Lets Build a Bubble Bucket *Step by Step*

[Rumpleforeskin]

Originally Posted by playboy420

I was thinking about hooking up 4 buckets in series with a 10 or 20 gal res and was worried about the temp of the water getting too high. I know youve probably been asked this before but have you had any trouble with root rot or res temps over 75 F?

I have never used a real chiller to cool the nutrients and I have never had problems with the roots at all. If you can keep your room cool, you nutrients will be cool as well.

[Rumpleforeskin]

Originally Posted by playboy420

Hey Icon I saw those ice probes and was not sure they would work because it says it can cool 10gal by 6-8 degrees. I guess it would depend on how much water you had

I wish I knew you, I would give you two of them free. They are total junk. I tried them for about a year. They drop the nutrient temps between 3 and 5 degrees. The problem is they make a ton of heat. They are hot to the touch and cause the room temps to go up more then they cool. They might work better in an open space, but are not good at all for closet growing. For the price of two you could buy a real chiller.


An old picture of how I hooked them up.

[Icon13]

Originally Posted by playboy420

Hey Icon I saw those ice probes and was not sure they would work because it says it can cool 10gal by 6-8 degrees. I guess it would depend on how much water you had

Maybe you did not see that I said you can hook it up to a control unit. Then you can set the temperature. The controller has a temp sensor built into it. This will 100% definitely work. Only one probe per controller though. It is okay because I only plan on using it in my reservoir which will be inline with two BB on a continuous recirculation between buckets.

Anyways, Rump says they are garbage and I take his word. But Rump, did you have them hooked up to a controller? Because I could locate my res outside the grow closet, and then the heat given off by the probe would not matter.

[hemphead1]

does this bump up your light bill a lot?

[Rumpleforeskin]

Originally Posted by Icon13

Maybe you did not see that I said you can hook it up to a control unit. Then you can set the temperature. The controller has a temp sensor built into it. This will 100% definitely work. Only one probe per controller though. It is okay because I only plan on using it in my reservoir which will be inline with two BB on a continuous recirculation between buckets.

Anyways, Rump says they are garbage and I take his word. But Rump, did you have them hooked up to a controller? Because I could locate my res outside the grow closet, and then the heat given off by the probe would not matter.

I bought the controller and had a thermoprobe installed into each bucket as well. It cooled the nutrients very little for the amount of money I paid. They are like LED lights, big hype and no bang. Look into an aquarium chiller if you want results.

[Davis Braidwood]

First off, thank you for the response to these questions in advance. Secondly, this may end up being long and detailed....so, lets get too it.

1. Your results are from a bubble bucket. Do you think that you could achieve the same results from soil (provided you have the same environment? Yield, quality, and length of time until harvest? Do you see any disadvantages to soil?

2. What is the make/model of your RO. I saw where you provided a link in another thread...link was dead. Are there anymore you would recommend? Do you know if purified water (from a filter) has any better pH than tap? I haven't tested it myself.

3. I saw a couple of pictures where you had tied a heavy nut to one of the branches to hold it down. Was it before, or after your screen? Was the purpose to train the branch to grow through a different opening in the screen? Was it to keep the light going to a cola?

4. Do you do any kind of topping to your plants? I thought where you said you will not touch a plant as long as they make a deal with you...lol

5. It looked like before the plants reached the screen, you would tie strings to each leafset to train them to grow out and into a different opening. If this is true, could you explain the process? Basically, I'm trying to determine how you end up with a plant that has 6 colas similar in size to what most people obtain from 1 plant.

6. How much CO2 is injected into your space per cubic foot (if known)? Do you have any other exhaust that extracts air from the room, or is it just pulling through the light for cooling and is not needed for the room? Basically, I am just trying to figure out if extra CO2 is needed when the exhaust pulls directly from the room (in another setup).

7. You stated you constructed most of your CO2 injection yourself (minus the controller of course). Can you explain what you did? What type of controller are you using? How much difference do you think that the CO2 injection has made in quality/yeild/growth?

8. Do you ever have problems with bugs? Or do you filter the intake to keep them out? If so, what do you use? Pesticide or nature killers (lady bugs or mantis).

9. Do you use anything to regulate temperature? Or is it not needed?

10. You say that you limit your plants height. Do you use the same strain every time? If so, I assume you have mastered that plants characteristics to know how much increase in size you get from veg to flower until it stops growing. What strains do you prefer? Are you starting from clone/seed?

11. Have you ever thought about a band of flouros around the sides at a lower level to feed the plants a different spectrum of light? I doubt it is needed, more wondering what your thought on flouros during the flower cycle.

Thats all for now...lol...my fingers hurt and I need more coffee. Anyone that wants to help with the response to these questions is appreciated. I know this may take a while (it took me long enough to type out the damn questions), so I truly appreciate your response ahead of time.

Thanks,
db

[Rumpleforeskin]

Some pretty good questions. Looks like I will be typing a term paper for this one.

1. Your results are from a bubble bucket. Do you think that you could achieve the same results from soil (provided you have the same environment? Yield, quality, and length of time until harvest? Do you see any disadvantages to soil?

