First Grow: DIY Bubbleponics (Bagseed)

[Lt Shiny Sides]

Hey I just started my grow about a week ago. I put the seeds in a bowl of water until they sank (about 6 hours). Then I put them between wet paper towels on a plate, covered with a bowl, and on top of the fridge. After they showed a small root tip, I planted them in my rockwool cubes and put them in my DIY bubbleponics system. Two of the plants are actually a little behind because only four seeds from the first batch germinated so I had to germinate a second batch.

These are the materials I have:

• Grow tent 2'x4'x7'
• 18 gallon reservoir (I'm going to keep it at 10 i think)
• Water pump with manifold and 6 tubes to net pots
• 6 3.75" net pots
• Air pump and 4" Deluxe Bubble Disk
• 10" fan blowing on my light/tops of the plants
• 400 watt MH lamp with switchable ballast and HPS light for flowering
• 4" computer exhaust fan
• Aquarium stones (I read these will work fine, tell me what you think)
• 1.5" rockwool cubes
• 1lb each of Vita Grow grow, bloom, and micro
• pH Up adn Down
• PH meter from Hong Kong
• Digital thermometer/hygrometer

Give me any feedback you have and I will post often. Is there anything else that you think I should have? Also, I read that after the seedlings show there second set of true leaves, you should feed 1/4 strength nutrients, so I was gonna do that tomorrow. Do you think this will be ok for the two that are a little behind? Thanks in advance for all your help. Wish me luck!

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

Okay so my little ones were looking really hungry and a little pale from lack of nitrogen cause they've only had plain water so far. I changed the reservoir and gave them 1/4 strength grow and micro nutes. I'm gonna bump it up to half strength sometime this week and hopefully have them on full nutes when i change it again on Saturday. Advice, tips, comments are all welcome. Let me know what you think.

 

[sympLED]

I had some late bloomers in my grow that were too late....they got choked out due to the rapid growth of the larger plants. Man, when the roots hit the water its ON! Hold off on full power nutes for longer than you may think. I got anxious and burned my babies. I also learned to take it easy on the pH adjustment solutions. I finally just added my nutes straight to un adjusted tap water and BAM 5.8. Easy as that. Watch tank temps too...my plants didn't like it when I left for a few days only to return to no a/c.

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

Yeah man my tank heats up quick if I leave the pump on too long so i run it for like 2 hours 3 times a day and the res stays nice and cool. Yeah I might just stick to half strength when i change the res on Saturday depending on how much they grow this week.

 

[Roseman]

Cooling Post # 558

Starting Nutes Post # 10395

Cooling # 208

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

Thanks Roseman you always know where to send people for info. According to the Starting Nutes post, I probably should've started 1/4 strength nutes a couple days ago, but I didn't want to harm the little two. They're definitely ready now cause the leaves are curling up like crazy. Check back often, I'm sure I'll need your help at some point.

 

[fatflathead]

Hang on man when those roots hit the water its on like donky kong! Good Luck

 

[maxwelljr]

Very cool, It reminds me of an idea I had, I was going to use a whole bunch of small flat stones from a local beach here. Looking good, expect them to take off shortly.

 

[Roseman]

Are the roots hitting the deep water yet?

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

Well the roots and plants are definitely showing growth but the roots are not developing as quickly as I thought they would. 2 of the plants are still showing no roots, and it's weird because the biggest one is one of them. Check out the pics, let me know what you think. Also, do you think the curling in the first pic is a problem?

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

Another quick question...do you think I should have my light on 24 hours a day or is 18 on 6 off good? I read that the plants only absorb light 18 hours a day so the rest is just a waste of electricity. What's your stance on this?

 

[SyNiK4L]

i was wondering the same exact thing....i heard also that the night time gives them time to build up some more energy for the next day...but looking good man ill keep checkin up on u too

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

i was wondering the same exact thing....i heard also that the night time gives them time to build up some more energy for the next day...but looking good man ill keep checkin up on u too

Yeah that too. Hahaha i just notice it says WEEED in your pic

 

[SyNiK4L]

hahahah sure does...cant even remember where i found that avatar lol

 

[JoJo7119]

hahahah sure does...cant even remember where i found that avatar lol

From what i heard roseman said the bubbleponics system does really good on 24/0 so u might wanna keep it the same up to you though

 

[fatflathead]

From what i heard roseman said the bubbleponics system does really good on 24/0 so u might wanna keep it the same up to you though

It does great on a 24 schedule. However I did put my pump on a timer to keep the water temp down a few degrees.

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

So I was just looking around and apparently some people did a little experiment with different light schedules. Check out the link, they say 24/0 is best for seedlings and then switch to 20/4 for optimal growth. I think this is what I'm gonna do from now on unless I hear otherwise.

Lighting Schedules Post #10

 

[fatflathead]

So I was just looking around and apparently some people did a little experiment with different light schedules. Check out the link, they say 24/0 is best for seedlings and then switch to 20/4 for optimal growth. I think this is what I'm gonna do from now on unless I hear otherwise.

Lighting Schedules Post #10

i wonder if anyone has done tests to see if its better for the life of the bulb to give it a few hours of break everyday?

 

[MostlyCrazy]

Most of the bulb and for that matter any electrical device take most of the abuse on the start-ups so I'm not sure the rest is worth the wear and tear of start-up.

 

[Roseman]

There is a thread on here, newly posted last week, that he swears he started one plant under 18/6 and two plants under 24/7, and the two at 24/7 were like 6 to 8 inches taller. He showed the pics side by side.