Three Strains, First Grow: Maui Wowie, LA Confidential & NYC Diesel

[KrunckleSam]

So there’s a bubbler in each bucket under the stones...

you switch out the water in order to wash the stones.

looked like a spaghetti colander what’s in it?

that dipstick straw float is ingenious.

 

[KrunckleSam]

How do you monitor the water the roots grow into? Is it just a ph meter and nutrients like I would use growing in soil?

I took screen shots... I may try setting one hydro up for fun.

 

[KrunckleSam]

Could I turn that little sprout I got into a hydro?!

 

[KrunckleSam]

Ok. I’m going to do it. I found a cheap little system I can build and adapt it to what I already have.

 

[warezaholic]

Well you have alot on your plate and there's a bunch of large and small expenses to run a DWC setup. My electric costs about $7/8 week.

My Setup Costs were = approximately in $$$
$250 lights
$200 for air pumps (5 seperate lines out)
$18ju0 seven flat round (4inch) air stones (I have one inside bottom in each bucket plus one inside bottom of each clean standby bucket awaiting water changes.

The air stones continuously sends fine air bubbles up through the roots. And you've seen that massive, healthy, root ball in that picture right? You will notice a simple check valve in the air line to prevent back flow. I will look into a more manageable video camera than my cellphone. And try to get a grip on posting YouTube vids.

Now just lay the air stone flat on the bottom, and fill the feed water to the (pre marked) water line 2 inches Below* the bottom of the 6 inch grow basket with a 4 inch, rockwool cube and a little clay pellets ($20).

I would only do DWC as the only system.

Maybe you should study up with cocoa choir media form of hydroponics because it's sort of between dirt and hydroponics. Draining is easier if each bucket has drip recovery otherwise the work intensifies to mirror my water changes... I have seen the 5 gallon black buckets with built in drain hoses (for recycling the fluids), Someone near me was giving away over 50 of those on Craigslist free stuff...

I'm getting ready for my pipe and dinner so if you have any questions I'll answer later on.

Oh and I have to cut a slot big enough for the air hose to not restrict airflow.

 

[KrunckleSam]

Well you have alot on your plate and there's a bunch of large and small expenses to run a DWC setup. My electric costs about $7/8 week.

My Setup Costs were = approximately in $$$
$250 lights
$200 for air pumps (5 seperate lines out)
$18ju0 seven flat round (4inch) air stones (I have one inside bottom in each bucket plus one inside bottom of each clean standby bucket awaiting water changes.

The air stones continuously sends fine air bubbles up through the roots. And you've seen that massive, healthy, root ball in that picture right? You will notice a simple check valve in the air line to prevent back flow. I will look into a more manageable video camera than my cellphone. And try to get a grip on posting YouTube vids.

Now just lay the air stone flat on the bottom, and fill the feed water to the (pre marked) water line 2 inches Below* the bottom of the 6 inch grow basket with a 4 inch, rockwool cube and a little clay pellets ($20).

I would only do DWC as the only system.

Maybe you should study up with cocoa choir media form of hydroponics because it's sort of between dirt and hydroponics. Draining is easier if each bucket has drip recovery otherwise the work intensifies to mirror my water changes... I have seen the 5 gallon black buckets with built in drain hoses (for recycling the fluids), Someone near me was giving away over 50 of those on Craigslist free stuff...

I'm getting ready for my pipe and dinner so if you have any questions I'll answer later on.

Oh and I have to cut a slot big enough for the air hose to not restrict airflow.

Lol. Now I have to try it. I have a couple ideas. I’ll set it up and send you pics here. I’m going to run that little one as a hydro.

Squirt will be done soon, so if I start one bucket while these other 2 finish, by the time it gets growing big I’ll just go that direction. But at that point I’ll have probably 2 years of bud and concentrate. If I fail at hydro then I’ll have plenty of time to try again. I like the idea of hydro. I thought there was more to it.