My attitude towards soil growing is very positive. A good premix of soil is a very simple way to go. All you have to do is add water and nothing more. It is also said to have superior taste and burn better. I recommend all first time indoor growers to do premix-soil for the first year. I would still be growing in soil if hydro did not have the tremendous growth rate advantage. Hydro grows twice as fast as soil (or more). If it grows faster you can harvest sooner. Soil will yeild the same per harvest but the veg time will be double. You can get an extra harvest in every year doing indoor-hydro.

2. What is the make/model of your RO. I saw where you provided a link in another thread...link was dead. Are there anymore you would recommend? Do you know if purified water (from a filter) has any better pH than tap? I haven't tested it myself.

Reverse Osmosis can be had for less then $119 and free shipping for a great 5-stage system. Even less if you wanted to shop around more. But I like the 6-stage one below for $152 with free shipping. This is a good deal



It will pay for it's self in drinking water alone. You have to have it if your going hydro. I got one for my soil grow years ago. Best thing I ever did. The water is great.

It fills a 5-gallon bucket just fine. You have to let it recharge between buckets. Takes about six minutes to fill a bucket and a half hour to recharge.

3. I saw a couple of pictures where you had tied a heavy nut to one of the branches to hold it down. Was it before, or after your screen? Was the purpose to train the branch to grow through a different opening in the screen? Was it to keep the light going to a cola?

4. Do you do any kind of topping to your plants? I thought where you said you will not touch a plant as long as they make a deal with you...lol

5. It looked like before the plants reached the screen, you would tie strings to each leafset to train them to grow out and into a different opening. If this is true, could you explain the process? Basically, I'm trying to determine how you end up with a plant that has 6 colas similar in size to what most people obtain from 1 plant.

I have had a few disasterous grows over the years. I let my plants veg too long on that grow. I have a limit of 5' harvest height and that one went past that. I tried to get them to stop growing into the light using weights (a form of LST). I did not talk about it much at the time, but I pulled that grow and started over. Not something I like to talk about.
Don't cut anything off your plant. Look up LST or scrog, it is far more effective.

The screen seems to take less time then tying and gives uniform results with a ton of tops.

I put the screen about 20" above the pots. As the fast tops poke through, I pull them back under the screen and bend them towards a hole that is farther away. I keep doing this intill almost all the holes are filled up with tops.

6. How much CO2 is injected into your space per cubic foot (if known)? Do you have any other exhaust that extracts air from the room, or is it just pulling through the light for cooling and is not needed for the room? Basically, I am just trying to figure out if extra CO2 is needed when the exhaust pulls directly from the room (in another setup).

7. You stated you constructed most of your CO2 injection yourself (minus the controller of course). Can you explain what you did? What type of controller are you using? How much difference do you think that the CO2 injection has made in quality/yeild/growth?

9. Do you use anything to regulate temperature? Or is it not needed?

I keep my CO2 enrichment at 2000PPM. It makes a hell of a difference. I would not go through all the trouble if it did not give me 20% to 30% more yeild. Growth rate is much faster as well. I control everything (CO2, heat, humidity) with a CHHC-1 with remote sensor.

I mounted the main unit in the attic and ran the remote into the grow.
This unit will control humidity with your main fan as well as temp and CO2. It cycles your fan if your humidity goes above your set point. You can plug it into your PC and get all scientific and shit. My old CO2 system is worn out. It was a Control Wizard. The unit is falling apart from light exposer. Now I can dump my Thermostat as well (will hold on to it). Best deal on this system is at hydroponics.net

I have two cooling systems for my room. A 4"duct fan comes on with the light. It only cools the bulb and draws cool air from outside the grow room.

My two intakes. The one with the electric damper is for cooling the room. The one with the ducting cools the lamp:

I placed some panty-hose over the top of my damper to filter out all bugs:

The exhaust is sucked out the top through the damper and ducting mounted to the ceiling:

My CO2 controller has a thermostat built in. It controls another duct fan (6" blower). It sucks air out of the when temps exceed 85 degrees.

You should always have your room ventilation hooked to a thermostat. for years I used the Ranco ETC. Look it up on ebay. They run about $40 without cord and $80 with a power cord. It's real simple to attach a cord to it (5-minutes), so buy it without a power cord.

Damn good choice of thermostat. I have them all over my grow room and home.
The senso cord is 8' long. Just hang it so the very end (the part that counts) is at the same level as your tops. I run the sensor wire through an eye bolt that is about 5' up one of the walls. It acts as a pully for the sensor, so i can raise and lower it.


Hard to see in the picture below. But dead center you can see the gray wire hanging about the same height as the tops.

8. Do you ever have problems with bugs? Or do you filter the intake to keep them out? If so, what do you use? Pesticide or nature killers (lady bugs or mantis).

Pests!: Yes I had pests before. I got the thrips (leaf sucker that looks like a flea).








I had to use a 3oz fogger (Doktor Doom). Worked great and did not hurt the bud.

