If you constructed the ebucket according to my pictorial, it will work....
If you use the wrong container mix, all bets are off.
A garden club member reported that, last summer, she constructed five eBuckets from my pictorial and planted tomatoes. Those tomatoes were still producing as of last month.
Do NOT plug the drain hole, or your mix will become anaerobic for lack of an oxygen space. I believe the issue is your hard as a rock container mix...