Hempy Bucket How To...

Here is a post on how to make the hempy buckets (passive hydro buckets) I use to grow most of my plants in. They are very simple to make and use and have improved my growing noticeably.

First find a suitable bucket. A five gallon bucket will work for larger plants and they are cheap and easy to find. Here is a ~4 gallon bucket being converted into a hempy bucket.

After drilling holes in a triangle pattern about 2-3 inches above the bottom of bucket, I painted the buckets black. I do a triangle pattern so the nutrients drain slower near the bottom of the bucket. The buckets are painted black to avoid the roots and grow medium becoming covered with algae growth. 

Next I fill the buckets 3/4 full with perlite. This perlite should be flushed with water to remove perlite fines that can settle at the bottom of your hempy bucket. Now your bucket is ready for a transplant. Let the roots of the plants dip into just the top of the reservoir or even slightly above. The plant will grow into it on its own. I give nutes on the first day of transplant and it never seems to do any harm. After this, I cover the exposed roots on top with more perlite, or vermiculite. I am experimenting with vermiculite on top to see if that lessens evaporation from the buckets. The plants always seem to love bigger buckets too because they always explode with growth when the roots reach the reservoir. Here are a couple plants recently transplanted. 

Banana peppers, just after transplant to large hempy bucket

Black cherry tomatoes. , just after transplant to large hempy bucket (vermiculite on top)