I filter the air with my wife's pantyhose on the intake. Does the job.
Below is my intake damper with some panty hose stuck on the top:

10. You say that you limit your plants height. Do you use the same strain every time? If so, I assume you have mastered that plants characteristics to know how much increase in size you get from veg to flower until it stops growing. What strains do you prefer? Are you starting from clone/seed?

I shoot for 4.5' to 5' harvest height. I have been growing the same clone for over 4 years now. The Nirvana White Widow I grow seems to do everything I need it to. I have tried a few other strains, but this one is a heavy yeilder and is real nice smoke. It grows real quick and has a hell of a stretch. I only need to veg for 10 days.


Day 1



Ten days later:

11. Have you ever thought about a band of flouros around the sides at a lower level to feed the plants a different spectrum of light? I doubt it is needed, more wondering what your thought on flouros during the flower cycle.

I just started using CFLs below the screen. I am going to try it for a few grow cycles before I say if its worth while or not. No matter what anyone says, thay make heat and use power. My setup has added another 100W to my grow.

[Andrey]

Hey guys!
My first post here.
I'm thinking 5-10 buckets connected to the main tank.
Can anyone give me recommendations of how many buckets can I connect together to the main tank?
Let's say it's 5-10. What the best size/volume of the tank? Any formulas to keep in mind for pressure in pipes,
or what fluid level should I expect in the main tank depending I guess on the single bucket size (volume)?
I definitely need pretty much high level of water and don't want to keep pressure high (to avoid floods).
If I keep connecting tubings higher that close-to-the-bottom level (as I see in many pictures) would I need
more powerful pumps or what?
Why anyway would you make a hole closer to the bottom? It's definite that it's more risky to floods...
Still I don't understand why would I need 2 holes in a bucket and isn't it better to keep holes higher, like in a lid... or do you need them to drain fluid back from buckets to the main tank? If so, do I need extra pump for that?
Really, I need more explanatory notes... ^)
If you dare, try to solve my problem for 10 buckets. Thx! ^)

PS
I checked out YoukFou post http://forum.grasscity.com/general-i...ml#post3989674 and here my understanding is lost when I see some "dual float switch" with "control center" with some pump lost on the bottom of the bucket... what is this for and how it can be switched to something cheaper, 'cuz "control" sounds expensive and "center" makes me worry ^) as a matter of fact I actually got totally lost in his drawings... there's is a mist generator or smth I wonder if I really need it and if not what to replace it with?

I hope someone is reading this... ^)

[77401]

1st Rump...THANK YOU

2nd I'm all about K.I.S.S. so thanks again

3rd Ok its been 4 hours of reading, I'm on page 29 (12-11-2007) & have 90 more to go. I got this pretty well that I can build this with out the plans. I'm just still unsure on the pump you use for drain & fill,and for the manual recirc.
Where in the system do you put it?
Is it just loose & you Disconnect,hook up, & rehook hoses every day? This can't be right.
1)Where do you hook up the pump to drain completely
2)Where do you hook up the pump to fill new solution
3)Where do you hook up the pump to recirculate

[Murdoch]

Thanx Rump for very detailed and excellent answers. Good to have all this on the same page I've already saved it as a .pdf so I don't need to look for the page here. Already 120 pages! hehehe.

Keep up the good work

[77401]

Nevermind I found my answers on post #1488...LOL
This thread is fuckin huge!

[Rumpleforeskin]

Yeah, I stopped asking people to read the whole thread. It's just not practical for a simple build.

Why anyway would you make a hole closer to the bottom?

Locating a valve at the bottom or base of the bucket will give you a point to drain and connect the buckets. If all the buckets are connected in series at the base/bottom they will all find the same fluid level. If you hook them in series to the center or top, they will not act as a unit. When the level drops past the connection it will not fill the other buckets.

I have changed the fill hole to the bucket lid. A few changes have been made over the years. Filling through the lid is much better and safer.

If you hook your buckets in series, you only need one sight indicator in the whole series (less holes to drill).

DWC/Bubble Buckets are great for one to four plants. The maintenance and monitoring is just too much for more then four plants. Your best bet would be flood tables. Tables can be set up in a day without issue.

[halitzor]

How far below the bottom of the net pot should the water level be?

Do I run the bubbles 24/7?


I think I'm going to use square buckets so its easier to put fittings on.


I would like to do 4 grow buckets and 1 reservoir, what would be the best way to plumb the 5 buckets to keep a consistent water level in the 4 grow buckets?

Thanks!

[Andrey]

Why use a controler? Any drawbacks if I use only a reservoir? ^)

[Rumpleforeskin]

Originally Posted by Andrey

Why use a controler? Any drawbacks if I use only a reservoir? ^)

Lets say you want to fill a 55 gallon drum with nutrients and hook it to your buckets. You cant just drill a hole in the bottom of the drum and hook it in series. It will overflow the whole series. You will need a control bucket in that case. As the control bucket drains, a float valve opens and allows the 55 gallon drum to fill the control bucket only.