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Grow: The Hempy Buckets Technique
April 20th, 2009 by Silvio
Today, I want to offer our readers the
easiest and
most cost-efficient way to grow marijuana indoors (that I know of.) Its called
Hempy Bucket and even for beginners its easy and cheap to do, yet very rewarding.
So on with the show, lets get started!
You will need the following items:
Cups: I use plastic soda bottles, party cups, or anything more or less the same size. The vessel must be light proof. Go for 0.2 liter cups to start with, and transplant later on to bigger buckets.
Buckets: Choosing the size of the buckets is dependent upon your strain. A Lowryder will not need a 10 liter bucket. 5 liter will do. Just check your local hardware store for paint buckets or something similar.
Perlite: Some growers say to use a vermiculite/perlite mixture. I use perlite only. Personally, I like it more; it can be washed afterwards and used again.
Rockwool Cubes: Use the small ones you see in
the picture above. 3cm x 3cm.
Nutrition: The brand that gave me the best results, is
Dutch Formula and
Superthrive.
Equipment: Use a syringe, or another type of measuring device. You can find them in pharmacies. The nutrition will have be mixed into the water. You are dealing with 1ml measures here and its essential that you get this precisely measured. This will be the only food your plants will ever get. There is nothing nutritional in the perlite itself.
Now you need an apparatus to catch run-off water. This can be virtually anything, because there wont be a lot of excess water to collect. This basin is just there to catch water draining out of your Hempy buckets. You can use just about anything, from party plates to huge crate bins. Be creative.
The most expensive item on the list will be without a doubt, the nutrition. The set is made of three bottles. You will need them all and they will cost you around $70 for the set. However, they will last you through multiple grows. (
Note: You will be measuring in milliliters.)
With Hempy buckets, theres actually
nothing to build. All you have to do is, make a hole in the buckets, about the size of a penny, more or less two fingers above the bottom and thats it.
Prepare your seeds. Over night, let the rockwool cubes rest in water to moisten before use. Let excess water run off, but do not,
ever, squeeze them. If growing via Hempy method, make a tiny hole (2-3mm deep) in the cubes, and drop a seed in there. Rip a little piece of the rockwool from a corner, and use it to cover the hole with the seed in it.
Leave them in a dark, warm place for one or two days. After that, put them on a windowsill into direct sunlight. Make sure they get as much sun as possible, and spray them with water every now and then. After 3-8 days, you will have a sprouting seedling. At this point, do
not give it any nutrition yet.
After a few days on your windowsill, the plants should show some growth. Dont lose patience. It can take up to two weeks until you see a 3-5cm tall seedling with some green, round leaves. Keep a close eye on the rockwool cubes. As soon as you see roots making their way out of the cube, its time to move your babies into their first home.
Preparing the Hempys: Before you move your seedlings into the Hempys, wash the perlite youre about to use. There will be fine particles in the perlite, which can form clumps so use a colander and rinse these particles off.
Thats it. You have a successfully rooted seedlings in a Hempy Bucket. Feed them water only, for the first week. After that, you can start with 1/4 strength of Dutch Formula and work your way up to full strength. You should arrive at full strength after maybe four weeks. When watering/feeding your plants, make sure you dont water the rockwool water around it. Theres really no way to over-water, because the perlite wont hold any water for a long time, itll all end up in the reservoir at the bottom of the cup/bucket.
Growth will be slow in the beginning. The roots have to get to the water first. Once they do, you will see an explosion in growth. I transplant my ladies always just before flowering into a bigger bucket. But that also depends a lot on what strain I grow. Right now, I am only growing Lowryder. Since these plants stay very small, I never had the need for a bigger pot. So, they stay from seed to harvest in a 1.5 liter mini bucket.
Okay, class is over. As usual, fire away with any questions or comments or even share your own personal experiences with the Hempy method. Until then, happy growing
and Happy 420!
22 Comments
-
rotarypot Says:
April 20th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
as this is a cost efficient method no mention of lighting requirements is done, i am guessing that old skool sun and thats it right?
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Silvio Says:
April 20th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
works under sunlight the same way as it does indoors. and i cant see why it shouldnt. ive never grown hempys outdoors myself, but i do know people who did. with good results.
where you get your light from, doesnt really matter. as long as it is sufficient for your plant. just make sure you dont start growing outdoors in september
but if you read the article closely, it says in the intro that it is a indoor technique. so i didnt bother pointing out light sources.
-
swishersNerb Says:
April 21st, 2009 at 4:44 pm
would i be able to start my seedlings out in soil then move them to the perlite mixture once they are big enough?
-
Silvio Says:
April 21st, 2009 at 5:12 pm
i switched from soil to perlite in the early stage of flowering once. i had to clean the roots, so that almost no soil was left. then into the hempy, and all was good. the growth was stunned for maybe 3 days, and after that everything went back to normal. so yes, can be done.
i wouldnt recommend it tho. if you are early in your grow, wait until your plants have 3 or more sets of true leafs. and if you are in flowering stage
as i said
can be done, but it can go horribly wrong.
whats your situation? how old are the plants, or is that a hypothetical question?
