For everyone who doesn’t know what that is, It’ a DIY Bucket system with the draining holes 2 inches above the Buckets bottom. Filled with 2,5 inches Clay or Perlite and Coco coir on top.
Do you think, this will work with Soil as well? Or do I then risk root rot?
Autopots work with soil so I would think this would work with soil as well. Just make sure the soil has good drainage
I have no experience with bottom feeding, but I have done a bit of research into growing medias over the years. My guess would be a peat product such as ProMIx HP would be the preferred choice over a soil mix or coco coir/perlite.
My reasoning? Coco likes to be flushed regularly while most peat based mixes have lime added to fight the acidity of the media . . . bottom feeding peat would help prevent this from being washed away during flushes/overwatering, which can cause late cycle pH issues.
The only time I flush my coco is at the end of the run. I do it to basically start from scratch. I’ve been using Coco for at least 3 years and as long as I flush it at the end I’m good to go. I do grow with Gaia Green 4-4-4 & 2-8-4. So I don’t use salt-based nutrients that might need to be flushed bc of salt buildup. Happy growing
I understand, coco is a very flexible media and doesn’t absolutely have to be flushed. One of the pros of coco is you can treat it like soil, soilless or hydro with good results.
Personally, I’ve seen about 25-30% increase in growth rate when running in a HFF/DTW system vs longer dry-backs and hand watering as you would in soil. For what little it’s worth, my first crop was in '76 and I’ve been running top feed, drain to waste coco since '95. Just means I’m old and the weed gods have mostly smiled on my efforts . . . not that I know anymore than anyone else.
I still run General Hydroponics Flora Trio + and stay away from organics in container gardening. I have no experience with Gaia Green . . . but like most nutrient lines I’m sure it works great when properly used.
Organics is all I use in 10 gallon pots of soil. If you haven’t tried the new organic products I would urge you to try some. I can keep up with any salt nutes in a more forgiving method. I started in 5 gallon pots and I’m upgrading to 15 gallon next. I water like 1-2 times per week and other than that I watch the grass grow.
Glad the organics work for ya, but I’ll stick with what I know . . . I don’t own a pot bigger than 2 gallons anymore. I normally average around 6-8 oz per plant with 4-5 week veg . . . no need for huge pots.
Not to knock organics, I just never gave it much consideration, I prefer to feed my plants, not feed a bucket of dirt and hope it feeds them for me.
Thank you guys for sharing your experiences with me! I still have over 50 gallon of Biobizz light mix, which is probable enough for 3 more grows with my setup. So I’m won’t buy any new medium now. And If it’s gone, I will build a HPA or a DWC system anyway. Most likely a HPA system.
Maybe I’ll become the guinea pig for us and just try that Hempy bucket method with the Biobizz light mix I still have.
There is also a different designs of that system. With two buckets and a pipe
And here Is a nice little post about it…
Hempy Buckets: A Safe and Simple Alternative for the Disabled Grower
Have a nice day or night, boys and girls! 
