7 ms·

This looks interesting, but high-tech gardening communities almost always seem to turn into thinly-veiled DIY cannabis farmers.

by hughes 10y ago

swsieber 10y ago
Well, I hope this one doesn't. Something on my bucket list (no pun intended), is to do something like this on a scale of 10-20 units (buckets?), except maybe in cubes with better climate control with a rolling schedule for a variety of veggies - fresh veggies year round, yum. Quick example - lettuce can go from planting to harvest in roughly 7-8 weeks. So 7-8 buckets could provide you with fresh lettuce every week. Edit: Apparently it's possible to manipulate the light cycles to get lettuce to mature in just 22 days! That's only 3-4 buckets :)
- VLM 10y ago
  I've done this with bell peppers and its a lot of fun. Ask your local deli or bakery for free food grade five gallon buckets. Mine smelled like frosting which was not necessarily a problem. You probably don't want to reuse a bucket that held paint thinner or weed killer in its previous life. Peppers not being illegal, I didn't need all the indoor lighting or air filters or automation, I just grew them outside in the back yard where anyone could see them. One year I tried drip irrigation mostly to discover I need to weed and harvest daily and automatic watering means I'd skip that to my detriment also rodents like the taste of drip irrigation tube, the effort to keep it running exceeded the effort saved over simply hand watering. You can buy "container gardening dirt" that contains weird mysterious substances that hold water so you supposedly don't have to water as often, I found they grow a crop of mold and moss which lowers or eliminates production. Of course if you live in a desert maybe humidity isn't a problem. It is not rocket surgery for even a noob wood-butcher to turn some 8 foot long cedar planks and some posts into attractive looking planters holding IIRC 7 buckets per planter with plenty of drainage. Cheaper wood is too expensive to use because it rots quickly. My cedar planters are like a decade old and still look new(ish). The problem with indoor lighting is I ran the numbers on an "Aerogarden" product and it works financially for basil (and apparently weed) but not crops like lettuce. The problem then becomes what do I do with an infinite supply of normally expensive fresh basil? Its possible to get tired of pesto although initially it sounds impossible.
  - Cerium 10y ago
    Even for things like basil, I don't want to break even, I want to feel like my work was worth something. I live in a townhouse and have a very small garden, about a 3x9 foot patch. I grew about a 3x3 area of basil and was able to make enough pesto for about 15 meals thoughout the summer, since I usually pay about $3 per bundle of basil I felt I got about $45 out of my basil patch. Of that $45, I spent $3 on basil seeds, and probably another couple dollars on fertilizer. Of course, there is additional value in having fresh basil on demand. By the way, basil can root from cuttings purchased at the grocery store. Its easier and more effective to just buy seeds, but some people have trouble with them. I put some store bought basil in water and it rooted just fine, then continued to grow into a nice plant.
  - goda90 10y ago
    How many plants could you fit in a bucket? Perhaps you put 3-4 different herbs in each bucket, so you have a good chance of using something in your cooking before having to replant the bucket.
woah 10y ago
It's one of the most profitable crops, and one that benefits a lot from precisely controlled growing environments. Why is this a bad thing?
- thatcat 10y ago
  The only bad thing is the socially unacceptable shadow that it casts on high tech gardening. High profit crops are needed to push the state of the art environmental control designs forward and costs down for other crops; which will become increasingly common as systems mature and costs decline below that of traditional production methods.
  - SamBam 10y ago
    > unacceptable Since pot is legal to grow (either freely or with a medical license) in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Maine, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Florida, D.C., and Hawaii, I'm not sure it's so "unacceptable" anymore.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - thatcat 10y ago
      Right, I should have said frowned upon as the legislative tides are slowly changing. Only 8 / 50 states are recreationally legal and even in these states employers still use drug testing as a pre employment filter indicating some level of social stigma still exists. http://norml.org/states http://norml.org/states
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - chillingeffect 10y ago
        > Only 8 / 50 The rate of growth is something else to consider. From two states (Colorado and Washington) last year to at least three more this year (MA, ME and CA). And I didn't even notice that DC, NV and OR crept in as well. Yes, some social stigma exists, but it's on its way out. But I agree with you as far as: It may never reach full U.S.-Wide legalization. And employers may never get over it. Note though, that medical as > 50% adoption by state in the U.S. Source: http://norml.org/laws http://norml.org/laws
socialist_coder 10y ago
