So I'm getting ready for my next grow...

I am going to try two methods I've never done - soil and hempy bucket.


When I started my first grow I wanted a fancy hydroponic garden, but after 3 harvests I'm ready to try something simpler.


I like the simplicity of Hempy, and I also want to grow in what Mother Nature intended - organic soil.


The soil is a mix of organic bag soil (not MirGro). I add bat guana, dolomite lime, worm casings and alfalfa meal. I will be feeding with a tea of fish emulsions, liquid sea kelp, bat guano and blackstrap molasses. The molasses is used in the last few weeks of flowering.


For the hempy plants I'm using organic Pure Blend Pro nutes...Grow, Bloom, Cal-Mag Plus.



Any advice is appreciated

 

It's going to be somewhat messy if it's an indoor grow. I'd suggest using a good plastic tarp or something like it on the floor for the eventual spills you'll have.


My only real advice is be careful if your going to be transplanting your plants from outdoors to indoors. It's easy to introduce bugs like spider mites that way.


It sounds like you have all the tools you need. Good luck!

 

I'm putting plastic on the floor. It is a 100% indoor grow so bugs won't be a problem.

 

One more thing...


I forgot to mention that all my plants will be trained using c-scrog. I will probably use that method on all my future grows, or for as long as I have limited space to grow in.

 

Sounds good...


I used Azomite this last season and blackstrap for the first time.


I often brew some fresh coffee to add to the fish and kelp I use.


Then again I'm out of the box on organics.

 

Thanks for the watering advice.


This is my first time to try soil & hempy. I have a feeling I will end up scrapping soil after this grow because of the simplicity.

 

Does this method require daily watering? I regularly go out of town for a couple days at a time, and would not be able to water everyday. That's one aspect that I like about DWC. Just make sure the water level is good and it can essentially run unmonitored for several days if needed.

 

clarification?

if this is stoned moment...


Did you mean that you don't think you will do soil again because Hempy is so simple?


I am also planning to try Hempy in the near future but I really want to do a side by side like you are. Ideally with clones. I really want to see if the additional yield is worth the extra $$$, and the REAL question, flavor. Does Organically grown Soil really deliver superior flavor and aroma? I'm really looking forward to the pics (hoping you'll do a grow thread)!


Good Growing!

 

Correct, but I won't know for sure until I compare the two.

 

From what I've read, most people water hempy buckets every other day.


I've left DWC alone for a week at a time with no problem. I don't plan on taking any vacations during this grow so I'll be able to keep the plants watered.

 

Well I read through 18 frickin pages of that link and came out of it with a couple unanswered questions. Maybe you Hempy growers can answer them for me.


Can the bucket run off be reused, or is it just discarded? If it's discarded...why?


It would seem that you would go through a crazy amount of nutes using this method. Do you find this to be the case?


This method is interesting me more and more the more I read about it. One problem that I currently have with my DWC is sound. I have the closet in my office (3rd bedroom) converted to my growspace. When you walk into my office, you can definitely hear the slight hum of the air pump and the bubbling buckets. It's not overwhelmingly loud, but it's enough that if someone were to come into my office, they would say "what's that noise?" and start following their ears to the closet door. This would completely eliminate that as well as the added electric bill of the pump running 24/7.

 

I don't know the answer to your runoff question, but I have heard that Hempy doesn't use anymore nutes than a hydro system.

 

Strains


I will be growing these from seed...


WW (Dutch Passion feminized)


Tex-Mex (bagseed)


And these from clones...


Bubblicious (Nirvana)


Blueberry (Dutch Passion)


So I only have to deal with 1 strain of unknown sex. Knowing how many plants I will have helps to plan the grow. I'll probably germinate about 10 of the Tex-Mex and keep the 2 most healthy females.


The goal is to have 8 total plants/pots. (4) will be hempy and (4) will be soil. Each strain will be in both soil and hempy pots, so I'll be able to compare the two methods.


If I end up with more than 8 healthy plants I might put the extra ones in a DWC or aero bucket. I hate to throw away good plants.

 

I have saucers under the pots to catch overflow.

 

Thanks Nippie.


I'm optimistic about the Hempy method. Every thread I've read on it has great results. If you Google 'hempy bucket' you will find grow threads on other sites besides Growkind.


The only problem I've run into so far is finding perlite and vermiculite in large bags. Most nurseries only carry the small 1cu ft. bags, and H.Depot/W-Mart don't carry it at all. I can order it online, but the shipping is high.

 

c-scrog top for Hempy buckets


I trimmed off the bottom net part of my net pots which left just a rim that the c-scrog mounts into and sits on top of the Hempy buckets. That notch was for the airline in my last dwc grow.