 

[warezaholic]

It looks like it's been seeding in a Pete Pot right? If so, try getting some "premium" cocoa choir to transplant in. I never tried to transplant a peat pot into rockwool cubes. In fact I was a total flop with everything until I figured out my Bubbleponic bucket setup. I found my groove!

Cocoa choir is an extremely popular hydro system with various ways to feed em. Continuous drip, or hand watering and others...

 

[warezaholic]

Go with gusto dude. It's all about getting the most joy from your hobby!

After these 3 Super Bud are finished in about 6 or 7 weeks, my photoperiod grow will begin. I will go with one Hawaiian and one Chemdog 4 and a third will be another 2, six week autoflower. Should look exactly like this other amazing picture posted earlier. That little thing in the middle was a Kosher Kush

 

[KrunckleSam]

It’s actually in my organic mix.
That’s my “mystery” seeding.

I think I actually decided not to chance her. I think it’s a fucking awesome strain. I ‘member being excited about finding it. It could be Larry OG. I don’t want to lose it.

im gonna set up my hydro bucket and get the stuff I need for it. I’ve still got 12 premium seeds. I’ll start one of them.

what is a good nutrient system for a beginner?

 

[KrunckleSam]

It looks like it's been seeding in a Pete Pot right? If so, try getting some "premium" cocoa choir to transplant in. I never tried to transplant a peat pot into rockwool cubes. In fact I was a total flop with everything until I figured out my Bubbleponic bucket setup. I found my groove!

Cocoa choir is an extremely popular hydro system with various ways to feed em. Continuous drip, or hand watering and others...

Yes, I read cocoa was forgiving. The stones thing scare me starting out. I need a forgiving medium. (I couldn’t figure out what you meant by washing the stones.)

what’s that?

 

[warezaholic]

My "Air Defuser Stones" are the exact same bubblers used in aquariums necessary to infuse oxygen into water!

I lay ONE 4 INCH bubbler stone in the bottom of each bucket that saturates the root mass in oxygen. When ever I do a fresh water change, I "gently scrub each bucket and bubbler stone" with a soft brush and a teaspoon of bleach to kill bacteria or slime from building up.
They last a hellofa long time.

 

[KrunckleSam]

My "Air Defuser Stones" are the exact same bubblers used in aquariums necessary to infuse oxygen into water!

I lay ONE 4 INCH bubbler stone in the bottom of each bucket that saturates the root mass in oxygen. When ever I do a fresh water change, I "gently scrub each bucket and bubbler stone" with a soft brush and a teaspoon of bleach to kill bacteria or slime from building up.
They last a hellofa long time.

Oh I see! Duh. Ok, I was thinking there was some kindve stones in the system.
I get you now.

 

[warezaholic]

Simple system once it's up and running.

I just tranplanted three germinated seeds into their permanent rockwool condominiums less than 24 ago and two are already above ground. These are called "Superbud" and are supposed to mature in 6 weeks! So they are pretty special so far as autoflower seeds are concerned!

 

[warezaholic]

Yes, I read cocoa was forgiving. The stones thing scare me starting out. I need a forgiving medium. (I couldn’t figure out what you meant by washing the stones.)

what’s that?

The cocoa choir is completely neutral with zero natural nutrients either bad or good. It holds liquids and nutrients enough for the roots to thrive.

I use all liquid chemicals- General Hydroponics Trio (grow, bloom and micro), liquid nutrients along with Calmag and Hydroguard! PH up and PH down; I don't understand the science of it except to say my plants Love it when mixed as directed.

My way to insure proper feeding is to "premix" in a 5 gallon reservoir at PH 6.1 and use that mixture to top off each night (where my water level gauge is necessary).

Then, Every couple of days, I add 1/2 quart PH 6.1 water besides the nutrient water to prevent the nutrient levels from climbing too high in the root system between water changes (if that makes sense).

