How to build and maintain your own custom bubbler DWC grow

[Earthy Dank]

06-6-07 Day #16 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 76F
RH: 48%
Nutrient Temp: 70.2F
PPM: 1237
pH: 5.2

They are starting to grow faster. Looking good. How big are you gonna let them get before you flower them?

[deftdrummer]

06-08-07 Day #18 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 79F
RH: 49%
Nutrient Temp: 70.7F
PPM: 1061
pH: 5.6

Thanks earthy, they definitely are getting bigger and doing better as the days go on. We are especially pleased with the runt in the back as it was taking the slowest to the nutrients. It is still the only one that doesn't have roots down in the nutrients yet but it will any day now. As you can see the roots are looking great and dropping down into the nutrients. We now have it on a cycle where the drippers turn off at night to let the roots grow a little and to allow some air circulation in the roots and clay pebbles. We have been slowly diminishing the nutrients down to the 1100 & 1200 range by just adding water daily and diluting. To answer your question we will probably flower at about 1 ft tall. Within the next week we will top the plants and I will show that in detail. The tallest is about 7 inches tall so we have a little bit to go yet before topping. Topping is recommended after the 2nd or 3rd node but we will wait until the third gets fully developed before topping since they are just barely at 3 nodes right now.

[deftdrummer]

these are pics from yesterday

[xcrispi]

Hey deft,
Where did you get topping info at ? Never heard of anyone topping that early . I have read conflicting info on this at a few dif. sites . 6-7th node / some ppl. wait till nodes are alternating etc... I can't wait till nodes alternate tho I don't have enough headroom .
Peace
Crispi :jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

well now that I think about it we will probably wait until we have alternating nodes as well. There's nothing too scientific about topping. When the plants are mature enough topping is recommended just a few weeks before going into flowering. By most time tables this puts topping right at or around the 4th week *or waiting until alternating nodes appear which should be right around this time as well. We plan on topping then letting them veg for at least another week after.

[freewheelinfrank]

I am an old dirt farmer, I only know very little about hydro, from the Forum - I recently built a 'bubble-cloner' that works perfectly, 100% clone success, so far, which has sparked my interest in your hydro-setup - question: IF the sprouts are being 'bubbled' from beneath, for air, nutes, and water, why is the top drip-ring necessary ? - will the plants be 'hydro'd' from top, AND bottom, for their entire life-span ? - sorry if this is too 'beginner' of a question :smokin:

[deftdrummer]

I am an old dirt farmer, I only know very little about hydro, from the Forum - I recently built a 'bubble-cloner' that works perfectly, 100% clone success, so far, which has sparked my interest in your hydro-setup - question: IF the sprouts are being 'bubbled' from beneath, for air, nutes, and water, why is the top drip-ring necessary ? - will the plants be 'hydro'd' from top, AND bottom, for their entire life-span ? - sorry if this is too 'beginner' of a question :smokin:

Freewheelinfrank, thanks for your interest. As far as I know, there are only a few advantages and matter of preference depending on the options you go with. The benefits of having a top drip that I can see is for use with clones and newly rooted seedlings. This enables the nutrients to be dripped while at a young age to encourage rapid root growth to the sides and bottom. We were also not keen on the idea of having approx. 4 gallons constantly in the buckets so that the roots could make use of the DWC style. I guess in all honesty it came down what the local hydro shop had available and also the fact that the net buckets we purchased fit the 5gal buckets perfectly so there would be no modifications needed to a lid or anything of the sort. Typically, you only need a very small basket for the roots and clay pebbles if you are doing a DWC style grow only. Really it was intended to be a drip system only but the fact that the roots WILL drop down into the nutrient makes it a DWC as well. We are all about the hybrid grows =) Oh yes, to answer your question: yes, they will be fed from the top and through the bubbler for the entire life span. The roots that are present now are the whitest and healthiest I have seen in all my grows thus far. There were some issues of leaking in the beginning I dont know if you read that, but an easy solution for people intending to reproduce a similar setup should consider routing the air lines through the top and avoid drilling holes in the buckets at all costs for any reasons. Hope I answered your question.

[deftdrummer]

06-10-07 Day #20 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 82F
RH: 52%
Nutrient Temp: 74F
PPM: 1000-1250
pH: 5.5

The plants are doing superbly, I think they are finally starting to hit full stride as evidenced by the leaves pointing upward and also vigorous undergrowth. The plants will be ready for full strength nutrients in the 1200 ppm range for the next nutrient change. We are waiting for the right time to top (just once) each plant. We may try to clone one of them to save the strain but we have had bad luck in the past trying to clone top cuttings due to their size (smaller is better for clones). You can see in one of the pictures of the biggest plant that the alternating nodes are starting to take form. This same plant has also grown a full inch since my last posting.

[deftdrummer]

6-11-07 Day #21 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 81F
RH: 58%
Nutrient Temp: 70.5F
PPM: 1050
pH: 5.5

We performed a nutrient change today which put the PPM at 1050. This is a little less than before especially considering our water from the tap is 120 ppm alone. We don't think this should be a problem at this stage of growth and the plants are actually doing really well. The tallest is at about 9 inches now so we raised the light another 6 inches. The light spectrum is actually a lot better now and spreads more evenly to all the plants and should make the mylar a little more useful. We already turned one of the drippers to 24 hour drip and we will do the other two in the next day.

[deftdrummer]

06-12-07 Day #22 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 78F
RH: 48%
Nutrient Temp: 75F
PPM: 1050
pH: 5.4