Cool grow man I just read over your hole post. I have heard of hempy buckets before but I have never really understood them. Somebody said its passive hydro. Well how? Isn't it really the same as soil just in perlite for better growth?
Active Hydroponic systems use timers and pumps to water the plants. But passive hydroponics is hand watered.
Growing in soil is closest to "Drain to Waste" passive hydroponics. That is where you water a soil-less media till its soaked and let it drain out of the bottom of the pot to be discarded. The problem with drain to waste is that you have to water frequently, as soil-less mixes dry out faster then dirt.
A hempy bucket has an internal reservoir to save that wasted nutrient rich water. Also thereby extending the periods between watering.
What makes anything Hydro is that your growing in a media besides soil. Stuff like clay pellets, rockwool, coco, water (bubbleponics), air (aeroponics), perlite, verm, fytocell, rice hulls, ect...
In this case iam growing in a Soil-less media of Perlite and Vermiculite contained in a passive hydroponic pot that features an internal reservoir. Simply, a Hempy Bucket.