece of crap, numbers are all-over the place, exactly! Garbage. Using the GHE drops.
grapefruitmarmalade
Well-Known Member
I got me some Ese T. Bilbo autoflowering for 8 Euros a pop. Now that I have more experience with seeds I'm gonna negociate the price. I have some experience with cheap seeds: California Dream fem. from Mandala and 1 out of 3 popped. Now maybe I quit on them too early but only one of them was strong enough
I only ONCE got bad seeds (none germinated), I bought from a private dude here on a Spanish classified site 
The cheap seeds here I buy from two vendors (the one who carries "Geaseeds" brand but unfortunately he doesn't have Northern Lights Fem., and another vendor who carries bulk seeds incl. Northen Lights for €1.50/pop...bought 10 last time and got 5 seeds for free, so also came out as €1/pop. All those are good seeds which germinate in 2 days max. and turned out great. Can't complain
The cheap seeds here I buy from two vendors (the one who carries "Geaseeds" brand but unfortunately he doesn't have Northern Lights Fem., and another vendor who carries bulk seeds incl. Northen Lights for €1.50/pop...bought 10 last time and got 5 seeds for free, so also came out as €1/pop. All those are good seeds which germinate in 2 days max. and turned out great. Can't complain 
Tim Fox
Well-Known Member
i did hempy for part of one grow,, i got so tired of having to suck up the water that come out of the over flow hole, having to ph the water,, having to get the ppm of the nutes correct,, then suck up all the over flow water again,, ugh
i went back to soil also
now I am looking into "sips" or octopots,, or earthbox type containers,, where you get water roots, down low like hempy but your plants feed and live in dirt above,, the best of both worlds
i went back to soil also
now I am looking into "sips" or octopots,, or earthbox type containers,, where you get water roots, down low like hempy but your plants feed and live in dirt above,, the best of both worlds
To be honest, I still don't know how this Hempie grow will turn out. For now I will just observe, but there ARE some issues.
The first thing, because I use those external trays which means it's more water in the reservoir than if the reservoir would just be the bottom 2" of a bucket.
The longer the water stays in the trays (takes about 3 days until they drink it currently), the more algae/bacteria etc... and the fact that I am in Spain and it now starts to get HOOOOT doesn't really help. Short, I am afraid this might sufficate the roots and create root rot and whatnot since I am not using airpumps etc. to keep the water oxygenated. (Air pumps would sorta the defy the idea of easiness of Hempiepots). I see whether the H2O2 helps that I now add to my water.
So with lots of light and high temps like here, algae and the water losing its oxygen sort of becomes a problem!
Toying with the idea to have some sort-of Hybrid grow, possibly using Promix soilless.
Other idea I just had yesterday....add stones into my external containers...so the total amount of water is less...they drink faster... less chance for algae/root rot etc..simple but genius
ISK
Well-Known Member
we all need a break now and again....just glad to have you back in the saddle, as I was worried you had become a goner like jela
I had an accident last fall and was quite injured, so my posts and activities have been limited, but I'm getting back into it now
cheers
GrowUrOwnDank
Well-Known Member
Not sure I understand. I just usually carried my buckets to the tub and watered them. Only ever had like 2 tho. If overflow is a problem just add a drain hose. Easy to get what you need at a home improvement store really. Elevate your buckets and let them drain into another bucket. Empty it out doors on your flowers or trees. If your going full blown commercial. Well you might need a more complicated system. I know some people who have an outdoor automated hempy type system with a giant reservoir that feeds every few hours. It's a vertical drain to waste system in styrofoam containers if I remember correctly. They were set up for like 40 veggie plants. Tomatoes and such. Quite a nice system actually. Similar to this but, the ones I saw were a little different shapes.To be honest, I still don't know how this Hempie grow will turn out. For now I will just observe, but there ARE some issues.
The first thing, because I use those external trays which means it's more water in the reservoir than if the reservoir would just be the bottom 2" of a bucket.
The longer the water stays in the trays (takes about 3 days until they drink it currently), the more algae/bacteria etc... and the fact that I am in Spain and it now starts to get HOOOOT doesn't really help. Short, I am afraid this might sufficate the roots and create root rot and whatnot since I am not using airpumps etc. to keep the water oxygenated. (Air pumps would sorta the defy the idea of easiness of Hempiepots). I see whether the H2O2 helps that I now add to my water.
So with lots of light and high temps like here, algae and the water losing its oxygen sort of becomes a problem!
Toying with the idea to have some sort-of Hybrid grow, possibly using Promix soilless.
Other idea I just had yesterday....add stones into my external containers...so the total amount of water is less...they drink faster... less chance for algae/root rot etc..simple but genius
There is a nearby farm who grows tomatoes this way as well.
What I am saying, I mean what makes Hempies special is the fact there is a small water reservoir at the bottom of every bucket, right?
