Lets Build a Bubble Bucket *Step by Step*

[Zippy]

Rumple,

I plan on putting individual screens over each pot this time to Scrog (in Promix). I have been searching your threads to get specs. on screen height, bending methods, etc. but info. at this point is spread out all over the place. Can you summarize?

Screen height?
Bending only (no lst/topping)?
Light switch with how much (a few inches of growth or less) clearing the holes?
Do you believe there is much of a difference with larger and larger pots? Seems like there must be a threshold, say at five gallons, as the roots are being fed with hydro nutes (in promix) anyway?

Thanks,
Z

[Rumpleforeskin]

Size of the pots depend on the size of the plant you intend to grow. 5 gallons should cover you no matter how big you want to go using Promix.

When to switch to flowering? I think that was the question you asked

Light switch with how much (a few inches of growth or less) clearing the holes?

. Every plant is different. I wqould start out switching over to flowering when the plant reaches 50% of your target harvest height. Make adjustments to this formula after your first harvest.

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.

[Juggalo420]

Hey R quick question. I had some issues with orange spots and leaf tips dying. I switched out the nutes and was wondering should I cut off the leaves that were turning orange and dying or just leave them be. I am wondering if the plant will waste nutes trying to heal the dead leaves.

[Rumpleforeskin]

Originally Posted by Juggalo420

Hey R quick question. I had some issues with orange spots and leaf tips dying. I switched out the nutes and was wondering should I cut off the leaves that were turning orange and dying or just leave them be. I am wondering if the plant will waste nutes trying to heal the dead leaves.

Never cut anything off your plant. Keep the leaves til they fall off.

[chemsteady]

mr rumple sir, i was wondering if i might ask your opinion on something? ive completed the mandatory reading (the whole thread, which i still reference every three to five minutes) and even done a little lucas thread reading just to fatten up my very weak "growing" brain. a little about my setup:

i chose to do my little grow in a 2x2x5'3 grow tent--dictated by the vertical limitations in my basement and using a 400hps in a cooltube --dictated by the very generous donation of my good friend (the same type of friend who will no doubt be driving back up to norcal in the case of emergency--or plentiful bud).

in any case, things are great. the temps are fine, great ventilation, plants look good, i love the buckets. BUT, i was wondering, i had an extra bucket, because initially i wanted to do three buckets--like in the beginning of the thread--but then because of the 2x2 space limitation, only two of those guys would fit. as i continued your thread, you moved to a three bucket config. which i thought worked well (considering the size of those fucking colas in ole' hank ventures arms!) and i just thought i would follow that setup.

like i said, i had no space to do three buckets in the tent, so i ran the third bucket outside right next to the other two, only seperated by the tent, and connected at the ball valve with irrigation hose. i filled about 4g of ro with the lucas formula into each bucket ph em' to about 5.7 (thats a lucas pref, not yours, i know) opened all the valves--fired up the lights~ bubbles~. waited a night no leaks, bam clones in, everything groovy.

i know, a question, wheres the question? is that reservoir setup gonna work for me? i mean, will i still be able to make my adjustments and take my readings through the outside bucket? it doesnt seem right to me just because of the way its configured. should i just keep the third bucket as a drain and fill bucket, and just keep those two as stand alone containers? sorry this is so long winded, im high. shit man, that shouldnt even be an excuse anymore. ok, thanks in advance for any advice you might give, and thanks for spreading your bucket idea to the rest of us. ive loved pot for a long time, and its really cool to finally start growing my own. peace.

[Rumpleforeskin]

You are lucky you can do that kinda setup, with the third bucket outside the grow. Will work just fine. It will even stay a bit cooler outside the grow. I wish I could do that setup my self (no room). Thanks for the kind words my brotha.

I did a single plant my last grow cycle. It froz up during some cold weather and came out 1.5 feet short of my target harvest height.



Dried and ready for the Jars:

[Andrew420]

Still a nice haul, Rump!

WOW!

[chemsteady]

dude, man. bro. yeah, thats about all i can muster after seeing those buds. phat. ok, no more weed porn till after dinner...

ok, im glad you think it can work rump, i just feel like there may be some flaw to the setup. this all began earlier today after i had done some lucas thread reading about ec/tds and the whole addback thing. anyhow, it got me to thinking about that in my setup.

so, for shits and giggles, i went down and checked all the ph and tds readings (i know you dont do tds, i was just experimenting for the sake of learning and whatnot) for each bucket, including the outside res. the ph in each bucket had stayed about the same 5.7-5.8, but the tds readings were completely different for each bucket. now that follows logically, considering that the plants (each a different strain but with similar growing characteristics and finishing times) are taking up different amounts of nutes because, well shit, because each plant is different in its own way. the res bucket, was of course right where its ppm had began at, because obviously theres no little plant in there using anything up.

but that got me thinking, how can i accurately measure, at the very least, even ph, if each of the buckets is on its own program?

