Ok so I'm planning my first ever grow room! I am very excited and am even having dreams about it I have decided I would like to do the bubble bucket method, but I want to run 4 of them and a reservoir. I am still foggy on how exactly I am supposed to get the water back into the res after it goes through the buckets. In my mspaint drawing you will see that I plan to put 4 square buckets in a square pattern, this to maximize space and maximize the root space available for the plants. So I'm trying to figure out how to plumb these buckets to the res and everything I'm going to need. I was at Lowes yesterday and they didn't have any way to plumb something into a bucket or anything for that matter. I still need to know what the nozzle is that you would put into the side of a bucket for plumbing! I'll list my planned setup and aprox prices, give me thoughts on that too! 1000w digital switchable HPS / MH auto voltage ballast 1000w HPS high output bulb 1000w MH high output bulb 2 port timer Nice reflective hood (This all comes as a package from a hydro store close to pittsburgh I'm hitting up this month) Total price $415 I'm not sure how much my room / hydro supplies are going to be, but I'm guessing the total build to be around $550-$700, I have no idea how much nutes cost. I've noticed most people seem to go with 400/600w setups and do a lot more plants than me. Is 1000w just excessive? Or am I just enabling my plants to reach their highest indoor potential? Thanks everyone!
if you think you can run 1000w safely then go for it. thats up to you - you'll push some nice, nice buds out once you get your setup tuned. Flexible Tubing Adaptor, 1" MPT x 1 1/2" Barb at BestNest.com link might be what you're looking for as far as the buckets go. it's a 1/2" tubing adaptor. the threaded side you screw into your bucket (two per bucket, one in one out), then plug up some 1/2" black vynil tubing between the buckets. thats how i've seen it done. and thats just one idea of many - check the advanced growing section. that's where all the hydro stuff goes down. ;P
not sure what kind of air pump your going to use. But you might want to use two air pumps instead of one. I tried using one for 4 buckets also, and it just didnt have the bubbles/ misting that the plants needed.
yea, another point to add is that if that 1 air pump dies, all of your plants might if you have two pumps, only two unless you strip/wiring or whatever fails. keep that in mind.
im going to start out with one very strong 4 port air pump and I will get another later on. Today I got the buckets. 4 fivegallon dark gray silver looking buckets. Completely light proof and only 2.56 each at Lowes. I got some lids as well. Now I need to find some 6" net pots to put in them, the hydro store had 5 then 8, wtf? While cleaning up the basement with my girl today, to prepare for this. I was trying to shut the basement window and ended up putting my hand through it. Got 2 nasty cuts on my wrist/palm area and had to get 9 stitches. I've never had stitches before and man that was some crazy shit. Never want to do that again. So I got the buckets and the gromets to put in the side of the buckets and straight tube connectors to connect to that. Its very simple and glad I found it at the hydro stroe. This is getting expensive
to some up my post with out reading all my gibberish... less light, more air bubbles, have fun! if you care to read why i say this, read-on... i love how happy spirited marijuana makes me and others hope your hand feels better, i just put a 4 inch screw through my foot a couple weeks ago while building my new grow room. all is well though its worth it haha.. here is some of my 2 cents but no matter how much info you get from other people, trial and error on your part is where your hopefully going to learn the most. first hand experience is where i learn best. anyways, back to my 2 cents... 1000 watts is over kill if you only plan on doin 4 buckets. now that doesnt mean its a bad idea, but think about it. 1000 watt HPS can cover an 8x8 area well. 8x8 being about the max before needing to add more light. your setup of actual growing area is only going to be about 2x2 maybe 4x4 max. for simple math sake lets say your setup is 4x4, you will be paying twice as much for light you dont even need. i say go with a good 400 watt and step up to 1000 watt when you NEED it. if my advise doesnt pursued you, your electric bill probably will. as for the air pumps and air stones, you need more IMO. I would get a 10 inch air stone disc for each bucket so the whole bottom of the bucket is making bubbles instead of just a little 4 inch strip of bubbles off to the side. I would use a separate air pump for each bucket to get the most bubbles. having long tubing lines and splitting lines lowers pressure which lowers bubble out-put, so drill some holes for tubing at the bottom of the buckets for the airstone tubing, with the 10inch discs you should only have maybe 4-6 inches of tubing between the pump and the stone for max pressure and bubbles. just an idea as your first time growing its going to be expensive at first. i remember when i would go to the hydro store with a list of what i needed all priced out, and somehow id always end up spending about double what i predicted because id always find more things i needed. once the initial investment of time and money is spent and your sitting there trimming your beauties after first harvest, you'll realize its all worth it, the good and the bad, its all a wonderful learning experience that in most cases only gets better as your experience grows.
Thanks, it is feeling just fine. Not even sore to the touch some how. Hopefully I'll post a pic with my first grow report Yeah I've definitely noticed the expensive part. I'm at about $500 right now and I still have to buy the light / ballast. So I'll be over $800 in the end. But thats ok. I got the good Hanna multimeter, good everything really. I don't like to half-ass things. I think I'm going to go with a 600w system, there's a semi-local hydro shop with an ebay store and I can get a really nice 600w digital switchable setup for about $320 shipped. Everything included. Thanks for the info
ok, running lines between your buckets is a bad Idea, We actually had a setup similar to this a few months back, Buy a garden hose and the fittings for the ends to screw in to the buckets. Keep in mind, if you use straight tube you wont be able to move your buckets easily, This is your first grow, Im sure there will be some bucket moving. 600w is plenty, I can give you the url to a site where you can pickup 2nd hand light equipment. [Our setup had a small water pump in the res. pumping water through 1/4" lines feeding each plant, and putting the hose at the bottom section of the bucket with T's to the main hose returning to the res. And in the main res we had 4 air stones in the water at all times.(30 gallon tub)] not sure if this helps.. But GL