Wow...memories...September 1979 was my 1st little attempt...(2) 4ft fluorescent fixtures and 3 bag seeds of what a buddy called California Orange.....Also had subscription to High Times...No internet, no decent How To books really...But actually had all 3 of those seeds be female and prompty "F"ed them up curing in a bag and it rotted...read that nonsense somewhere...Also had a HPS light from the city and put together a makeshift ballast...within the 1st yr, figured out a BUNCH...Bought my first grow light...vertical hung bulbs only then...grew bag seed (some good) for a cpl yrs, till I read about places in Amsterdam that sold seeds...SSSC (super sativa seed club) M31 Williams Wonder..wrapped my cash in carbon paper and about 9-10 weeks later, low and behold a little manilla padded envelope in the mail box with a Wichita Kansas post mark, with my seeds....WOW, NOBODY in the Boston area (where I grew up) saw anything like it.....The rest is history....
This Hempy Bucket, that some have taken credit for, was widely used WAY BACK THEN....of course the name was attached much later...it was the ONLY VIABLE method we had...AND IT WORKED GREAT....then wick systems, the on to more automated like drip systems, flood and drain tables, NFT, rockwool (UHG!), then water culture....fell for every gimmick that came out...once u FULLY understand the concept of hydroponics, u realize that the simple Hempy Bucket is as good as any (with a cpl slight modifications) and in some cases, better....for commercial size or LARGE home gardens, automation makes sense, but the average closet gardener, Hempy is simple, qnd VERY EFFECTIVE....There is a MULTI BILLION dollar industry now that doesnt want ppl to think some thing so simple, made at home works as well....They rely on ppl believing u need all the bells and whistles to do it right....ANYONE who doesnt think so, can look back a page or 2 in this thread and see some of the buds a good Hempy Bucket produces....Hempy buckets are NOT JUST FOR BEGINNERS....Been a long road, but an amazing one...all I can say is, been there, done that and got the t-shirt....