Putting bubbles in your 'ponics

HomeGrownHairy

HomeGrownHairy

Well-Known Member
Illegal Smile said:
"Hijack" this or any other thread all you want. Unlike the bubblebabies, I don't feel I or anyone else owns any thread.
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I hope we're all in this for info and to help each other out. Why dish Bubbleponics? Me, and many others use it and this is the start of my 4th Bubbleponics grow and I wouldnt so it any other way anymore. For me, my plants grow much faster with a hub set-up than without one. There are many ways to grow pot. Nobody felt they "owned any threads" as you put it. Roseman was simply doing a "how to" thread and wanted to keep it clean of posts/questions so he could explain how it's done...that was all he was trying to do. Don't try to make folks out as being bad, etc. and blow it up.. Nobody thought it was any big deal:peace:
 
LionInZion

LionInZion

Member
Illegal Smile said:
I think bubbleponics is a good word, it just strikes me as a supreme irony that it is used and trademarked for a system that does not rely on bubbles at all, but on a pump and tubes.
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Bubbleponics use bubbles as an integral part of the system, hence the name. Someone who is an authority on the subject such as yourself should know that.
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
LionInZion said:
Bubbleponics use bubbles as an integral part of the system, hence the name. Someone who is an authority on the subject such as yourself should know that.
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:roll: It uses the pump and tubes to do what the bubbles could do alone, hence the irony.
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
DeWild1 said:
We made a system kind of like this, http://www.stealthhydroponics.com/product.php?xProd=16 but its in a 53 gallon rubbermaid so the 6 plants are far spread apart to give more growing room.
Its my understanding that rootrot is impossible with oxygenated water.
So why not keep the roots in water from birth????
Has anyone tried that?
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There are several approaches that have roots sprout directly into water. DWC with the water level that high is one, the floating platform is another. But if you are going to start with a germinated seed or ungerminated seed, you have to keep the cube appropriately wet until roots are even out of the cube. That would be easy to do outside the system so it isn't an obstacle.

53 gallons is more water than needed for 6 plants but I sympathize with the problem. I have also tried to find totes with a larger top to spread plants out, but not so muchdepth which adds the unnecessary gallons. Tote makers are trying to utilize vertical space while we want the opposite. I think you might do better if you want 6 large plants in simple dwc to use two totes of 8-10 gal each and put three plants in each. Still I think less work and far less nutes than with the huge tote.
 
D

DeWild1

Member
Illegal Smile said:
There are several approaches that have roots sprout directly into water. DWC with the water level that high is one, the floating platform is another. But if you are going to start with a germinated seed or ungerminated seed, you have to keep the cube appropriately wet until roots are even out of the cube. That would be easy to do outside the system so it isn't an obstacle.

53 gallons is more water than needed for 6 plants but I sympathize with the problem. I have also tried to find totes with a larger top to spread plants out, but not so muchdepth which adds the unnecessary gallons. Tote makers are trying to utilize vertical space while we want the opposite. I think you might do better if you want 6 large plants in simple dwc to use two totes of 8-10 gal each and put three plants in each. Still I think less work and far less nutes than with the huge tote.
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Thank you for the reply. This place is a wealth of knowledge.
I am only using 10 gallons of watter. Just enough to cover the pump. They are big ass green ones from Home Depot.
It took me a while to understand what you were talking about. A pure bubble system is smart. It just makes a fog! You know, my wife has one of those bubble makers for a bath tub. Its just a small vacume that is pushing out air and goes into a mat with holes in it... I was thinking of a wet dry vac and a bunch of tubes for a large grow.
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
wel i#ve got my cloner filled and running, just running one test pot with some clay and rockwool in it to get used to keeping it the correct wetness, and after that i should be throwing a pair of clones into it in the next couple of days :) pondering whether to try and root the clones in the dWC or just stick them in the heated prob till they're good. only observed it for 2 minutes but bubles were splashing aginst the bottom of the lid :)

