Great read Budslinger! Alot of valuable info on this thread. Cant mess up with your step by step tutorial (with PICS of each step). Just my two cents......., but I've been thinking that one could place their buckets on a 4 or 5 inch platform, and place the reservior on the ground (meaning that the bottom of the res. would be lower than the bottom of the buckets) This would allow for a valve to be installed at the bottom of the reservior that a hose could be attached to. This would allow for alot easier drainage of the buckets. Of course this would require a larger / taller reservior due to the gravity keeping the water levels all even.... I don't even know if that makes sense, but apparantly it did to me.... ha
Ok, one more thing. Do you know where a thread or sticky is that goes into the meters needed for this method, ph adjusting - including what the nutes due to it, and the ppm , talk about calibrating? Kinda confusing to me. My water comes out the tap in the right range, and i haven't used nutes (well ok, maybe a little but not the real ones) so i never monitored the ph. I know i need to start. Any advice will be MUCH appreciated! I'm like a sponge !!!!!! Take in as much as I can from the master jedi, I am.... YODA is such a bad ass!
Hey Dazed, i have my bb's sitting up on milk crates..its enough room to drain into another bucket.Adding nutes to water drops the ph . GL
One of the best tutorials I have ever seen outright .... awesome pics, awesome step by step guide, just wonderful! Glad I found this place! Thanx Budslinger!
hey seal62 any time I add nutes to water it raises the pH ...I always use the pH down when I mix a new batch of nutes. never even heard of nutes lowering the pH before.
What kind of nutes are you using? Every time we add nutes (Fox Farm) it lowers ph and ppm's go up. The only thing we use that doesn't affect ph is Big Bloom - worm castings and bat guano.
the smaller the better.. with a large pump the flow could help the roots clog the sysytem so the smaller the pump the better... you just need a lil water movement...
Starting from seed in 1.5" rockwool cubes, do I have to put them in larger cubes when roots start showing, or can they go straight into the bucket w/ 6" netpots and hydroton? Also, just wondering, could I put the seedlings in my bubble cloner to help get them started or should I just use a tray?
You can go right from the small cubes into the hydrotron, in my experience make sure to put them deep enough that you can cover the top of the cube to cut down of fungus / mold issues. BTW.... my new system is set up and running in my journal, I would appreciate it if you had time to stop by and check it out Slinger.
Hey everyone new to this forum and growing, since now medical is legal in my state. I plan to do budslingers setup but just had some general questions. I plan to do a 12 or more plant system of this model... 1. The storage area in my basement is perfect, but as far as the walls I was thinking of using plywood (or any suggested/better material) to make the walls surrounding the system.Kinda like a mini-room within the room. So i guess 4 panels in total, with a reflector hps light on the ceiling?? Would I need to completely cover all of the plywood with mylar? 2. Also I obviously would be using a bigger res tank (55 gal) kind of like the MultiFlow brand system. Does anyone have a recommendation on pump type or should I just get the one from their website? They also had a nutrient that was 3 different types for the 3 stages? Anyone familiar with this or have suggestions? 3. What about the floor, underneath the buckets do I need to have it elevated or is just on the ground fine? 4. This might end up being a 24 plant system, but most likely will start with 12. So any other general advice regarding larger/better equipment for this grow would be appreciated. Since i know this tutorial was for 4 plants THANKS
Thanks in advance for your help! I have attached a crude drawing of my flowering area. I think 4 plants/buckets will fit. I am concerned with the height. The buckets are 14" tall. My grow area is only 52" at the shortest height. Is that enough headroom for them to grow properly? Any thoughts are appreciated!
hey mick. If those are your measurements, then you would have 38" left, but then have to account for the lights. what kind of lighting are you using? or better yet, you can scrog your plants and keep them short all while increasing your yield.
Can I get the two mothers in there in 3 gallon grow bags that are 9" in diameter? I would need to make the hoses shorter? Would that really matter? Bud, my apologies on the hijack of your thread! However you asked: I have a 400W HPS with an open reflector. There is no temp problem. It hangs down 4-6" maybe. Can I train them to stay down? Damn, I hope so. I can tie them to the bucket. I am so leery of hydro that I will start 2 moms from seed in soil. I'll veg them a month and flower the two best cuttings of each in this hydro setup. I hope to grow BF LSD and Pineapple Chunk. That's the plan anyway! Any help is appreciated and Budslinger is the best!
Sorry I'm not Budslinger, but I think he is okay with other blades chiming in Anyways, so with the light that leaves a little less than 3ft. You would pretty much have to flower right away to keep them from growing straight into the light, unless you use a screen or tie them down. IMO