Yeah, this site used to be 100% about growing cannabis. Not sure when it transitioned into showing tomatoes and peppers on the front page. Ask yourself why these buckets have lids and air filters? It's not to keep the sweet aroma of your tomato plants out of your apartment =) But, does it matter? Still some really nice DIY designs here even if you aren't growing weed.
ekrof 10y ago
All plants are welcome, the community does not judge species. For us plants are just plants, we want to become "a melting pot of photosynthesis enthusiasts", as per the bucket manifesto. There are many cannabis growers but that is because it is a very popular plant around the world (and very expensive too). I've grown a lot of different plants in my buckets, including thyme, dill, basil, hot peppers, cherry tomatoes, strawberry and chives :) Hope you give it a try, it is a very fun hobby.
- ashark 10y ago
  I've been thinking about doing something like this, since I'd have to fence my yard to have an ordinary garden if I don't want deer to eat all my plants. Are there any concerns about levels of non-growth-limiting (or color-affecting) nutrients in container-grown veggies? Has anyone even looked into that?
- elcct 10y ago
  > (and very expensive too). It is expensive because of its legal situation. Cannabis is essentially weed and is very easy to grow, thus if not for the law, it is actually very cheap.
retroafroman 10y ago
The subreddit[0] for this is not even remotely veiled cannabis farmers. Every once in a while someone posts tomatoes. [0]https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceBuckets/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceBuckets/
- Olawles 10y ago
  IIRC it started mainly as a cannabis community but it's "branching" out to include other veggies - the growing method works for any plant, it's down to the individual as to what they grow. Feel free to experiment with different plants from different climates!
camtarn 10y ago
Yep. My other half grows and hybridizes African violets in an indoor setup which, because we're in Scotland, includes some pretty bright grow-lights on a timer. We keep joking about him potentially getting raided due to his shopping list and browser history.
- vollmond 10y ago
  I remember reading at least one case in the US where a home grow operation was discovered by the amount of power it was using, too -- the electric company noticed.
  - shrikes_demise 10y ago
    I believe it's pretty common practice; not just the amount of power being used as a red flag, but obvious patterns too - for cannabis you normally have it going for 16+ hrs of light for it's vegetative cycle, then switch to 12 hr of light for flowering, so they can use that pattern too. Presumably this stuff is only checked post-suspicion, and not automated and parallel construction stuff done.
  - roel_v 10y ago
    I saw a picture of a raid the other day in the area I live, where they found a growop because it was the only house in the row whose roof didn't have 10cm of snow on it. Quite a funny sight. As part of my law degree I spend some time in courtrooms, just watching cases being heard, many of them about small time growers. Many people caught growing at home are punished twice: first through criminal law, and then through civil claims like from energy companies and banks or landlords. Very often these people have no other option then to start growing again, pushing them into a vicious circle. (They made the initial choice themselves, not spinning a sob story here - just saying that the stories behind these cases are quite interesting from a human interest point of view).
    - tornadoboy55 10y ago
      > Many people caught growing at home are punished twice: first through criminal law, and then through civil claims like from energy companies and banks or landlords. Why would the energy company sue you if you paid your electricity bill? Same for landlords or banks, if you paid your rent, who cares?
lovich 10y ago
I know when I posted on there about my peas/tomatoes I had some people surprised that I was actually growing those plants and not using it as a euphemism. They helped me with my plants and setup nonetheless
- convolvatron 10y ago
  i used to grow weed with old sodium and halide fixtures, and as i grew older i had a nice rig and filled it with cukes, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, peas, string beans, herbs, lettuce. even at the time with the larger power cost i thought it was totally worth it to be able to go down into the basement and make myself a fresh salad or have ripe strawberries without leaving the house. my only issue is that once you move off the easy plants (that dont mind alot of water), it basically stops working. it isn't worth it to try to deal with moving and keeping soil in good shape in a closet. would love to start again with leds someday
accountface 10y ago
There's no thin veil here, that's how these things started and why they're called space buckets. Indoor gardening w/ grow lights generally isn't economically viable for most readily available varieties of produce.
xyzzy123 10y ago
Grow tech used first for cannabis seems analogous to new entertainment tech adoption driven by porn.
- NTripleOne 10y ago
  And here I am just sitting waiting for some decent VR porn to enjoy with my weed.