i mean, the little bit of connective tubing and open valves dont really allow for alot of water exchange does it? i have little powerheads at the bottom of each bucket, (but not the res) to create more surface movement/bubble power, as well as some beefy airstones, so each bucket is constantly mixing/bubbling, i just feel since no real water exchange is happening, the readings i take from the res are just that, readings from the res.

am i missing something? i know you attach your inline to each bucket, to give that bucket a mix (and to drain and add to buckets, obviously) but are you also circulating between the buckets, and if so how? it cant be through the connections at the valves, can it? does this question make sense, rump?

the way the res is set up in relation to the bubblers kinda has me thinking too. i have no skills, so ill just describe in detail. <this is rump looking from left to right across my set up>. on the outside left, just outside the tent, connected via rainbird tubing is my 5 g res. the tubing travels up about 3 inches into my tent via one of ports at the bottom (for intake and whatnot) and into a two way connection that feeds into the two buckets and attached at the ball valve. so its like this res---bucket 1----bucket 2. wont bucket 2 be pulling from the closest bucket (bucket 1) which will then make bucket 1 fill with more nutes from the res? that would make bucket 1 full of fresh nutes, whilst bucket 2 would just be getting bucket 1s leftovers. see what im saying, rump? does it matter that the res isnt set up in the middle, as an intermediate between the two rump buckets? whew! sorry man, i hate to bug you, i just want to make sure my setup provides the best possible environment for miss cannabis. she can be awfully fragile, ya know? thanks again, man.

[the b-str]

how many of these would cover a 4x4 ft area? i know there's a lot of variables, so go ahead and generalize

and on a semi-related note (), how far up from the tops of the buckets should the scrog net be positioned?

[Zippy]

Rumple,

Thanks for your reply. My questions were actually much more detailed than that, but they were poorly articulated. In writing a long-winded response I answered my own uncertainties. Just to clarify a few points, though, if you would.

You do not do any additional stress (LST, topping, FIM, etc.)?

For your indica dom. strain (Wh.W) you switch to 12/12 with, say, a few inches of branch clearing the holes?

Re: pot size. Surely there is a correlation between pot size and pot size (put intended), but there is evidence that with hydroponic feeding (which Promix, for the most part, arguably is though it provides micronutrients from moss decomposition) one does not need to provide nearly as much root space as nutes are literally handfed. In comparison to soil growth whereby the roots must seek out available nutrition in the medium. Thus, in an essentially hydroponic system the size of the pot is largely diminished returns at some point. Indeed when looking at root mass the roots follow the sides of the pot and do not nearly fill out the majority of the medium itself, only the edges, ostensibly nowhere close to being root-bound. I wondered what your take on this was. Yes, I know, try them both out and keep good notes. There are so many other variables to control that I have had mixed results, though it does seem that the difference between, say, a three gallon versus five gallon for a four-five footer seems negligable.

I will be trying screens in a 7 by 6 room. As I understand that access is important as I will be training them into the screens, I am thinking that individual screens would be best. Do you agree, and if so, should the screens be rectangular or square? Any guesstimate on how big they will need to be? Would you build PVC framing or attach the screen to branch support sticks coming from the pots?

PS. Ya, you could have killed a baby seal with those main colas. They were like Louiseville sluggers. It was my first real trim too. The house smelled like pakalolo for a week. Imagine the boyish grin on my noobie face. Easy to do and beautiful to look at, but long veg. times and inefficient use of space.

Cheers,
Z

[Rumpleforeskin]

I don't top or LST. As soon as you bend the first top over, the other branches explode into growth.

You ask alot of questions I don't have answers to. I cant tell you if one screen will be better then individual ones. A lot depends on the grow setup you have. I am sure you will come up with a better answer then my best guess.

Container size is always better bigger. Soil or hydro, it is good to have space to grow your roots. Do the best your can for the grow area you have. I have seen 3-gallon buckets work just fine. Given the choice, I would go with 5-gallon.

The distance I put the screen above my plants (22") was just a guess that seemed to work. Yours my need to be adjusted to the size of your plants.

I only veg for ten days. My plants stretch 75% or more (I think it's the CO2). They are well below the screen when I switch to flowering:
Day 1 of flowering:

[blowinEndo]

Rumple, could you run a single 5gallon bucket without any reservoir?

[rigz]

one question ... how do you take care of the pests .... and have you had any breakouts?

[SensiHead]

hello rump and everyone,

i know im out of subject, but id like to know if you guys think i could put c02 in my growbox using a paintball or airgun c02tank... i know if i pierce the tank its all going to flow in, but i was thinking of taking shots (every now and then) with a paintball gun inside the grow box would help.... let me know what you think.

thx

[Rumpleforeskin]

CO2: Save that paintball tank for paintball. It only works if you can maintain 1600 PPM. A shot of CO2 now and then will do nothing for your grow. Sorry. CO2 is "go big or go home". If you can't put out for the correct setup then you will just waste time. Put your effort to lighting and ventilation, the payoff will be much greater.

Single buckets: I did single units for a long time. It works just fine as units or in a series. Units will require more top-off and adjustments.

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: