so my plans for my first grow have changed completely over the last week and im now going to use LED (2 90 watt ufos) and one plant in some form of a bucket bubbler. this is when my question comes in. i have looked far and wide and so far ive seen that huge thread where he teachs you how to make a bucket and it makes sense but i dont understand a few things: 1 - If everything is in a light tight container how do you add more water and nutrients 2- What are those extra ports i understand you got your airstone hooked to your pump in nutrient solution and he has a fill gauge (how full should it be?) which makes sense but i dont understand the whole intake and drainage system Thanks and i know i must sound stupid but i got my babies in soil now and i want to switch before they get too big
The tutorial you're referring to is a great how-to, but it's easier than that honestly. I never drill any of my buckets or anything like that. What I do is very simple: 1. Get a 5 gallon bucket and a mesh/net pot lid for it (Find them at Wholesale Indoor Horticulture, Organics and Hydrogardening Supplies | National Garden Wholesale or make one) 2. Put the air hose through the bottom of the mesh lid 3. Attach airstone 4. Fill mesh lid with hydroton or other grow medium and your plant Very simple and requires no tools or handy work. Plus you don't have to worry about leaks or anything like that. You want to rinse the bucket out each time between waterings, so in my opinion its much easier to just remove the lid (and the plant) to rinse the bucket and add water/nutes.
The purpose of being light proof is to keep light from getting to the roots and causing problems. An advantage to having the extra ports (like the drain hole) is to make it easier to drain the res. if necessary. It prevents the hassle of pulling the plant and net pot out of the bucket to change solution, which can be messy when the plant gets bigger. In all my bubblebucket grows, I have never changed the solution every week or two, and have had no problems. I'm of the belief that you can top off the res. with new solution instead of changing it out frequently. The fill indicator is handy, but not necessary, it just makes it easier to tell how much the res. is down.
how often do you usually need to water them and do you add nutes each time and how big do they need to be when you can use nutes?
