How to build and maintain your own custom bubbler DWC grow

[deftdrummer]

5-22-07 Day #1 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 80f
RH: 40%
Nutrient Temp: 75f
PPM: 250
pH: 5.8

I will be posting once a week with new pictures and updates but keeping track of the daily events on my computer to share with you guys at the end of the week. Here are the clones planted in the buckets and inside the chamber.

[xcrispi]

Looks nice Deft ,
Cpl. q's for ya , cpl. comments too .
Where did you find the cool airstones at ?

Be careful w/o running a res and interconnecting them , Im in 2nd week of 12/12 same set up but w/ res -n- recurculating and 2 girls are currently going through almost 5 gal. of water / nutes every 36 hrs . Pigs I say !!!!
Peace
Crispi :jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

Bubble Disc 3 inch - Aquar Airstones at Arcata Pet Supplies is where I got them, for cheap too. Looked all over the internet. Thanks for the tips BTW. We have 2 of us on this daily though so hopefully we can keep it under control.

[deftdrummer]

5-23-07 Day #2 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 81
RH: 58%
Nutrient Temp: 75
PPM: 256
pH: 5.6

the plants are looking fine for this stage. Topped off the reservoirs and brought the pH down from 8. We are using very mild GH nutrients for the time being until we can get the other 2 parts which will probably be today or tomorrow. Anyways, at this stage it doesn't hurt to have very mild nutrients until the roots get deeper into the rocks.

[reality0]

best of luck! will be checkin in again soon.. :jointsmile:

[Markass]

looks like a cool setup dude

[deftdrummer]

thanks guys for the kind words. The rest of the nutrient line was purchased today and we have all 3 parts now and everything looks good. I'll keep everyone updated every few days.

[deftdrummer]

5-25-07 Day #4 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 79F
RH: 58%
Nutrient Temp: 70F
PPM: 300
pH: 5.4

We ran into a little issue yesterday when one of the buckets started leaking out of the bottom where the air line goes into the bucket. Apparently while mixing the mixing tool bumped the silicon and broke the seal. So, we woke up yesterday morning with a big puddle of water in the grow chamber in addition to all the pH readings rising to 8. This is way too high for MJ so it was quickly brought back down to 5.4. The PPM is pretty low at the point in growth but we haven't seen too much positive growth yet so it can't hurt to have the PPM a little lower still. We plan on doing a full nutrient change once a week so in just a few days all the buckets will be re sealed and we shouldn't have any more issues. A reminder to anyone new to growing: pH must be read and adjusted at the very minimum of twice a day. Another tip: if you plan on building any type of halo drip system I strongly recommend burying the halo under the rocks by about 1/2 inch. This will ensure that there is not a lot of splash from the holes out onto EVERYTHING ie: walls, hoses etc. Apparently these things like to spit water! Here are some more pics for yall even though nothing has really changed very much. Never mind, apparently the photo upload is temporarily disabled.

[deftdrummer]

5-30-07 Day #9 of Veg.
Cab Temp:
RH: 60%
Nutrient Temp: 80F
PPM: 425
pH: 5.7

Ok, sorry its been a few days but we have run into some issues. Since this grow will follow everything that happens I will let you guys know what to avoid with these systems.

FIRST: if you are using a halo system be sure to bury to the halo itself somewhat under the clay rocks. This will ensure that there will be no splash up from the halos onto nearby electrical outlets and / or mylar which will cause spotting. Not too big a deal but just a tip

SECOND: With these particular systems continuous watering is not a good idea. Combined with the splashing of nutrients onto the tiny clones, continuous watering is something to be avoided in the beginning stages of growth. The high intensity from the light caused some leaf burn and wilting, while also causing stunted growth from day 1. Now it is day 9 and growth should be a little further along but there's nothing we can do about it now!

The important thing is that we changed the watering cycle to 15 minutes on every two hours. The plants showed almost immediate signs of improvement by perking up. In addition, solid green growth has appeared at the tops. Once the roots have expanded a little into the clay and can handle more nutrients at a higher rate we will switch to 24 hour watering. I will keep you posted in the following days to track growth

[xcrispi]

Hey deftdrummer ,
If you bury the dripring in the hydroton you wont know when holes in dripring are plugged by salts , residue etc... Every grow I've done so far w/ the dripring setup = the roots in the res. grow up the 1/2" dia. pump col. and into the bottom of the lil 1/8" air feed line that actually pressurises the col. so it cant drip . A cpl. of us on here use raincoats on smaller plants to subdue the spitting and splashing too - heres a pic .
Peace
Crispi :jointsmile: