[kine box maker]

Originally Posted by Big Poppa Puff

Alright, here goes. Only one room in my class: no cursing. I have a obscenity blocker on my computer that is unhackable and if you curse, it blocks from coming back to this thread.

Today class we are going to start with the basics: Equipment. I am not going to discuss lights, fans, grow boxes, etc. Just the equipment to grow bubble bucket, herafter aka as BB. And this will be for a single bucket system.

Get any type of plastic container/bucket you can that is fairly inexpensive, as long as it has a a fitted lid with it. The darker the color the bucket the better. 5 gallon buckets work fine, but so do smaller rubbermaid contianers sold at Wal Mart. 5 gallon capacity or larger is the right size for not having to fill it up as often, but most anysize works fine. Too big and its a pain to handle and dump, too small and you are constantly refilling it and you chemicals get out of whack earlier.


You need to make sure your bucket is clean and didn't hold a bunch of funky chemicals before you got it.

If you couldn't find an all black bucket you need to triple wrap your bucket in duct tape. Lighter color plastic allows light to pass through encouraging algal growth on the roots which is problem. Three layers of standard duct tape or 1 layer or mirrored reflective tape works fine. Cover the sides, and cover the top of the bucket as well. DO NOT tape your lid to the bucket.

Air source: Go buy two relatively cheap aquarium pump at Wal MArt. Buy some air line while you are there and a couple of T-connectors. Cut a couple of short lengths of line, 6" should do, but its no big deal and hook up the two outlets of the air pump to the T so they form just 1 line. Then run the main line from each pump to your bucket. I am assuming that you know already where your system is going to be, etc.....

Why two air pumps? More air the better the growth, and if one pump goes out, you still have a back-up so your plant doesn't die.

You should drill a couple of holes into your bucket. Put them near the top so you don't lose any water. In a 5 gallon bucket, the best place is right beneath where the metal handle attahes to the bucket. That way you can pick your bucket up and dump it out without having to unhook the whole contraption.

Run the air line inside your drilled holes and hook up a air stone to the end of the line. Some people glue the air stones down to the bottom of the bucket, but its personnel preference.

So our equipment list for today is:

bucket, with lid
duct tape
aquarium air pump
air line
T-connector
air stones

All of this can be picked up at Wal Mart for about $40. With the air pumps about $15 each.

Next Lesson: meters, nutes, & recipes

hi im new, i want to hear more about growing hydr using buckets, can u tell me more?