What's the difference in SIP and the Hempy Bucket method, if any?
I have grown both methods,, here are my thoughts to answer your question
Hempy buckets ,, you water from the top in medium that is inert, coco or perlite/ vermiculite, there is a res at the bottom and you have to mix nutes and Ph your water before you pour it down the top of the hempy bucket,, also you have to pour enough liquid / nute/ph mix down the hempy to exchange the fluids in the Res, then then the over flow water has to be captured ( unless you grow in a garage or something),, and then that captured water has to be taken to a sink or drain, hempy buckets can tend to have a small res, so watering happens more often, and the mixing of nutes and ph ing of water happens more often.
Sip you do not water from the top,, you pour the water down a fill tube and into the res,,the res on SIPS can be Big, upwards of 5 to 10 gallons, you Do Not have to mix nutes or ph the water,, you just use water straight from the faucet,, your plants feed themselves from the organic dirt in the top section, most people use living soil or fox farms ocean forest with dry organic nutes mixed into the drit, There is either an over flow hole or a sight tube for water level,, in either case you only fill the res till its full of just plain tap water and you stop, there is no need to flush a SIP or no need to water until run off,, so your only taking water to the plant, your not having to carry water both ways, and no ph/ nute mixing
Sips go the whole ride all the way thru veg and flower with just tap water,,
Sips offer flexablitly, you can put a more inert dirt in the top section and ad nutes to the res if you desire, but its not required like it is in hempy buckets,, Sips are easier, because there is no mixing and no water back and forth, sips naturally Ph balance themselves
Sips are a hydro / hybrid combination , sips can be store bought or DIY made at home in differant sizes to suit your grow space
I have seen fantastic plants grown in both styles, so to me it comes down to your growing style, I like easy and simple, and I gravitate towards things that are easy and simple, but effective,,
All of the growers listed above are reporting hydroponic results in thier Sips and have pictures on thier grow threads to back it up, and so do hempy growers,
I hope this helps to answer your question
Cheers bro