I use inexpensive PH meter and a Dissolved Solids Meter. Oh, and my quart size nutrient storage and dispensers are pictured below. An 8 pack of sports juice containers with10ml glass pipettes for measuring; One is for PH down 100 %, One is for PH down diluted 50%, and One is for 50% diluted PH up! And the other FIVE are for the aforementioned nutrients at 100% strength. To me, mxing my nutrients is the most difficult step in my routines. It is something I almost screwed up once and nearly harmed the plants. The mixture will need to be consistent and mixed according to growth stages...
I considered switching to a 2 powder dry foods mixture but I'm already invested in this stuff so, I just go with what I know that works.. I was instructed in a particular order to mix them all to obtain the optimal mix for the for best results.

 

[KrunckleSam]

Cool. I can use all that info to get it started.

 

[warezaholic]

Is your growroom in or near your living area? If so, I would NOT recommend a typical hydroponic air pump.

I tried one but it was too noisy to live with. That's why I decided to use "Tetra Whisper Air Pumps" from my aquarium hobby days that are the quietest in my book. They come in 2 sizes (150 & 300 gallon) I have TWO 300s and a 150, giving me a full throttle air supply in as few as 5 buckets in all... a single 150 can be put into a splitter but I find that more trouble to keep all buckets flowing the same... Chewy.com is cheaper they might sell an AP300 too.

TETRA Whisper Air Pump for Deep Water Aquariums, Size 150 - Chewy.com

Buy Tetra Whisper Air Pump for Deep Water Aquariums, Size 150 at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

 

[KrunckleSam]

Is your growroom in or near your living area? If so, I would NOT recommend a typical hydroponic air pump.

I tried one but it was too noisy to live with. That's why I decided to use "Tetra Whisper Air Pumps" from my aquarium hobby days that are the quietest in my book. They come in 2 sizes (150 & 300 gallon) I have TWO 300s and a 150, giving me a full throttle air supply in as few as 5 buckets in all... a single 150 can be put into a splitter but I find that more trouble to keep all buckets flowing the same... Chewy.com is cheaper they might sell an AP300 too.

TETRA Whisper Air Pump for Deep Water Aquariums, Size 150 - Chewy.com

Buy Tetra Whisper Air Pump for Deep Water Aquariums, Size 150 at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

I’ll just grab a cheap aquarium pump. I’m only going to run 1 bucket to try it out. Then see if I like it better than soil.

 

[warezaholic]

That'll work just as good. I know about the quality and dependability of Tera Whisper as the best and use them because, if the air supply stops, the plant will seriously suffer in under 48 hours! I had one air hose accidentally come apart for a couple days right in the first few day's of blooming. The plant was harmed and it put her Two Weeks behind. So I replaced that "patchwork" air hose. My trying to save fifty cents nearly cost me an entire 2 ounces of Gelato autoflower.

 

[KrunckleSam]

That'll work just as good. I know about the quality and dependability of Tera Whisper as the best and use them because, if the air supply stops, the plant will seriously suffer in under 48 hours! I had one air hose accidentally come apart for a couple days right in the first few day's of blooming. The plant was harmed and it put her Two Weeks behind. So I replaced that "patchwork" air hose. My trying to save fifty cents nearly cost me an entire 2 ounces of Gelato autoflower.

Oh, good to know. So the oxygenation is super important. I’ll go with as few connections as possible.

my idea is to run a 5gallon in the tent. And then a 5 gallon outside. I’ll pipe them to circulate. Then I can handle adding nutrients and get the water right before I circulate the ph’d and nutrient water through. So basically a bucket for the plant and a bucket for my treated water. There will be a top pipe with valve and bottom pipe with a valve. Then I can get my mix right from out side the tent.
I think I can set this up for $20-30. Not sure about a nutrient system yet, I want fool proof.

 

[warezaholic]

Yes sir, with bubble buckets the oxygen supply to the roots is as vital water/nutrients and light.

I wouldn't try running Bubbleponic outdoors. I would be stressed about doing any hydroponic outdoors. I thought about it once but the cons far outweighed the pros. Plus, most plants yield less when grown outside.

Then to interconnect the plumbing in a circulating system is way out of my wheelhouse.