This looks interesting, but high-tech gardening communities almost always seem to turn into thinly-veiled DIY cannabis farmers.

by hughes 10y ago

This looks interesting, but high-tech gardening communities almost always seem to turn into thinly-veiled DIY cannabis farmers.

swsieber 10y ago

Well, I hope this one doesn't. Something on my bucket list (no pun intended), is to do something like this on a scale of 10-20 units (buckets?), except maybe in cubes with better climate control with a rolling schedule for a variety of veggies - fresh veggies year round, yum. Quick example - lettuce can go from planting to harvest in roughly 7-8 weeks. So 7-8 buckets could provide you with fresh lettuce every week. Edit: Apparently it's possible to manipulate the light cycles to get lettuce to mature in just 22 days! That's only 3-4 buckets :)

VLM 10y ago
I've done this with bell peppers and its a lot of fun. Ask your local deli or bakery for free food grade five gallon buckets. Mine smelled like frosting which was not necessarily a problem. You probably don't want to reuse a bucket that held paint thinner or weed killer in its previous life. Peppers not being illegal, I didn't need all the indoor lighting or air filters or automation, I just grew them outside in the back yard where anyone could see them. One year I tried drip irrigation mostly to discover I need to weed and harvest daily and automatic watering means I'd skip that to my detriment also rodents like the taste of drip irrigation tube, the effort to keep it running exceeded the effort saved over simply hand watering. You can buy "container gardening dirt" that contains weird mysterious substances that hold water so you supposedly don't have to water as often, I found they grow a crop of mold and moss which lowers or eliminates production. Of course if you live in a desert maybe humidity isn't a problem. It is not rocket surgery for even a noob wood-butcher to turn some 8 foot long cedar planks and some posts into attractive looking planters holding IIRC 7 buckets per planter with plenty of drainage. Cheaper wood is too expensive to use because it rots quickly. My cedar planters are like a decade old and still look new(ish). The problem with indoor lighting is I ran the numbers on an "Aerogarden" product and it works financially for basil (and apparently weed) but not crops like lettuce. The problem then becomes what do I do with an infinite supply of normally expensive fresh basil? Its possible to get tired of pesto although initially it sounds impossible.
- Cerium 10y ago
  Even for things like basil, I don't want to break even, I want to feel like my work was worth something. I live in a townhouse and have a very small garden, about a 3x9 foot patch. I grew about a 3x3 area of basil and was able to make enough pesto for about 15 meals thoughout the summer, since I usually pay about $3 per bundle of basil I felt I got about $45 out of my basil patch. Of that $45, I spent $3 on basil seeds, and probably another couple dollars on fertilizer. Of course, there is additional value in having fresh basil on demand. By the way, basil can root from cuttings purchased at the grocery store. Its easier and more effective to just buy seeds, but some people have trouble with them. I put some store bought basil in water and it rooted just fine, then continued to grow into a nice plant.
- goda90 10y ago
  How many plants could you fit in a bucket? Perhaps you put 3-4 different herbs in each bucket, so you have a good chance of using something in your cooking before having to replant the bucket.

woah 10y ago

It's one of the most profitable crops, and one that benefits a lot from precisely controlled growing environments. Why is this a bad thing?

thatcat 10y ago
The only bad thing is the socially unacceptable shadow that it casts on high tech gardening. High profit crops are needed to push the state of the art environmental control designs forward and costs down for other crops; which will become increasingly common as systems mature and costs decline below that of traditional production methods.
- SamBam 10y ago
  > unacceptable Since pot is legal to grow (either freely or with a medical license) in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Maine, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Florida, D.C., and Hawaii, I'm not sure it's so "unacceptable" anymore.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - thatcat 10y ago
    Right, I should have said frowned upon as the legislative tides are slowly changing. Only 8 / 50 states are recreationally legal and even in these states employers still use drug testing as a pre employment filter indicating some level of social stigma still exists. http://norml.org/states http://norml.org/states
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - chillingeffect 10y ago
      > Only 8 / 50 The rate of growth is something else to consider. From two states (Colorado and Washington) last year to at least three more this year (MA, ME and CA). And I didn't even notice that DC, NV and OR crept in as well. Yes, some social stigma exists, but it's on its way out. But I agree with you as far as: It may never reach full U.S.-Wide legalization. And employers may never get over it. Note though, that medical as > 50% adoption by state in the U.S. Source: http://norml.org/laws http://norml.org/laws

socialist_coder 10y ago

Yeah, this site used to be 100% about growing cannabis. Not sure when it transitioned into showing tomatoes and peppers on the front page. Ask yourself why these buckets have lids and air filters? It's not to keep the sweet aroma of your tomato plants out of your apartment =) But, does it matter? Still some really nice DIY designs here even if you aren't growing weed.

