Diy bubbleponics

MostlyCrazy

MostlyCrazy

New Member
Goes from the pump sitting in the bottom of the tank, to a small piece of 1/2" tubing ( about 4") to the bottom of the irragation manifold and then out the feeding tubes to each net pot. You can tune those manifolds to a trickle Marahoon. Separate dial or screw type adjustments for every line. Mine sit at about 3/4 open and that produces a trickle.

When you buy the water pumps or get them in the kit they have a variety of fittings.
 
MostlyCrazy

MostlyCrazy

New Member
Keep the water cool by raising the res a couple of inches off the floor (unless you have a cement floor - they will keep it cool just fine) and blow a fan on it. If it is still too high you take frozen soda bottles filled with tap water ( 20oz are fine) and put them in the tank. Personally, I use max air. Big air pump with 3 big air stones and water movement helps keep it cooler also.
 
Roseman

Roseman

Elite Rolling Society
merahoon said:
Roseman,
I also want to thank you for creating this thread and showing another cheap alternative way to grow. A good one at that! Luckily I already have a 400w MH, air pumps, air stones, net pots, nutrients, hydroton, tubing, exhaust fan, and ducting. I gathered these items planning a dwc way in the past and never did it. Thanks to you, I found a good way to use them :).

The instructions were great, but the only thing I wasn't able to grasp is how you get the "trickeling" effect from the submersible pump rather than a constant flow of water? Oh yeah and now that I think of it, how do you keep your water temperature low? I read in another hydro thread that when growing hydroponically, you want to keep your water temperature below 72 degrees or else your susceptible to algae growth.. is that correct?

Once again, thanks for taking the time to help out the community! :clap:
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Trickling?
The bottom of the inside of the tank surrounding the water pump is just churning with Air Bubbles. When the Water Pump pulls in the water to distribute it, the water is half full of air or bubbles from the air stones and it delviers a half water, half air bubles to each cup. The AIR Bubbles in the tubes keep it from being a stream of water.

Water Temp?
Water over 75 degrees is asking for or inviting Pythium or Root Rot. Algae comes from LIGHT entering the water, no matter what the temp of the water is. You have to keep LIGHT out of the tank and out of the water to avoid ALGAE.

One reason I grow with CFLs is I don't have to VENT the heat, and my grow closet stays in the 80s. And if I keep my grow area in the 80s, my water will be in the 70s. The water pump keeps the water moving, and that cools it, and the air stones adding air to the water cools the water too.

Read this:
Temps, Humidity Post # 8491
 
Roseman

Roseman

Elite Rolling Society
Luap said:
What do you use to connect the irrigation manifold to the pump with? Also, like the poster above already said how do you create the trickling effect?
Click to expand...
I use a 1/2 inch diameter piece of clear plasttic tubing, about 4 inches long.

Answered TRICKLING in previous post.
 
merahoon

merahoon

Well-Known Member
Thank you Roseman and MostlyCrazy for answer my questions quickly! If I hadn't already bought the 400w I would go with CFL's for that reason but since I already have a nice bulb and reflector, I don't want to bother spending more money on something that isn't needed. Plus I have the fan to vent it so it wouldn't be worth spending more money. My last question is can you water be too cold? I like MostlyCrazy's idea of simply freezing some water and throwing it in but my only worries would that it may possible get TOO cold?
 
Solcyn26

Solcyn26

Well-Known Member
iwant to make this unit with 5'' net pots but i have a question..i have a spray cloner with 2'' net pots how woul i go about transfering from the 2'' to the 5'' without damaging the fragile roots...thanks in advance for your help
 
roft

roft

Active Member
Great thread, I have tried growing in soil and hydro mediums, unsuccessfully so thought I'd try bubbleponics. I do have a few Questions i couldn't find very clear cut answers to, so here goes. How often and how long should I have the pump on with a bubble system like yours in my (small) closet, also I have 6 120w 6500k CFL's and my pump timer set to come on for 30 min every 30 min ( I have 15min intverval timer) Am I running too many lights or not enough water, because every time i try to grow It seems like I am burning the plants, or the lights are up too high and they get to about three weeks and start curling, so i lower the lights and they burn right away? Should I start with less lights, and keep them lower until they are bigger, or am i not watering them enough. Thanks.
 
citygurlgonesouth

citygurlgonesouth

Member
I read in earlier post about using red cups and stockings...how actly does that work? What i've been wondering also is do the gravel or grow medium go all the way to the bottom of the net cup? How are the real cups made? I always see the gravel at the top and nothing but root at the bottom. you got any pics of the inside of a store bought cup. Do this system work well with auto plants.
 