My "modified" Hempies are like this:
You see them sitting in those trays. But this means it takes longer to drink (empty this reservoir) because it's more water at the bottom, compared to classic hempies. The more time it takes them to use the water, the more "bad" this water gets because there is no active aeration like you'd have in a tank w/ a pump etc.
(This is a big difference to many actual Hydro systems where oxygen is key. This is passive, there is no oxygen actively added to the water.)
But...it seems the plants (the big ones) currently take only 2-3 days to drink the water from the reservoir...so I think I might be good. Otherwise (with the high temps etc.) this COULD cause root rot, algae and all kinds of crap. This is why I said I am not so sure how this will turn out.
Until now...my plants grow AWESOME. They're already much bigger than on this picture.
Edit: I would have LOOONG gotten me a Bato Bucket system like the GH Panda Hydro system. This one:
It's basically like Hempies but recirc w/ a bigass tank. It looks AWESOME. Except that I would have no idea how to manage a 125L tank, emptying and replacing the water in tank every 7-10 days, I have no water connector on the balcony and not even a drain. It would be a massive pain in the ass as far as I could tell, or at least such a PITA it would not make Hydro/Hempies "easier" as compared to soil growing, but more difficult. Heck I really wish I had a drain and hose on my balcony (where the green house is) like I have on the roof, all this wouldn't be a problem.
My "modified" Hempies are like this:
You see them sitting in those trays. But this means it takes longer to drink (empty this reservoir) because it's more water at the bottom, compared to classic hempies. The more time it takes them to use the water, the more "bad" this water gets because there is no active aeration like you'd have in a tank w/ a pump etc.
(This is a big difference to many actual Hydro systems where oxygen is key. This is passive, there is no oxygen actively added to the water.)
But...it seems the plants (the big ones) currently take only 2-3 days to drink the water from the reservoir...so I think I might be good. Otherwise (with the high temps etc.) this COULD cause root rot, algae and all kinds of crap. This is why I said I am not so sure how this will turn out.
Until now...my plants grow AWESOME. They're already much bigger than on this picture.
Edit: I would have LOOONG gotten me a Bato Bucket system like the GH Panda Hydro system. This one:
It's basically like Hempies but recirc w/ a bigass tank. It looks AWESOME. Except that I would have no idea how to manage a 125L tank, emptying and replacing the water in tank every 7-10 days, I have no water connector on the balcony and not even a drain. It would be a massive pain in the ass as far as I could tell, or at least such a PITA it would not make Hydro/Hempies "easier" as compared to soil growing, but more difficult. Heck I really wish I had a drain and hose on my balcony (where the green house is) like I have on the roof, all this wouldn't be a problem.
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ISK
Well-Known Member
yes, if fact I just started today with three crop king auto-fem's (DLF, Candy Cane & Jack Herer)...not sure what size of hempy, but likely 2 litre pop bottles
WattSaver
Well-Known Member
What I am saying, I mean what makes Hempies special is the fact there is a small water reservoir at the bottom of every bucket, right?
My "modified" Hempies are like this:
You see them sitting in those trays. But this means it takes longer to drink (empty this reservoir) because it's more water at the bottom, compared to classic hempies. The more time it takes them to use the water, the more "bad" this water gets because there is no active aeration like you'd have in a tank w/ a pump etc.
(This is a big difference to many actual Hydro systems where oxygen is key. This is passive, there is no oxygen actively added to the water.)
But...it seems the plants (the big ones) currently take only 2-3 days to drink the water from the reservoir...so I think I might be good. Otherwise (with the high temps etc.) this COULD cause root rot, algae and all kinds of crap. This is why I said I am not so sure how this will turn out.
Until now...my plants grow AWESOME. They're already much bigger than on this picture.
Edit: I would have LOOONG gotten me a Bato Bucket system like the GH Panda Hydro system. This one:
It's basically like Hempies but recirc w/ a bigass tank. It looks AWESOME. Except that I would have no idea how to manage a 125L tank, emptying and replacing the water in tank every 7-10 days, I have no water connector on the balcony and not even a drain. It would be a massive pain in the ass as far as I could tell, or at least such a PITA it would not make Hydro/Hempies "easier" as compared to soil growing, but more difficult. Heck I really wish I had a drain and hose on my balcony (where the green house is) like I have on the roof, all this wouldn't be a problem.
I’ve finally understand your grow set up. And you’re right nutrient filled water exposed to light will grow nasty stuff. As you can probably tell it’s not the recommended hempy method. But you are where you’re at this grow. I’d recommend trying to cover the larger open areas of the catch trays, once the plants get larger they will help shade this area. My other recommendation would be to water more often with less water. Only allow ½” or 1.25cm depth of water in your tray. As they get bigger you can increase the depth of the water so you won’t have to water more than once a day. Being that most or your reservoir is outside the pot I wouldn’t want it there for more than 2 days.