Idea for DTW Hempy System

T

tilopa

Well-Known Member
I'm sure this has been done before. My idea is to have a Hempy type system that drains to waste the standing water at the bottom of the bucket, and refills via top feed once per day. I've never tried a Hempy before, but one benefit claimed by this system is that whenever you water from the top the standing water at the bottom gets pushed out and new (fresh) water replaces it. This would not be true for the systems I've seen explained online, because as the new water goes in from the top it would mostly drain out of the side hole and much of the stagnate water at the bottom would not be refreshed.

My idea is Instead of a hole about 2 inches from the bottom of the bucket there would be a hole at the very bottom, and tubing would connect this hole to another bucket outside the room. The outside bucket and inside bucket would be at the same level. The outside bucket would have a drain tube connected to it that would normally be closed with a valve. When lights go on the solution is pumped from the top and fills the bottom section. When lights go out, the bottom section gets drained to waste leaving the roots in nothing but perlite until they are fed again at lights on.

I would use perlite for the bottom section and hydroton or lava rock at the top.

My only problem is how to automate the opening of the valve on the outside bucket to drain the solution.

Any critique of this system would be appreciated.
 
JCGreen81

JCGreen81

Well-Known Member
You’re looking for an electric solenoid

however you can also achieve this with air pumps if you get the gravity down

but I don’t see why you want to overwater to collect waste water.

you should instead lookup a DIY Auto Watering system that uses float valves and allows the roots to consume water THEY want
 
T

tilopa

Well-Known Member
What do you mean "overwater to collect to waste...", I am talking about only watering once a day.

What particular system are you referring to by a DIY Auto Watering that uses float valves?

Thanks.
 
IrkinBollikans

IrkinBollikans

Well-Known Member
tilopa said:
I'm sure this has been done before. My idea is to have a Hempy type system that drains to waste the standing water at the bottom of the bucket, and refills via top feed once per day. I've never tried a Hempy before, but one benefit claimed by this system is that whenever you water from the top the standing water at the bottom gets pushed out and new (fresh) water replaces it. This would not be true for the systems I've seen explained online, because as the new water goes in from the top it would mostly drain out of the side hole and much of the stagnate water at the bottom would not be refreshed.

My idea is Instead of a hole about 2 inches from the bottom of the bucket there would be a hole at the very bottom, and tubing would connect this hole to another bucket outside the room. The outside bucket and inside bucket would be at the same level. The outside bucket would have a drain tube connected to it that would normally be closed with a valve. When lights go on the solution is pumped from the top and fills the bottom section. When lights go out, the bottom section gets drained to waste leaving the roots in nothing but perlite until they are fed again at lights on.

I would use perlite for the bottom section and hydroton or lava rock at the top.

My only problem is how to automate the opening of the valve on the outside bucket to drain the solution.

Any critique of this system would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Once your roots are established in the reservoir, there will be no excess water. I transplant 1 week before flip and by week 3, my plants need fed twice a day. You are overthinking this, I promise.
 
IrkinBollikans

IrkinBollikans

Well-Known Member
tilopa said:
I'm sure this has been done before. My idea is to have a Hempy type system that drains to waste the standing water at the bottom of the bucket, and refills via top feed once per day. I've never tried a Hempy before, but one benefit claimed by this system is that whenever you water from the top the standing water at the bottom gets pushed out and new (fresh) water replaces it. This would not be true for the systems I've seen explained online, because as the new water goes in from the top it would mostly drain out of the side hole and much of the stagnate water at the bottom would not be refreshed.

My idea is Instead of a hole about 2 inches from the bottom of the bucket there would be a hole at the very bottom, and tubing would connect this hole to another bucket outside the room. The outside bucket and inside bucket would be at the same level. The outside bucket would have a drain tube connected to it that would normally be closed with a valve. When lights go on the solution is pumped from the top and fills the bottom section. When lights go out, the bottom section gets drained to waste leaving the roots in nothing but perlite until they are fed again at lights on.

I would use perlite for the bottom section and hydroton or lava rock at the top.

My only problem is how to automate the opening of the valve on the outside bucket to drain the solution.

Any critique of this system would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
And also, no water comes out of the side hole until the reservoir is full. Allow for a small amount of runoff, and your res has been changed.
 
JCGreen81

JCGreen81

Well-Known Member
tilopa said:
What do you mean "overwater to collect to waste...", I am talking about only watering once a day.

What particular system are you referring to by a DIY Auto Watering that uses float valves?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
What you're describing is absolutely overwatering to have extra water later. How can you not see that
 
JCGreen81

JCGreen81

Well-Known Member
JCGreen81 said:
What you're describing is absolutely overwatering to have extra water later. How can you not see that
Click to expand...
Pardon my ignorance I just read about the hempy system. In essence you're trying to create a water repository the plant always has access to.

