Advice on my next grow

[SSDIPainGuy]

Getting ready to start my next grow but I want to improve some things. I grew hempy buckets last time but I want to add a drip system so I don't have to hand water so much. Basically I want to have a res with a pump and an air stone and use that to water the buckets. Would I be better off just making an rdwc and losing the hempy buckets? All advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!

[growdemon]

Sounds like you need to look into bubbleponics, well I guess it would depend on how much space you have, RDWC would take up a bit of room.

taken from the Deep water Culture Wikki.--> The term "Bubbleponics" describes a top-fed deep water culture hydroponic system. Basically, the water is pumped from the reservoir up to the top of the roots (top feeding). The water is released over the plant's roots and then runs back into the reservoir below in a constantly recirculating system. As with traditional deep water culture, there is an airstone in the reservoir to help add oxygen to the water. Both the airstone and the water pump run 24 hours a day.

[ThePinkJina]

Hey there, I made my own last time I grew hydro. I used 5 gallon buckets with netted pots, a cheap water pump from the garden or fish section, a small drip irrigation kit, and some tubing from the sprinkler section. Used my brain and just went at it. I had 6 large plants and needed a pump that could handle that volume of water. It all depends on how big you go. Just search the web for advice and diagrams.

Good Luck! and Happy Growing

[SSDIPainGuy]

I picked up a sweet 18 gallon black recycling tote from Wal-Mart for $10, very sturdy and it has a portion of the lid that flips up so I can see the roots. I'm laying out the design on paper so I can see exactly what I need. Amazon has great prices on pumps, water and air. I want to use drip rings but would I be better off using a drip nozzle that I can place right at the base of the plant? Thanks guys

[polishpollack]

You can set up a drip, but depending on how much you can care for the plants, it may not be necessary. I'm thinking just bubble bucket, keeping the water level high so the roots are covered with plenty of air being pumped into the water. You'll have to hand water at first, until the roots start getting down into the water/nute mix. Just dip a cup into the water mix, then pour it from the top, down the roots. Do this until the roots are making their way into the water. You would probably have to do this 3-4 times a day to ensure the roots stay wet. If you can do that, you might try just dwc because it's the simplest way to hydro. reservoir is fine but if something goes wrong with the fert mix, all the plants are affected. individual dwc, in my opinion, is a better way to hydro. If you must use drip, you could consider putting one bucket inside the other, with holes drilled at the bottom of the inside bucket and the water pump placed inside the outer bucket with tubing running up to the top. That would be cool too as it would make for individual dwc grows, preventing the fert mix from being shared by all plants. The problem with these ideas is that you have to spend the money or more air or water pumps if you are growing more than one plant. If you really want to reservoir, you can build one for much cheaper than what they are sold for.

[polishpollack]

What did you decide to do?

[SSDIPainGuy]

Sorry, been tied up with school (adult student) I am going the bubbleponic route, one tote, 2 plants, not a recirculating system. I'm going for a perpetual harvest setup so in 4 weeks I'll get another tote, create another complete setup so all systems are independent. One pump with an air intake so air is mixing with the water, an air pump with two air stones, 15gal tote with 2 net pots. I think it's a legit setup. Thoughts?

[polishpollack]

Sounds good. if you used a drip system, you've have to buy or build the plumbing necessary and while this may not sound bad, it makes things more difficult. Why do that when you can bubble? The problem with using large totes is that they tend to require a lot of water, but you may not mind that so much. Just remember that dwc grows kick ass when done right so don't put this in a small space because even two plants can overgrow a large closet. If you want to try the plumbing route later, this will give you time to design and build. However, if bubbling works, don't change it. Now you consider your ferts. you'll probably want to get a pH/ppm meter if you don't have one yet. pricey, but worth it.

[SSDIPainGuy]

I'm confused, you said why do the plumbing when I can bubble, what does that mean? I thought the system I built is a bubbleponic system. The pump sends water up to the base of the plant so nutrient rich, DO rich water trickles down over the roots. The water level is about a foot below the bottom of the net pot so the roots get the o2 and the res water?

[catbuds]

I don't trust hose clamps used on plastic couplings. My ex came along & over tightened the hose clamps on my ebb & flow system (back in the 80's) & caused a flood in the attic because he cracked the coupling. Straight up DWC is the most reliable type of hydro with the least amount of problems. One plant per bucket so if something goes wrong, you don't have issues with ALL the plants. Have you ever grown is soil? If you haven't & want to try something different, try organic potting mixes. Just one or 2 plants beside your hydro. As long as you don't over feed & cause nute burn, its basically more forgiving & CHEAPER.
-- BTW, where the heck you been? I thought we lost you! :) :) :)

[polishpollack]

I've never heard of bubbleponic so I thought you meant dwc. sorry. go for it.

[catbuds]

Bubbleponics, aeroponics. What ever uses the fewest plumbing connections gets my vote! LOL! :)

[SSDIPainGuy]

Hey Cat, life grabbed a hold of me for a bit, I managed to shake it loose for a minute lol. I was honestly going to do straight up dwc, then I saw a nice rdwc setup that caught my eye. While researching the hell out of that, I came across the bubbleponics and liked what it had to offer. I'm a gardener and handy with the tools so setting one up didn't scare me. Plus what I learned with my last grow, it seemed exciting. I'm a bit nervous going with a real hydro system, I won't lie about that. I'm just waiting on my seeds, it's never taken this long to deliver them before, scared customs got them...

[catbuds]

Oh shit man! How long you been waiting? Maybe email the seed co & see if & when they shipped them out. If customs got em, they won't do anything but take the seeds & send you a letter saying they took them. But hopefully they've just been busy & a bit back logged & you get em soon. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! :)

[SSDIPainGuy]

They shipped, but when I tracked them on the usps site, they said they said it left their N.Y. processing center and are in transit to the destination. But that was on the 10th. They could have made it to FL by bicycle in 5 days, at least to a sorting center here. I'm worried maybe a "special" mailman will try to deliver them lol. I'm sure I'm being paranoid, but they always made it here lickity split before.

[SSDIPainGuy]

Herbies said to notify them by the 24th if I haven't gotten them by then

[SSDIPainGuy]

Got my seeds today, already in the paper towels. Come on bomb seeds, germinate lol

[polishpollack]

what if the roots sprout before you get your system set up? hmm. soil?

[tlranger]

what if the roots sprout before you get your system set up? hmm. soil?

So simple, so important!!

[SSDIPainGuy]

My system is together, the only thing I had to do was get bigger net pots today. It's up and running, works great. 15 gallon tote, long but shallow, 160gph pump with veturi (sp) adapter to add even more oxygen, 18w air pump, 2 12" air stones, 2 micro drip heads. My only concern is the drip heads, they are supposed to be able to make a 36" ring of water with adjustable heads. I would want a 4" ring of water but all I get is a steady drip, no ring. The system only rises about 15" so the pump should have the pressure

[polishpollack]

160 really isn't much. 200 might give you what you want. or maybe the drip heads are designed to do just that, drip and not spray if that's what you want. maybe try different heads to small sprayers.

[SSDIPainGuy]

I realize the pump is not very strong, it's the one i saw used so I went with it. I'm gonna post a new thread

[SSDIPainGuy]

So I decided to sow the seeds right in the hydroton so I didn't have to move them. I just positioned the hydroton so the seed had a little nook to sit in and so it wouldn't fall down into the put. One has cracked with the tap root showing and the other was about to. Hope this works, if not, I'll sow more seeds in a cup of perlite/vermiculite, then transplant in about a week into the net pot. The only thing that worries me a little is that I can kind of see the root. I'm hoping it doesn't die from exposure.