Yep - the bubbles are there to stop the drowning.

I am n00b too but just completed a successful first grow on a bubbler system. I used an 8 gallon dark tote to do two plants. From my clones I am looking to do four next time and that should hold me for over a year and I can put all my grow stuff away. After much reading too I prefer hydro as it just seems simpler to me but big on start-up costs. My total cost for my set-up was $400 with some home built stuff. You can see part of my set-up here http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-pro...ml#post2223144

So about $45 at Home Depot for the tote, light sockets, blue and red CFLs to switch for veg and flowering. $75 for grow tent from eBay. $30 for air pumps and stones (I run two pumps, one large round stone and two smaller stones on the sides), $10 for net cups, rock wool and hyrdroton, $45 for a thermometer with two probes, ppm meter, ec meter and ph meter, $30 for that cheap LED light which seems to do nothing but add some light spectrum, $20 for a bottle each of ph up and ph down, about $140 in nutes (I used FoxFarms system, which I have enough still for my second grow), and finally $40 for six white widow feminized seeds.

I started the grow with the water about an inch up the pots (6.5 gallons in my tote) until the roots were developed. I put a layer of hydroton and then the rock wool. I dropped the water to about an inch below the pots (5-5.5 gallons) when the roots developed. From the two plants I got a good ounce so it is about break-even for my neck of the woods and I didn't have to worry about a dealer/etc.

The only problem I had from the post above was I got nute burn from following Fox Farms' schedule. Half their recommended amounts was more like it. This time I am using a smaller "shoe box" plastic tote to incubate the clones until the roots develop to save on the amount of nutes used. I only have 1.5 gallons of water to treat vs. the 6.5 in the big tote ... it saves a ton on nutrient costs.

Was it it a pain - not really. I would check ph and nute levels nearly every other day during the first six weeks and then twice a week after that.
robincog Reviewed by robincog on . hydroponics?? Hello I've done some research on hydroponics but what I'm confused on is when using it for example I intend to use the bubbler system how do you keep the roots from drowning and make sure they can still get their water? Rating: 5