only issue is that i could only get one size, and it's a feckin 6 gallon tote that could do any number of full size plants, so i'm now thinking about possible ways to sink the lid into it say 10cm, although with some better light placement i don't think that i really need the extra height, i'm not kn any way trying to grow monsters. 4 smallish plants pruned into single colas a mopnth is all i should really be smoking. if i need more then i'll adjust if and when :) should have a new tetra pump in the post tomorrow as well for it
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
tip top toker said:
wel i#ve got my cloner filled and running, just running one test pot with some clay and rockwool in it to get used to keeping it the correct wetness, and after that i should be throwing a pair of clones into it in the next couple of days :) pondering whether to try and root the clones in the dWC or just stick them in the heated prob till they're good. only observed it for 2 minutes but bubles were splashing aginst the bottom of the lid :)

only issue is that i could only get one size, and it's a feckin 6 gallon tote that could do any number of full size plants, so i'm now thinking about possible ways to sink the lid into it say 10cm, although with some better light placement i don't think that i really need the extra height, i'm not kn any way trying to grow monsters. 4 smallish plants pruned into single colas a mopnth is all i should really be smoking. if i need more then i'll adjust if and when :) should have a new tetra pump in the post tomorrow as well for it
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You're doing the smart thing with the dress rehearsal and no seed or clone. It is very possible to get the cube too wet this way so watch for that. You can really dial it in with observation-adjust-observation-adjust. If your tote lid is wet that's a lot of action, you may want to lower the water level. I lift the netpot out and see how high on it the water is splashing. But the real test is the cube itself. So if you get one overly wet, you may have to use a fresh one to be able to see if it is drier after the adjustment.
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
after soaking the rockwool, i let it dry off a bit and after about 15 minutes in there this morning it seems damp, but am not sure if it's not damp enough. more playing this evening :)
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
15 min is not enough time to tell how much water it will soak up. I leave them in for 2 hrs to get a good test. This can be a pain but remember that once you have it dialed in and mark your water level you won't have to do it again unless there are other changes.
 
Learninglots420

Learninglots420

Well-Known Member
Thanks for managing this thread Illegal Smile! +Rep for your hard work and ability to answer the same questions over and over without getting angry at people :). This was helpful in learning a lot of the "whys" and not just the "hows." I'm hoping once I test my apartment's water that I will be able to scrape by just using the chlorine drops for fish tanks, but I'll be crossing that road when I get to it.
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
Illegal Smile said:
15 min is not enough time to tell how much water it will soak up. I leave them in for 2 hrs to get a good test. This can be a pain but remember that once you have it dialed in and mark your water level you won't have to do it again unless there are other changes.
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yup, that's what this evenings tomfoolery is for :) i'm not quite sure how wet my cube needs to be, but i reckon that logically, if i pinch two top edges and it seeps water outta the top, it's too wet, but when i squeeze it firmly, water will drip out of the bottom. doesn't help that the thing will be using a new pump as of tomorrow, ust getting to grips with it :)
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
tip top toker said:
yup, that's what this evenings tomfoolery is for :) i'm not quite sure how wet my cube needs to be, but i reckon that logically, if i pinch two top edges and it seeps water outta the top, it's too wet, but when i squeeze it firmly, water will drip out of the bottom. doesn't help that the thing will be using a new pump as of tomorrow, ust getting to grips with it :)
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I would say you want the top to be moist to the touch, but if you press down water does not ooze up around your fingers. A mistake many make is to water from the top which can lead to stem rot.
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
cheers man, wa trying to remember what my chap down the hydro store told me back when i bought all this stuff. hopefully i'll have a trial clone in there by the end of the evening for why the hell not trial and error, i've got two moms that need a trim!
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
hehe, got my 150lph tetratec pump today. fuck me is that one compact and silent little goer, seems to be putting out bubbles like a champ :)
 
sixstring2112

sixstring2112

Well-Known Member
Illegal Smile said:
I would say you want the top to be moist to the touch, but if you press down water does not ooze up around your fingers. A mistake many make is to water from the top which can lead to stem rot.
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I was doing this, watering from the top. The plant i did it to was not doing as good as the one i have in dirt. I have stopped now for 4 days and it looks better.Can you have too many bubbles? I took a look at your pump and then after some smoke, i went to my hydro shop and i think i got too much pump. it is the active air aapa70l - commercial pump. This thing puts out 70 liters per minute and it came with a 8 gang valve:lol: I will be using 2- 6" stones in each bucket and was going to put 3- 6" stones in my 6 gallon clone tub. Did i go overboard? This thing draws 60 watts, which is really only like 1 light bulb. I was thinking it might just blow the stones off the tubes. They said i could take it back if i did not like how it performs or even if it was too loud. I think i read that yours is 600 gal per hour but i dont know how mine compares. What do you think, keep it or overkill
 
Dudesome

Dudesome

Well-Known Member
Hey, I S!!! Great post, Huge Respect.

