new start, bubble bucket/first grow,PICS

ok, well this is my first bubble/hydro grow. if all fails.......i am a virgin at this. i have all the "toys" to measure accuracy in solution. well heres a pic.....first time rockwool/hydroton/bubble bucket. i need advice, thank you. :holysheep:

what kind of lighting are you using? Is it the same you are using for germ-seedling? keep it low if its low heat like a cfl. Do you have your grow room under control? Got your nutes picked out? I just started flowering mine (about 1week in) doing DWC for my first grow so, check out my gj and it might help ya along the way.

Shockeclipse said:

what kind of lighting are you using? Is it the same you are using for germ-seedling? keep it low if its low heat like a cfl. Do you have your grow room under control? Got your nutes picked out? I just started flowering mine (about 1week in) doing DWC for my first grow so, check out my gj and it might help ya along the way.

Click to expand...

i am using the same light to grow as germ, 400 hps. not sure about nutes, i have some ff left overs from my soil grow. and i have checked out your grow, and as of now, your journal has nothing in it about the germination, and placing cubes into sysytem? . thanks,

loolagigi said:

i am using the same light to grow as germ, 400 hps. not sure about nutes, i have some ff left overs from my soil grow. and i have checked out your grow, and as of now, your journal has nothing in it about the germination, and placing cubes into sysytem? . thanks,

Click to expand...

Ok well, I had posted my germ issues in another post...I have had way too many :bong: :bong: :bong: So I will sum up my experience for you.

I originally germed 8 in rockwool cubes. I waited too long to put light on them and they ended up really stretchy. I added a little like 4" personal fan blowing on them, propped em up, and they strengthened up really quick. I ended up losing four that died due to lack of h20, germed another four and made sure I kept them watered. I literally gave em a quick soak every day or so (maybe poured like 50ml h20 per plant) and they seemed to take to it very well. No nutes just 5.8 ph'd water. When I saw good root growth (3 weeks in my case) I transplanted them into my system.

They were placed into my net cup lids, carefully covered up to their first set of leaves with hydroton, and I just did real low 200 ppm nutes using distilled water. The water level was just barely touching the bottom of my net cups. And from there, when they got a little bigger and I was able to, I added more hydroton so cover everything up nice and stabilize the plants. All in all the most important lessons I learned was to, a) make sure they are moist at all times, b) as soon as the first on pops, through light on it, and those are about it. Germing is the easy part IMO and it doesn't get too much harder after that, just checking and adjusting ph and changing out the res. I suggest you keep some sort of timeline, so that next time around you remember where you were at that point. I know next time I am going to do 2 less plants to allow for more room to fill out, and I think I may veg them a little less, but all in all I am having a great time doing it and I am sure you will to. Good luck in your endeavors...


ps...sorry for the long post.....I am :bong2: :bong2: like crazy tonight

you have given me the hope of advice that i needed. thank you. i will take the cubes that have sprouted seeds, and put them under 400 hps. and water with lowest ppm, and 5.8 ish ph. anything else?, what am i looking for? roots have not come out of bottom yet.

loolagigi said:

you have given me the hope of advice that i needed. thank you. i will take the cubes that have sprouted seeds, and put them under 400 hps. and water with lowest ppm, and 5.8 ish ph. anything else?, what am i looking for? roots have not come out of bottom yet.

Click to expand...

Make sure the light isn't too close though, I was able to keep mine almost touching because I used 1 18" cfl to get them going. Stick with it, the roots will come.

Do not give your seedlings any nutes yet--they do not need any food for 3-4 weeks. Keep water in the pan you have the cubes in and let the rockwool soak the water from the bottom up. Do not plant into the net cups until you have good roots coming out of the bottom of the rockwool.

awesome replies. i have the 400 hps far enough away, like 3 feet above sprout. it also has glass cover, and vents though the hood.
ms hemp..............how long from sprout should the roots show? its in a small 1.5" cube. do i need to transfer into a 3" cube, or is the smaller 1 ok? how many roots need to show? wont they hit the container below them? and also i know i am not there yet, but i am going to need advice on where to place rockwool/hydroton/solution level, in order to not drown, or deprive moisture and kill. thanks for the awesome replies. this is the second forum i have been a member of, and allready MP rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

loolagigi said:

