First time growers want it easy? Bubble Bucket Grow Guide

So you're new to the growing world hey, welcome aboard. I'm quite new as well, been growing for about 3 months now and just getting to my first flowering stage. I know you're thinking "what the hell are you writing a grow guide for". I'm doing this because I see lots of newbies lost looking for an easy way to grow and having much difficulty. I was there and all the info can almost confuse you more. I'm not saying I know everything about growing but this method works and is easy, in my mind simple is better, so that's exactly what this is a very simple grow guide from one newbie to another.

First thing new growers think is you need soil to grow and lots of people on the forum will advise to use soil for first grow because its easy, WRONG! Sure it can be easy if you know what your doing but remember we're newbies. We use soil that shouldn't be touched and have no idea what to do with it. My first 2 attempts were with soil, what a horror story. I'll never touch soil again.

I believe the secret to easy success is the bubble bucket system. This is a form of hydroponics. Lots of people say going the hydroponic route is harder, that I don't understand at all. I suppose if you went ebb & flow it could be difficult, don't know much about it, but if you go with a bubble bucket life is very easy. The only catch to using one is you need a bit of time to check PH levels every day, with soil you don't need to attend to them as often, that is if you get it right, most first times don't is what I'm reading.

Using the bubble bucket you automatically illimunate a bunch of problems that can occur with soil. With soil you can overwater, underwater, over feed, under feed, you can have hot spots in the soil with strong nute levels, have soil with a PH level thats too high or too low and when that happens its not that easy to correct, it can get very messy quick. Then on top of that its seems like theres 100 types of soil to choose from. Using the bubble bucket as I will explain all you have to do is monitor the PH level of the water, if its too high add a few drops of PH down and your done. If you do it the following method basically that's all that can go wrong. If you have a hot grow environment and the water level gets over 77 degrees you can get some problems, I don't think that happens too often if you use bigger buckets, mine sit at a comfortable 70.

So here's what you need to do. Build yourself a bubble bucket for each plant you plan on growing, I highly recommend using 5g pales. Here's a link to a thread that shows exactly how to build them.

http://forum.grasscity.com/general-indoor-growing/121335-lets-build-bubble-bucket-step-step.html

Now I assume you have a space to grow in, for this method you do need a bit of room, not lots but some height as the bucket sits almost 2ft high. Its very important to have your grow environment sit at proper temperatures during growth, a good environment means more females and healthy plants. Now everything I mention from here I assume you are using a 5g pale with a 5" net pot.

First lets talk about feeding the plant. The easiest method is using the Lucas formula. Some guy Lucas who knows his stuff has come up with this formula and its so easy to use and works well, excellent for beginners.

The formula consists of General Hydroponics Flora Micro and Flora Bloom. Full strength is 8ml of micro per gallon and 16ml of bloom per gallon of water. Whenever you make a batch the micro must be added to the fresh water first, then add the bloom. Using RO (reverse osmosis) water is the best, thats filtered water. Tap water will work but its important to leave it out for 36hrs or more so the clorine will evaporate, 24hrs minimum. When you first start growing your plant you don't want to use the Lucas formula at full strength, that will kill your plants, you need to start at half strength, 4ml of micro per gallon and 8ml of bloom per gallon. As the plant gets bigger you up the level of nutrients when you change them.

As the water level drops in your pale you need to add more. This will be fresh water with a PH level of 5.6. You keep adding water until you've added back the same amount as you started with or in 14 days, whichever happens first. So your pale will have about 3.5g of water in it, once you add 3.5g of fresh water time to drain it all out and add a new batch of nutrients. If you want no problems then its best to drain the old nutrients in 14 days and add fresh nutrients no matter how little water you added. If you add 3.5g in 10 days time to change it.

Here's a basic guideline for feeding strength at different times.

Fresh start from seedling - 4ml micro, 8ml bloom per gallon
14 days later - 5ml micro, 10ml bloom per gallon
14 days later - 7ml micro, 14ml bloom per gallon
14 days or earlier - 8ml micro, 16ml bloom per gallon (should be drinking good now)
14 days or earlier - 8ml micro, 16ml bloom per gallon
repeat until finished.

If you use CFL's you might want to up the nutrients a bit slower.

So that's basically how it goes, to keep it simple. If you want to know everything about it best to hear from the man that created it, here's a link that you might find helpful.

http://www.cannabis-world.org/cw/showthread.php?t=892

Ok lets start growing. I assume you have a hand full of seeds as most newbies do, time to get those suckers germinated. Remember 1 plant per bucket. Here's a link which should help to germinate those seeds.

http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/15076-germination-420-a.html

Once you have a seed with a root coming out you need to put it in a 2" rockwool cube which had been soaked for 24hrs in water at 5.0ph. Place it on a plate with a plastic dome over it and put it under a light. Be sure you don't let the rockwool dry out, the dome will help in that area. When a root comes out the bottom of the rockwool cube its time to move it to the bubble bucket.

Your 5g pale should be filled with water a 1/2" above the bottom of the 5" pot that sits in your lid. Your nutrients should be at 1/2 strength. Then fill the 5" net pot with 2" of hydton pebbles, place the rockwool cube in the center of the 5" pot and add hydton pebbles around the rockwool. The cube should be sitting 1/2 - 1" below the rim of the pot. Now place your dome over the plant again and let it thrive on 24hrs of light. For the first week or so you will have to manually water the rockwool cube so it doesn't dry out, once the roots hit the water you can forget about the cube.

Thats all there is to it, the first couple weeks are the hardest then it gets easy. Everyday you will need to drain a bit of water from the bucket to test the PH level, you should aim for around 5.6. If its out then add a few drops of PH up or down to your sample cup of water and dump that back into the bucket. Let it stir for 10 minutes or so and check again until you get it where you want it, it gets easier in time as you know how much to add. Doing it this way its a must to have a decent PH meter, if its out you have problems, just the same as with soil, but a little more important this way. You might also want to invest in a PPM meter, it will tell you how strong your nutrients are, its not necessary though if you do as I mentioned. Just make sure you never add more then the full strength amount.

So there you have it, I think this is the best bet for a newbie, I wish I did this my first attempt, I would have a crop in the bin by now.

Here's an example of what 2 weeks of growth can bring you, good luck getting this with soil.



Notice the plant on the right has some leaves burnt up, thats overfeeding, I noticed it a few days after changing nutrients and all I had to do to fix it was add more fresh water to the bucket, no running to the tub running gallons of water through it. I wanted to see how strong I could get my nutrients, the plant on the left I kept lower and it looks great. The other plant still looks very healthy though, just a few leaves went bad.

Well I hope all this helps some of you who are looking to start growing.