@yankeetransplant Very nifty buckets you have there. Not your basic hempy, but I can tell you've put your hydro experience into this setup. Would really like to see how your grow ends, so please keep posting. I'm a hempy addict due to the ease or should I say near ability to neglect.
As far as lighting I'm a reduced HID lighting advocate. I Never start with more than 11hrs on and always reduce time and intensity during the last couple of wks.
Yes, I will continue to share what I can here...I was a senior member in a cpl forum, but have found RIU to have the best participants.....think I will stick around...I.started my first garden in 1979 figuring I am smoking a plant and certainly had the aptitude to grow a plant...There HID lights were in their infancy but we were able to tap into as many outlets as we could find...I bought my first, what we called Catalog seeds, In 1984 from SSSC (super sativa seed club)...just one of 2 at that time (The Seed Bank) was the other...both Amsterdam...NO SUCH THING as internet so u wrapped your cash in carbon paper and mailed it off... 3 months later, with a Wichita Kansas post mark, seeds showed up...I bought the original M31, which was William Wonder...we learned by trial and error but started with hydroponics as it was understood at the time...basically Hempy systems...THATS RIGHT, 37+ years ago we used hempy system, MANY YRS before the name was attached...It all we had!!!...wick sys evolved from that, then drip and NFT, then ebb and flow (flood + drain), then rock wool (SUCKED), THEN finally water culture systems...at one time or another, I used every system...I recently went back to a modified hempy, after yrs of water culture...by the way I grew water culture since 1990....That to, did not have its name attached...ppl who truely enjoy what they are doing get VERY resourceful and evolve thru trial and error...I was actually a double garden of the month winner in High Times mag back in 86/87 (been a while)....they were one of the only sources of info...god bless them for helping pave the way...There were some INSANE myths about growing back then....I was an engineer at the time and had a buddy with a similar passion for weed AND cultivation...We KNEW WE COULD DO THIS BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE...and from what we knew, WE DID JUST THAT....equipment got better, techniques evolved, fertilizers, EVERYTHING...It was a movement you knew could not be stopped...I am back to hempy knowing it simplistic design offers everything a plants needs to thrive with some minor adjustments....this is now a multibillion dollar industry which depends on selling new concepts and the equipment to carry it out...Close to 4 DECADES taught me ALL ABOUT IT...I fell for the promotion of every new system that came out over the yrs....EVERY ONE, is just another method of bringing nutrient rich water to your root systems (WHICH BY THE WAY, IS THE DEFINITION OF HYDROPONICS)...I dont need pumps, chillers, reservoirs, fancy circulation plumbing to water my plants with nutrient rich water...of course anytime u roots are exposed to water for an extended period, pythium can be a concern, but hempy design limits the roots exposure to standing water...But in the mean time, the addition of an air stone is a beautiful thing in hempy buckets...Other than that, Hempy will save time, aggravation, $$$, cleanup...It doesnt get any easier...DONT LET ANYONE fool you about needing high tech DWC systems for the best buds...BS, BS, BS....
YES THERE IS MANY, MANY years of cumulative information I gained in EVERYTHING I do in growing....I am not being pretentious about this, if you dont learn what your doing in 37+ years (nearly daily) YOUR NOT PAYING ATTENTION....Hempy is as effective as it gets and is not just for BEGINNERS....I would love to see more forums with thriving Hempy discussions...There are those that DEPEND on saying it just isnt as good ($$$)....I got a cpl dozen ppl right now that will testify, they have NEVER SMOKED a bud any better....Hempy just wont work in commercial type enviroments..you would have to automate watering with drips, BUT THEN its a drip system and no longer a hempy bucket....But for the average home grower, IT ROCKS THE SHIT OUT IF THEM....I will be around for a bit...Happy Hempy growing, YT