Solcyn26

Solcyn26

Well-Known Member
citygurlgonesouth said:
I read in earlier post about using red cups and stockings...how actly does that work? What i've been wondering also is do the gravel or grow medium go all the way to the bottom of the net cup? How are the real cups made? I always see the gravel at the top and nothing but root at the bottom. you got any pics of the inside of a store bought cup. Do this system work well with auto plants.
Click to expand...
red cups and stockings?
 

Attachments

MostlyCrazy

MostlyCrazy

New Member
roft said:
Great thread, I have tried growing in soil and hydro mediums, unsuccessfully so thought I'd try bubbleponics. I do have a few Questions i couldn't find very clear cut answers to, so here goes. How often and how long should I have the pump on with a bubble system like yours in my (small) closet -
You leave the pump on 24/7 during the entire grow. During veg you leave everything connected. When you reach the flower stage you can remove the feeder line, distributor and hose leading to the pump out but most have found that leaving the pump itself in for the flower stage halep with water movement and water cooling.

also I have 6 120w 6500k CFL's and my pump timer set to come on for 30 min every 30 min ( I have 15min intverval timer) Am I running too many lights or not enough water, because every time i try to grow It seems like I am burning the plants, or the lights are up too high and they get to about three weeks and start curling, so i lower the lights and they burn right away? Should I start with less lights, and keep them lower until they are bigger, or am i not watering them enough.

First, when you say 120w do you mean 120watt equivalent light or that each light takes 120w of power to run. You will need to change 4 of those lights to 2700k when you switch to flower. Different light requirement for those two stages of grow. Again, at this stage ( veg) you should also have the lights on 24/7 and I never have my pump on a timer. On the burning, put your hand at the top of the plant and hold it there for 1 minute. If your hand is comfortable, you plants will not burn. Go get 'em!
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MostlyCrazy

MostlyCrazy

New Member
Nothing. I let mine dangle if it is even slightly hard to remove them as to not distrub the roots. No need to keep the feeders pumping and connected. It's a possible problem in that the feeder hoses could get clogged for some reason (excessive nutes build-up?) and that may harm the pump in some way. Anyway you want that pump churning as much as possible. More movement, more air, more air, more oxygen in water, more oxygen in water, bigger stronger disease resistant roots, bigger better roots, bigger better plant.
 
MostlyCrazy

MostlyCrazy

New Member
Correct. The systems advantage is a quick start with the automatic force feed to the plants early on. It's also small enough for a noob to handle and hide if necessary. Building an ebb and flow system for my next grow. Will use the SH system for either cloning or maybe grow out a special strain I want to play with.
 
Roseman

Roseman

Elite Rolling Society
Solcyn26 said:
iwant to make this unit with 5'' net pots but i have a question..i have a spray cloner with 2'' net pots how woul i go about transfering from the 2'' to the 5'' without damaging the fragile roots...thanks in advance for your help
Click to expand...
I don't know, I don't use cups for cloning, and I use 3 inch cups for my growing.
 
Roseman

Roseman

Elite Rolling Society
roft said:
Great thread, I have tried growing in soil and hydro mediums, unsuccessfully so thought I'd try bubbleponics. I do have a few Questions i couldn't find very clear cut answers to, so here goes. How often and how long should I have the pump on with a bubble system like yours in my (small) closet,

My AIR PUMP and WATER PUMP run 24/7, without stopping.

also I have 6 120w 6500k CFL's and my pump timer set to come on for 30 min every 30 min ( I have 15min intverval timer) Am I running too many lights or not enough water, because every time i try to grow It seems like I am burning the plants, or the lights are up too high and they get to about three weeks and start curling, so i lower the lights and they burn right away? Should I start with less lights, and keep them lower until they are bigger, or am i not watering them enough. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Bubbleponics is a trade mark and patented and register word for having BUBBLES of AIR and WATER and NUTEs sent to each grow cup, via a water pump and an irrigation hub with feeder tubes, feeding each root base. Because it is a trickle and not a stream of water, NO timer is needed, they are fed 24/7 without drowning. With a constant flow of water, you do need a timer, or they will drown.

CFLs are nto made in 120 watt bulbs so I am confused as to what bulbs you use. CFLs are placed two inches away from the plant at all times.
 
Roseman

Roseman

Elite Rolling Society
citygurlgonesouth said:
I read in earlier post about using red cups and stockings...how actly does that work? What i've been wondering also is do the gravel or grow medium go all the way to the bottom of the net cup? How are the real cups made? I always see the gravel at the top and nothing but root at the bottom. you got any pics of the inside of a store bought cup. Do this system work well with auto plants.
Click to expand...





Real Hydro grow cups are like baskets, full of slits on the sides and bottoms.

look close at the bottom pic, and see red hydroton rocks in the cups.

You place a rockwool cube in the middle of the cup, with rocks under it and on the sides and on top of it. If one hydrton rock gets wet, it will wet the rock next to it and so on and so on.

 
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