Hempy bucket parts

Indoor Growing
#1

Hey all, I’m almost done building my room and am planning to use 3 gallon hempy buckets for my next round, but I’m having trouble finding some parts.

I can’t find 3 gallon pails anywhere, they used to be so common. I found some 2 galls, would they be big enough for 4 plants under a 600w?

Also, I’ve been looking for bulkhead fittings for my drain holes but they range from like $15-$32 here which is ridiculous. Is there an easy way to make my own? I’d like to run lines off my drain holes to control where the waste goes…

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#2

Two gallon buckets have worked great for me under a 600 in the past, and these grommets work great with 1/2" PVC for a water tight through-hull connection.

(FYI the grommet size is the outer diameter. I drilled 3/4" holes for 1/2" PVC, or something like that. Info is available online)

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#3

That’s perfect, thanks. You just ram that in the hole and put the pipe through? (Lol :wink::wink::wink:) It’s not like these things are under pressure or anything…

I’m just worried I’ll have to water 2 gallon pots too much, but I tend to overwater so its probably good if they’re smaller.

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#4

Yes, just put the grommets in first then push the pipes through, if you can. Those things are tight as hell, I actually had to put dish soap on the pipes to push them through. I can say with full confidence that these things will not leak, even under a few feet of head pressure.

Good point on watering frequency. I tend to prefer more frequent waterings, and to me the bottom res only serves to hold enough to get the plant through to the next watering, so for me this was perfect for twice a day automated watering:

IMG_20190220_164625.jpg1088×1920 390 KB

I suppose to some extent you could just put the drain hole a bit higher to create a larger internal reservoir?

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#5

That’s exactly what I’m going for, thanks again!

Also, I think some people call those rubber things ‘bungs’ so feel free to make any bunghole jokes here lol

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#6

So 3 gallons, so whats that 12 litres? I got some black buckets with lids of ebay a few weeks back that would be perfect, they are 10 l but that should be enough. I’m going to use them for the veg in DWC and then transfer to 30l for flowering.
Sometimes honey is strored in them so that may be an option. Also you can pick up ‘tub outlets and screens’ off ebay cheap. 13mm ones are fine they are like $4 here in Oz, which is only the most expensive place on earth lol.
My bro runs 10l hempy buckets. He has 6 under 500w cobs and apart from space it works well.

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#7

Nice, ya even 10L would be better…I want to grow some monsters this time haha

I think I’ve found some food grade 3 gallon pails from a local guy who must do honey or something like that.

And you’d be surprised how expensive Canada is lol. The average price for a 3 gallon online is like 30 bucks!

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#8
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#9

^ that took far longer than I expected lol

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#10

Why don’t you just buy a 5 gallon and cut 2 gallons off?:neutral_face:

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#11

Going to get some 3 galls from a random local tomorrow, if that doesn’t work out I probably will.

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#12

You gonna get one of those 2 gallon cutter offerer bits for your saw :sweat_smile::sweat_smile:

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#13

I know kratky method uses airspace between the roots and water to help avoid root rot(nothing is perfect), but does dwc do the same when with the pumps and stones? If not and that method isn’t already named you better coin that shit.

Hell just improve my misunderstanding of your idea and add a mister system for aeroponics/hydroponics combo system. Kratky is definitely a option for those who have no other way to grow. I’ve seen my mother use a similar method all my life. Just tuna cans, old jars, old cups, empty spice jars, really any glass container lying around unused with a wide mouth. Every day she dumps out the water and refills the cups before adding the roots back in and leaving them on the windowsill. With a big enough container the mint plants got out of control and she was giving me clippings every day for months. Her method was closer to the kratky method, but dwc version. No nutrients at all. Just tap water. Shows what I was saying this whole time and that the Ipswich river reservoir water reads like a fertilizer bottle ingredients list😅

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#14

The other option might be tubs/crates? Here we have gazzillions at our home depot equivalent. I picked up some 30l ones for $10 without lids and cut some lids, but for hempies you won’t even need the lid. The 15 litre ones are even cheaper. The bonus of them is most times you can get storage crates that are heavier duty plastic than buckets AND the flat sides make drilling/plumbing/sealing much easier. Also with decent tubs, If you get tired of hand watering the hempies, it’s a real quick conversion to dutch buckets.

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#15

Thanks everyone. I’m thinking if buddy doesn’t have what I need tomorrow I’ll grab whatever home depot has that will suit my needs, maybe tubs…I guess whatever’s cheap lol. My new grow room is looking really great I’m stoked to get it going!

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#16

Ok so I gave up and got some 2 gallon buckets from home Depot…close enough lol. I found some parts from the plumbing and electrical sections that will work together to make bulkheads.

The only thing is they won’t be completely watertight. I couldn’t find any washers that would fit there, could I just use some silicone? I’m worried it might be toxic as it will be sitting in the water at the bottom 24/7

Edit: plumbers putty would work well too, is that safe?

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#17

Silicon is fine. It’s non leaching and is used everywhere in plumbing. Goo it up and it will be all good :slight_smile:

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#18

Well I read in some places that’s it’s not safe for drinking water or aquariums, but who knows. They make special food grade and aquarium grade stuff, but I couldn’t find any so I just made sure to use 1000% silicone with no additives or whatever.

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