How to Set Up a Bato Bucket Hydroponic System
This Video is from the Youtube channel: “Hoocho”.ย
Hoocho guides you on the process of setting up a Bato Bucket Hydroponic system. Irrigation frequency, media types, pumps and much more explained. As well as 3D printable irrigation clips and a full plant time-lapse.
Link To Buckets:
Time Stamps
00:00 – Intro
00:40 – System Build
12:46 – Planting
14:29 – The Wick Wedge Hydroponic System
15:09 – HomeGrow
16:09 – Timelapse
18:39 – Timelapse Discussion
19:19 – System Walk Through
19:36 – Nutrient and Reservoir
22:36 – Pumps
24:05 – 3D Printable Irrigation Clips
26:05 – Grow Media Options
28:29 – Bato/Dutch Bucket Irrigation/Watering Frequency/Cycle
Another great video Hoocho!
The reason for the specific Bato bucket drain connectors is to ensure the removal of stale nutrient from the very bottom of the bucket. This is good practice as the fresh oxygenated nutrient sits on top of the stale nutrient. This was the patented part of the Bato bucket design (patent is now expired), meaning that most home made buckets are not really a Bato bucket design unless they incorporate this same removal of the old nutrient first.
To maximise your fruit production, add 20% to 30% Coco coir (or vermiculite) to your perlite. After a full grow, pull the roots out & you will see why your fruit production was maximised over using 100% perlite.
Thanks for the comment, I was a bit worried about my perlite / coco combo that is lying around and waiting to be implemented for the first time. It was reassuring = )
I can just imagine all the fresh tomato juice. ๐
No kidding on the layering of nutes? That is fascinating and makes me rethink some things.
You are a legend Hoocho. I should be getting some bato buckets delivered tomorrow. Great timing for me ๐ thanks for another quality video
Hi Trevor, Where did you get your buckets from. (Australia)
I’m also in SEQ, and started a bato bucket type system for growing ginger in pure coco coir. I obviously started knowing bugger all. I figured the coco coir holds a lot of water so i wouldnt need to water too much. I started with 4 minutes of irrigation per hour, and I ended up getting some extreme nutrient burn even though my nutrient was only 1.5 to start off. After a bit of reading and testing the EC of the return water, I figured it was because the water was evaporating and the nutrients were concentrating in the coir. Adjusting to 6 minutes of watering every 30 minutes totally fixed the problem. My main concerns were power consumption of the pump, and pump wear (im using a diaphram pump instead of centrifical), so i wanted the pump to be off as much as possible. I also don’t run the pump at night, since I figure the coir can hold water and nutrients over night just fine. Having it off at night also makes it much more amenable to running off solar.
After watching this, i might try 20 mins 3 times a day or something and see what happens. Getting the nutrient burn has made me very cautious of watering too little now, and I’m a bit paranoid.
Anyway, Its all pretty fun.
It is quite likely that the plants were transpiring the water, leaving a more concentrated nutrient in the Coco coir. When it’s hot the plants “drink more” & when it’s colder, the plants “drink less”. In computerised commercial farms, the EC is reduced during the hottest part of the day to reduce plant stress.
Great time lapse and great information! Thanks for sharing this with us.
Thank you for another great video! It’s not quite the same, but the company I work for builds indoor vertical farms. We use plugs in a flood and drain system. Water the plants 4 times a day at 4 hour intervals and no water when the lights are off.
ANOTHER GREAT VIDEO, well done mate, and love the little Hoocho touch to the bato’s, Irrigation times, I USE 5 minutes on per hour, even at that rate I was worried that when the plants were mature the roots in the top of the buckets were starting to dry out, AND hourly also stirs up my IBC keeping it aeriated.
Great content as always, Hoocho! Paint strainers for the drains and the bucket themselves. The paint strainer will allow you to recycle your perlite easier. Also, your roof is leaking like a paint strainer too! Using a heat gun when prepping poly pipe will save your thumbs! I look forward to the next video!
*Wooooww!!! You are a great guy my friend HOOCHO, but more importantly a good teacher. You also came across as very genuine and willing to share all that you know. May you grow in wisdom, I wish you abundant crops, happy gardeniiiiiiiiiing!!!*
Really great content mate. Covered lots. Enjoyed your discussion on the different types of media. And then later on how it affects irrigation. Your use of a large reservoir and then a secondary one is a great idea!
I am in zone 8. Have a bato system outdoors. I have 8 buckets per line and a 40 gallon tank. I run24/7 with strainers in each bucket. I use 4oogal per hr. pump continuous recycle. Refill with water and nutrients when needed. System does well and have very few problems. Pumps last about 3 years. Like your videos.
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I had no idea you could go from a jiffy pellet right into the perlite.
Very cool. Iโm doing DIY Dutch buckets now and I kind of want the fancy bato buckets next year
Excellent video as always Hoocho you have been my number one resource for hydroponics.
I live in South Australia.
Currently my pure perlite system runs every 3 hours for 20 minutes then 10 minutes alternately from 6 in the morning to 6 at night and I only have a 10 minute cycle at midnight through the night.
I grow chillies, strawberries, Tomatoes and a few different cucurbits like watermellon, cucumbers and even a Luffa gord.
They all seem to grow well even during our hottest days.
Cheers
This is perfect! I have been thinking of making a very small Bato bucket system for maybe two chilis in my balcony this year. Last year I did Kratky and it went really well but now I kinda want to mix things up.
Had these buckets set up with clay balls in net pots and ran them constant. They were a small part of a large system that also had flood and drain and different drip strategies, but worked well. Large pump in a 200l sump, prioritized pump life.
Tomatoes in these were wild, growth was crazy, roots would have to be trimmed and maintained after a month or so or else they’d clog the top and flood over or clog the drain pipe. Love this method.
I have never seen such valuable and comprehensive information about these type of systems in a single video. Thank you so much.
Great video. Glad to have found your channel. With my bato buckets, I run my system for 30 minutes, four times per day at 7am, 11am, 3pm and 7pm. That seems to be working well in my perlite. Cheers.
Great video mate!! ๐ thanks a lot I’m working on setting up my greenhouse so your videos are very helpful and thank you for the technical infos , greatly appreciated ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐
Iโve been taking a self guided hydroponic system course at my school, and this has been SUPER helpful. I can not stress enough how useful this is, thank you very much!
Perfect video, exactly what i was looking for regarding irrigation, thank you
If you planted those tomatoes further down in the perlite, like you can do in the soil, would they begin growing a bigger root area? Or do you think that too much light gets down into the perlite for that to happen?