You could create a better system with the same expense that would dictate reservoir refill entirely on plant roots
 
JCGreen81

JCGreen81

Well-Known Member
In short why not expose the bottom of your pot completely to air but within a light blocked container? Allow the roots to grow out of the medium into the reservoir. Only refill the reservoir and let the roots grow hydro

The idea of a seperate container is not smart because your energy expanded as a human could be used elsewhere for higher yield
 
T

tilopa

Well-Known Member
Maybe I am overthinking it. Admittedly I've never done a hempy bucket. I believe hempy is a type of shallow water culter (SWC), meaning roots in a shallow amount of water, like 2 inches of water. I like the idea of SWC because perhaps it can have some of the benefits of a DWC, like explosive growth, without the higher maintenance such as water chillers and high end air pumps. But in lieu of the chillers and air pumps to ensure oxygenation to the roots I thought it would be best to refresh the water daily. That is why I came up with the idea of flushing the 2 inches of water daily.

IrkinBollikans said:
And also, no water comes out of the side hole until the reservoir is full. Allow for a small amount of runoff, and your res has been changed.
Click to expand...
How could a small amount of runoff change the res? You understand that if you are pouring water on top of the res that most of that water is going to run out the hole.

JCGreen81 said:
In short why not expose the bottom of your pot completely to air but within a light blocked container? Allow the roots to grow out of the medium into the reservoir. Only refill the reservoir and let the roots grow hydro
Click to expand...
Not sure what you mean? First you say "expose the bottom of the pot completely to air", but then you say "refill the reservoir and let the roots grow hydro".
 
IrkinBollikans

IrkinBollikans

Well-Known Member
tilopa said:
Maybe I am overthinking it. Admittedly I've never done a hempy bucket.


How could a small amount of runoff change the res? You understand that if you are pouring water on top of the res that most of that water is going to run out the hole.
Click to expand...
I understand that it doesn't. I see it with my eyes. Once your roots are established in the res, there will be very little nutrient solution left over from the previous feeding. In flowering you will need to find a way to feed more than once a day. If you have adequate lighting, you will be blown away by how much they drink by mid flower
 
IrkinBollikans

IrkinBollikans

Well-Known Member
I'm honestly doing away with my hempy pots next round and just using cloth pots. With the plants needing multiple feedings daily, I set up a small automatic drip irrigation system. Might as well get more air to the roots while using even less medium and skipping perlite altogether. I never really saw the benefit of hempys
 
Gemtree

Gemtree

Well-Known Member
I've always just thought of hempy being handy for having one drain hole if you're growing in a tight spot. Easy to set a bucket on Tupperware or whatever and catch runoff with another Tupperware or whatever. The resivoir isn't really needed unless you're doing the original 50/50 perlite/vermiculite so you're basically just growing in a bucket
 
EvilScotsm@n

EvilScotsm@n

Well-Known Member
JCGreen81 said:
In short why not expose the bottom of your pot completely to air but within a light blocked container? Allow the roots to grow out of the medium into the reservoir. Only refill the reservoir and let the roots grow hydro

The idea of a seperate container is not smart because your energy expanded as a human could be used elsewhere for higher yield
Click to expand...
That's what I do mate, NFT nutrient film technique.
Plants go in a Rockwool onto a covered flood table with a constant flow.
After a month or so they hit the res and by the end it's like 40% dwc, 60% roots in nout but fresh air.
The growth rates are mental.
 
T

tropical beginner

New Member
IrkinBollikans said:
I understand that it doesn't. I see it with my eyes. Once your roots are established in the res, there will be very little nutrient solution left over from the previous feeding. In flowering you will need to find a way to feed more than once a day. If you have adequate lighting, you will be blown away by how much they drink by mid flower
Click to expand...
I just started Hempy which is good. I was wondering how can you tell how much water you need to water like once or twice a day ?
 
D

DaFreak

Well-Known Member
tilopa said:
I'm sure this has been done before. My idea is to have a Hempy type system that drains to waste the standing water at the bottom of the bucket, and refills via top feed once per day. I've never tried a Hempy before, but one benefit claimed by this system is that whenever you water from the top the standing water at the bottom gets pushed out and new (fresh) water replaces it. This would not be true for the systems I've seen explained online, because as the new water goes in from the top it would mostly drain out of the side hole and much of the stagnate water at the bottom would not be refreshed.

My idea is Instead of a hole about 2 inches from the bottom of the bucket there would be a hole at the very bottom, and tubing would connect this hole to another bucket outside the room. The outside bucket and inside bucket would be at the same level. The outside bucket would have a drain tube connected to it that would normally be closed with a valve. When lights go on the solution is pumped from the top and fills the bottom section. When lights go out, the bottom section gets drained to waste leaving the roots in nothing but perlite until they are fed again at lights on.

I would use perlite for the bottom section and hydroton or lava rock at the top.

My only problem is how to automate the opening of the valve on the outside bucket to drain the solution.

Any critique of this system would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Everybody tried to improve every system out there end of day they succeed in nothing. Knock yourself out.
 
IrkinBollikans

IrkinBollikans

Well-Known Member
tropical beginner said:
I just started Hempy which is good. I was wondering how can you tell how much water you need to water like once or twice a day ?
Click to expand...
In veg, you probably wont need to feed more than once a day. During the stretch, they start getting thirsty depending on container size. Never water coco
 
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