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John D. Says:
April 21st, 2009 at 5:21 pm
legit bro
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swishersNerb Says:
April 21st, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Well Im a noob to whole grow game and I was just wondering what other ways I can start my plants out other than the rockwool cube method cause Im having trouble tracking them down (or Im too high and just aint looking at the right places).
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Silvio Says:
April 21st, 2009 at 5:34 pm
where are you located? in the US?
and you can always try ebay
example
-
swishersNerb Says:
April 21st, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Im in alberta, canada. Yeah true enough ebay has everything.
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Silvio Says:
April 21st, 2009 at 5:56 pm
also: dont forget that the rockwool cube helps stabilizing the plant. if you would put a plant in there without the cube, the chances that it falls over are very high. i just remembered that i had to use a bigger cube than the one i showed you in the ebay link, wrapped around the stem in order to give the plant stability when i transplanted from soil to hempy (cut it open, wrap around the stem and secure with a string). perlite is not like soil, if you would put a seed in it without the cube for example, i guess the seed would get flushed down to the bottom of the bucket. and if its not flushed down, it would fall over as soon as it sprouts. and small plants with little roots
very likely that goes wrong. i wouldnt try that.
you could construct some sort of supporting system with strings
.but why go that far if you can do it right from start
.
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swishersNerb Says:
April 21st, 2009 at 6:26 pm
yeah for sure, thanks for the advice!
-
Keyes Says:
April 24th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
I dont understand about light are you saying that incandescent or fluorescent light is ok? Ive yet to grow
a plant, but am studying up for my first crop. My reading
so far indicates the use of Metal Halide, High Pressure
Sodium, and High Intensity Discharge. It would be welcome
news if theres a lower cost alternative.
-
Silvio Says:
April 24th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
you can grow a plant under any light you want. general rule of thumb: more wattage is more bud. you can use fluros, if you want to. will work just fine, in the beginning anyway.
if you are serious about getting good results, i would recommend a 400w hps. but you also combine whatever light sources you can find. as i said: more watt: more, bud.
-
Drazboy20 Says:
May 28th, 2009 at 8:01 am
So with this method how often do I water and when I do water do I mix and use soultion evrrytime or do I alternate feeding then plain water or what
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D.B. Kooper Says:
May 31st, 2009 at 8:22 am
Say,
How about the water method, from water to dirt, starting with a seed in water, then moving on to dirt for budding?
And, whats the lumin factor or wattage for the bulbs when budding?
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ronnie Says:
August 6th, 2009 at 5:08 am
how do you apply the superthrive? I can buy it at Walmarts but very hard time finding the Dutch Formula any where but online. Thanks
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rasmyles Says:
September 21st, 2009 at 8:57 am
Is it possible to use general chemical fertelizers (Jacks Classic)with hempy or does it have to be hydro fertilizers
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Tarzan Says:
November 4th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
I think there should be a overall total of what the estimated price would be for all this. Other than that, great article.
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david wayne Says:
November 13th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
What about temperature, the attic gets cold as ever in the winter and too hot in summer, would a small closet with an inclosed plastic sheeting to sort of keep the temp relatively the same around 68-72 degree, or is there a certain temp to achieve for better result.
Also: will keeping the light on all the time be bad (even if not too close) or should they get rest?
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tim Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 6:01 am
What are the red drinking cups for?
What did you do to the perlite after you washed it in the colander? I think you put the perlite into the bucket.
Then what? did you put the rockwool cube right on top of the perlite? Wont that crush the roots?
And then you just water the perlite around the rockwool cube for a week? Once a day? Constantly?
You say You have a successfully rooted seedlings in a Hempy Bucket but there is no transition or anything after you wash the perlite in the colander. Thanks
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Dan Says:
February 11th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
im actualy going to try this this season.
i was debating on outdoor or indoor but im growing 2 kush strains and only a few plants so theres no reason for outdoor
it is definately the most simplistic way to go about an indor that ive seen soo far.
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hempy jones Says:
November 4th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
save your money on the nutes,use osmocote plus. this guy did a comparison on the fancy nutes and oc+ in a hempy, by the end he switched them all to oc+ because the ones on the fancy stuff was lagging way behind.
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/completed-journals/101558-docbuds-hempy-grow.html
long read but very informative. if youre interested it is a chance to see a full grow in action
-
hempy jones Says:
November 4th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
oops, wrong link that one was also a hempy grow but heres the one where he found out the osmocote plus worked better.
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/journals-progress/116408-un-lucky-queen-12-12-hempy.html
just trying to save yall some $$$
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People on these forums are more than happy to help, but within reason. Something that caught my eye was you asking for lighting shcedules aand then state one of the two used, how are you unable to read up on this second number yourself? We'll help but few will be willing to spoon feed.
