Hi All! First post here!
Soil grower wanting to "test the waters" of hydro (pun intended). After weeks of searching the posts on this site i am planning on K.I.S. to start things out with hempys.
The only thing i dont like about it is the idea of waiting until the plants wilt as a cue to add water. and the "lift the plant" thing doesnt appeal to me.
I think i have a plan tho... maybe some of you could let me know if this idea has any pitfalls.
here it is:

instead of drilling a drain "hole" i was thinking about cutting a thin rectangular slot on the side of the bucket from the bottom and up a couple inches. so basically, 1/4" x 2". then taking a small 1.5" x 1.5" square of clear acrylic and affixing it to the inside of the bucket so that it covers all but the top half inch of the slot so i still have drainage.
actually now that im seeing it, i probably would not extend the slot all the way to the bottom... maybe start it about 1/4" up from bottom so that i could get a bead of adhesive along the bottom edge of the acrylic to make sure it doesnt leak.
anyway, this should allow me to visually check the rez levels, no?
any thoughts? concerns?

and now, after sleeping on it, i have realized that with the little viewing window i wouldnt really need the hole as i could see when ive got a couple inches of juice in there... unless of course the hole is also there for the purpose of flushing? as long as the adhesive i use is fully cured prior to the grow it shouldnt cause any problems, right?

Also, Earl had mentioned that during the first week or so, until the roots reach the bottom of the bucket, the watering will need to be more frequent... during this stage would the lack of a drain hole cause an unhealthy build-up of water in the bottom of the bucket?

I use hempy's buckets all the time. I have now gone to drilling one hole through the sidewall at the bottom of the bucket. Drill it the size of a rubber stopper the you choose.

This way when the plants are smaller you can leave the nutrients in the bottom for a day or two and drain whenever you like.

When it's time to flower and they are developing a drinkin problem you can add as much nutrient as you deem the plant need.

And Lastly you can pull the stopper and flush the plant real good whenever needed.. Good Luck

thanks nuto!
the rubber stopper idea is great!
that way i could still have my plexiglass "window" and then drill the drainage hole, as you described, a few inches to the l/r of the window.

Something else i just thought of... would my quarter inch by 2 inch window let too much light to the roots and cause hermies?

Doubt it would that low.. I really don't see the need for it though.(the window that is)

Love these simple solutions! Can't wait to get started.

Started getting the supplies for the Hempy bucket system! Looking into your inexpensive lighting setups - just want to get a few plants going in the spare room at this point.

Start a thread in the New Grower's Primer or something. Or better yet right here in hydro. Haven't had any hydro grows for a while. Are you looking for lights to just veg under or something for both flower and veg??

Way to go guys you sold me, Im in. Im a medical Grower and a bit new to Cannabis, Ive had 4 grows in dwc, first one was the best, eventually I ran into Pythium problems. So I bought a giant bag of perlite and all the vermiculite I could, I have 1 mother, 6 little clones and I just started the mother in my flower room, under a 1000w hps. Im running Floraduo, with additives, with the experience I have on this strain she would explode at first and 4 weeks into flower eventually root out, so Im hoping to eliminate the pythium asp. and it seems this technique has been singing to me for weeks now, so Im all in, cant wait to see what happens after 4 weeks of flower with this strain. Have any of you pros ran into root rot problems in the Hempy? Or any expeirance using Bennies,(subculture B)?

Nope no root rot. Never used Bennies. I'd throw some coco in there with the perlite and vermiculite.. I have ceased using the vermiculite. My plants are healthier since I drilled the hole at the bottom of the bucket. Makes for a real good flush. Rubber stoppers at the hardware store abou 50 cents apiece...