ekrof 10y ago

All plants are welcome, the community does not judge species. For us plants are just plants, we want to become "a melting pot of photosynthesis enthusiasts", as per the bucket manifesto. There are many cannabis growers but that is because it is a very popular plant around the world (and very expensive too). I've grown a lot of different plants in my buckets, including thyme, dill, basil, hot peppers, cherry tomatoes, strawberry and chives :) Hope you give it a try, it is a very fun hobby.

ashark 10y ago
I've been thinking about doing something like this, since I'd have to fence my yard to have an ordinary garden if I don't want deer to eat all my plants. Are there any concerns about levels of non-growth-limiting (or color-affecting) nutrients in container-grown veggies? Has anyone even looked into that?
elcct 10y ago
> (and very expensive too). It is expensive because of its legal situation. Cannabis is essentially weed and is very easy to grow, thus if not for the law, it is actually very cheap.

retroafroman 10y ago

The subreddit[0] for this is not even remotely veiled cannabis farmers. Every once in a while someone posts tomatoes. [0]https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceBuckets/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceBuckets/

Olawles 10y ago
IIRC it started mainly as a cannabis community but it's "branching" out to include other veggies - the growing method works for any plant, it's down to the individual as to what they grow. Feel free to experiment with different plants from different climates!

camtarn 10y ago

Yep. My other half grows and hybridizes African violets in an indoor setup which, because we're in Scotland, includes some pretty bright grow-lights on a timer. We keep joking about him potentially getting raided due to his shopping list and browser history.

vollmond 10y ago
I remember reading at least one case in the US where a home grow operation was discovered by the amount of power it was using, too -- the electric company noticed.
- shrikes_demise 10y ago
  I believe it's pretty common practice; not just the amount of power being used as a red flag, but obvious patterns too - for cannabis you normally have it going for 16+ hrs of light for it's vegetative cycle, then switch to 12 hr of light for flowering, so they can use that pattern too. Presumably this stuff is only checked post-suspicion, and not automated and parallel construction stuff done.
- roel_v 10y ago
  I saw a picture of a raid the other day in the area I live, where they found a growop because it was the only house in the row whose roof didn't have 10cm of snow on it. Quite a funny sight. As part of my law degree I spend some time in courtrooms, just watching cases being heard, many of them about small time growers. Many people caught growing at home are punished twice: first through criminal law, and then through civil claims like from energy companies and banks or landlords. Very often these people have no other option then to start growing again, pushing them into a vicious circle. (They made the initial choice themselves, not spinning a sob story here - just saying that the stories behind these cases are quite interesting from a human interest point of view).
  - tornadoboy55 10y ago
    > Many people caught growing at home are punished twice: first through criminal law, and then through civil claims like from energy companies and banks or landlords. Why would the energy company sue you if you paid your electricity bill? Same for landlords or banks, if you paid your rent, who cares?

lovich 10y ago

I know when I posted on there about my peas/tomatoes I had some people surprised that I was actually growing those plants and not using it as a euphemism. They helped me with my plants and setup nonetheless

convolvatron 10y ago
i used to grow weed with old sodium and halide fixtures, and as i grew older i had a nice rig and filled it with cukes, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, peas, string beans, herbs, lettuce. even at the time with the larger power cost i thought it was totally worth it to be able to go down into the basement and make myself a fresh salad or have ripe strawberries without leaving the house. my only issue is that once you move off the easy plants (that dont mind alot of water), it basically stops working. it isn't worth it to try to deal with moving and keeping soil in good shape in a closet. would love to start again with leds someday

accountface 10y ago

There's no thin veil here, that's how these things started and why they're called space buckets. Indoor gardening w/ grow lights generally isn't economically viable for most readily available varieties of produce.

xyzzy123 10y ago

Grow tech used first for cannabis seems analogous to new entertainment tech adoption driven by porn.

NTripleOne 10y ago
And here I am just sitting waiting for some decent VR porn to enjoy with my weed.