I have just made my first DIY DWC for my SoG of 10 clones that go straight under 12-12 once the roots hit the water. It only takes 3.6 square feet, so its a kind of bud mat of SoG I am aiming for, if you know what I mean ;)Using a 300 watter LED lamp on it. I think its gonna rock my world.
Its gonna be 10 clones of the Himalaya Gold.


This is my first time with DWC or any hydro setup.
But i think I am confident enough after reading through the whole post(ok almost!!! But still reading it. Don't have time cause the clones are arriving soon) So I have only a couple of questions o'my own if you don't mind.

1. Are 2 Air pumps (each does 115Gallon per hour ) enough for a 17 gallon tote 12 inches deep?
I read ya'll using those powerful monster pumps... wish I could get one like that.... Wish i have read this post b4 investing lol =) But so far I couldn't find a way to buy the Sunleaves in Europe. thats nasty.

2. For how long can yo leave them roots without water? It takes a while to flush the water away from the tote.

3. Is it bad if some parts of water's surface aren't bubbly? Does that mean that roots wont be gettin air in some places? Mostly its bubbly, but not entirely. I am using 10 small stones. didnt find any others in the local hydroshop. plus ran out of the dough.

4. And the most important question is: Do you think It will WORK out well?

I would hate to have to spend any more money... already over 300 euro gone(for hydro only, not counting LED light.... =) and its DIY huh... but hey... Welcome to Europe. shit is pricey here!




Great Respect.:bigjoint:
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
with regard to the watering from the top, something that just came back to me that someone in the store said to me, if you water from the top then that's where the water is, and the roots don't really feel the need to reach down and out in search of a big water source. he then went on to say that when you have roots, just keep on dropping the water level as this will cause the roots to grow faster, and once grown can more rapidly suply the growing plant. what do you guys make of that?
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
Dudesome said:
Hey, I S!!! Great post, Huge Respect.

I have just made my first DIY DWC for my SoG of 10 clones that go straight under 12-12 once the roots hit the water. It only takes 3.6 square feet, so its a kind of bud mat of SoG I am aiming for, if you know what I mean ;)Using a 300 watter LED lamp on it. I think its gonna rock my world.
Its gonna be 10 clones of the Himalaya Gold.


This is my first time with DWC or any hydro setup.
But i think I am confident enough after reading through the whole post(ok almost!!! But still reading it. Don't have time cause the clones are arriving soon) So I have only a couple of questions o'my own if you don't mind.

1. Are 2 Air pumps (each does 115Gallon per hour ) enough for a 17 gallon tote 12 inches deep?
I read ya'll using those powerful monster pumps... wish I could get one like that.... Wish i have read this post b4 investing lol =) But so far I couldn't find a way to buy the Sunleaves in Europe. thats nasty.

2. For how long can yo leave them roots without water? It takes a while to flush the water away from the tote.

3. Is it bad if some parts of water's surface aren't bubbly? Does that mean that roots wont be gettin air in some places? Mostly its bubbly, but not entirely. I am using 10 small stones. didnt find any others in the local hydroshop. plus ran out of the dough.

4. And the most important question is: Do you think It will WORK out well?

I would hate to have to spend any more money... already over 300 euro gone(for hydro only, not counting LED light.... =) and its DIY huh... but hey... Welcome to Europe. shit is pricey here!




Great Respect.:bigjoint:
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1. That doesn't sound like quite enough pump for that much water but don't despair - you can compensate by raising the water level. TEST first to see if it is getting the cube wet enough.
2. Don't worry, roots love an airbath!
3. Good question. If just for oxygenation it doesn't matter, but to feed new seedlings you need splashing that gets to each netpot. Try putting empty netpots under each hole where you plan to have a plant and see if they get wet up the sides after an hour or so.
4. You can make it work and you're onthe right track!
 
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