awesome replies. i have the 400 hps far enough away, like 3 feet above sprout. it also has glass cover, and vents though the hood.
ms hemp..............how long from sprout should the roots show? its in a small 1.5" cube. do i need to transfer into a 3" cube, or is the smaller 1 ok? how many roots need to show? wont they hit the container below them? and also i know i am not there yet, but i am going to need advice on where to place rockwool/hydroton/solution level, in order to not drown, or deprive moisture and kill. thanks for the awesome replies. this is the second forum i have been a member of, and allready MP rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Its going to take a bit of time for good root growth. I would say anywhere in the 2-4 weeks period just to be safe, and like I said be patient they will come. I used 1.5 grodan cubes with my grow so you will be fine with those. When you transfer to your buckets you are going to want to just has your res level barely touching the bottom of your net pots. I used a empty one to adjust the water lvl so that I could see it was right. Once you have them in the pots, gently fill around the sides and over the top of the cubes up to the first set of leaves. As they get bigger add more hydroton until the pots full and that way you will be safe from light leaking into your res. Just remember as long as it is barely touching or slightly (very slightly) below the pot with your water level you will be fine, the bubbles popping will give it all the moisture it needs to start really growing. Keep a diligent eye on your ph and be careful when mixing nutes and you should be just fine.

Shockeclipse said:

Its going to take a bit of time for good root growth. I would say anywhere in the 2-4 weeks period just to be safe, and like I said be patient they will come. I used 1.5 grodan cubes with my grow so you will be fine with those. When you transfer to your buckets you are going to want to just has your res level barely touching the bottom of your net pots. I used a empty one to adjust the water lvl so that I could see it was right. Once you have them in the pots, gently fill around the sides and over the top of the cubes up to the first set of leaves. As they get bigger add more hydroton until the pots full and that way you will be safe from light leaking into your res. Just remember as long as it is barely touching or slightly (very slightly) below the pot with your water level you will be fine, the bubbles popping will give it all the moisture it needs to start really growing. Keep a diligent eye on your ph and be careful when mixing nutes and you should be just fine.

Click to expand...

great advice shock! ok, i understand 99 percent of that. but, when you say...2-4 weeks, do you meen just lying in rockwool? and q #2........ok, res should be just at or under bottom of net pot...do i place my rockwool on the bottom of pot, and add hydroton from there.... or do i need hydroton down first, then rockwool, then more hydroton. on this damn comp, its hard to xplain. but please do. awesome response times.....whats next?

loolagigi said:

great advice shock! ok, i understand 99 percent of that. but, when you say...2-4 weeks, do you meen just lying in rockwool? and q #2........ok, res should be just at or under bottom of net pot...do i place my rockwool on the bottom of pot, and add hydroton from there.... or do i need hydroton down first, then rockwool, then more hydroton. on this damn comp, its hard to xplain. but please do. awesome response times.....whats next?

Click to expand...

Yes, sitting in rockwool. At least in my case, although I had some issues that I believe set me back. I set my rockwool right on the bottom of the pot, filled around with hydroton and on top to first set of leaves.

Shockeclipse said:

Yes, sitting in rockwool. At least in my case, although I had some issues that I believe set me back. I set my rockwool right on the bottom of the pot, filled around with hydroton and on top to first set of leaves.

Click to expand...

thanks shock......can anyone else back this up?

loolagigi said:

thanks shock......can anyone else back this up?

Click to expand...

That is how I do it

Once the roots reach your nute solution I keep my nute level at 3 gallons and just add ph adjusted water between bucket changes.

pcduck said:

That is how I do it

Once the roots reach your nute solution I keep my nute level at 3 gallons and just add ph adjusted water between bucket changes.

Click to expand...

Same here

is your res completely lightproof? you need to make sure no light gets in around the net pots also. you want to keep your res temps @ 68 F.

gosh 68? thats low temp. i guess what ill do is buy 2 ice packs, and just dump one in, while one freezez, and rotate. will that be ok? and whats a good res thermomoter for a bucket system? heres a picture of the first sign of roots. still waiting for lots more before i place in system. how do i keep light away from roots before i place it in system? its just in a cube, on top of a pan. also....my net pot is the one that goes over the rim of the bucket. so id say its about 10" in diameter, and 8" deep. i was told to place my cube at bottom of pot, then add hydroton to top. i cant do that...i will bury the plant, its too deep. sooooo, what i was thinking is, a layer of hydroton first, then cube...then fill rest with hydroton. lemme know. thanks..

Place the cube directly on the bottom of the pot, your going to fill to the first set of leaves you will add more as they get bigger.

how will i keep light out of the slots on the side. heres a pic with it on the bottom.........i cant imagine the first time i surround cube with rockwool with hydroton, that i will up top row of open slots.

loolagigi said:

how will i keep light out of the slots on the side. heres a pic with it on the bottom.........i cant imagine the first time i surround cube with rockwool with hydroton, that i will up top row of open slots.

Click to expand...

only advice i can give is too invest in ebb&flow asap!

i cant tell you how easy it is!

I bet i could make dwc easy as well, but man it would be a pain to setup.

Good luck, ill keep up with ya and see how it goes!

yeah, a long time ago i wanted to go ebb and flow, and i may one day. they seem practical. i figured 1 dwc bucket should get my feet wet as a beginer/new to hydro. thanks for the reply.