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In my part of the U.S. grow rooms are busted on a weekly basis. Most of these growers were busted with over 100 plants, which is very dangerous legally. As a rule, I stay under 50 plants total at any time including clones, seedling, and mothers. Bubblers help me keep plant numbers down and yields up without sacrificing speed or quality.
I was always looking for a growing system that better suited my needs and living situation. After three years of growing in soil, I decided to try new hydroponic systems. I was tired of lugging shopping carts of soil into my house every three months. When I saw Highgrade's deep water bubbling bucket , I was impressed. I first tried a single bubbling bucket along with my soil garden. The speed and yield was so impressive that I quickly did a full garden of bubblers. After experiencing how much work it was to manually take care of a bubbler garden, I designed a system similar to the General Hydroponics Waterfarm controller system.
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The system is easy to build and maintain. After it's built, you only need to buy nutrients, pH down, and airstones . I'm positive that after one crop it will be clear that the bubbling bucket is one of the easiest growing systems ever. I have setup pure beginners with this system and made them look like pros. One friend pulled 24 ounces of quality bud from a 1000-watt Hortilux on his first try. This article will take you through a production garden based on Highgrade's bubbling bucket.
I like growing and smoking a variety of strains. Currently I'm working with Positronics Northern Lights, Sensi Star, Cinderella, Sweet Tooth #3, and AK-47. Growing one strain at a time ( monocropping ) is always more productive, or with the recommended number of 6 to 8 plants per 1000-watt, you can grow one strain per bucket and have an amazing selection.
These are recommendations for the amount of buckets to run in the system, based on two weeks of vegetative growth. The actual number of buckets will vary depending on the size and yield of the strain you are using. The average yield of a plant in this system is 3.5 to 4 ounces. A higher yielding strain will easily produce more-- I have yielded around 30 ounces using 7 plants and a 1000-watt Sunmaster Warm Deluxe metal halide.
For your first run of the system I recommend you start with less plants (5 to 6 per 1000 watts). Recently I've been able to yield 5.5 to 6.6 ounces per bucket when running less plants and using better pruning.
- 1000 watts: 6 to 7 buckets
- 600 watts: 4 to 5 buckets
- 400 watts: 3 to 4 buckets
- 250 watts: 2 to 3 buckets
The instructions will cover the setup of a 7-bucket system for a 1000-watt light. The methods are not the only way to run the system, but what I have found to work through experience.
Parts List:
- 8 - black or white buckets
- 8 - lids (Home Depot or other local hardware store)
- 2 - rolls of Aluminum tape or other tape for blocking light. If you found black buckets buy 1 roll of tape.
- 14 - straight 1/2" barbs. (hydro store or Home Depot)
- 14 - 1/2" rubber grommets (hydro store)
- 7 - airstones (Wal-Mart or pet store). I usually buy twice as many.
- 40ft - 1/2" black vinyl tubing (hydro store)
- 1 - 7/8" wood cutting drill bit
- 7 - dual outlet airpumps . (Wal-Mart or pet store)
- 7 - 6" Orchid pots or other suitable net pot. (hydro store)
- Geolite or hydro clay. Enough to fill all 7 net pots.
- Silicone tubing 1/4". Amount will vary depending on placement of airpumps .
- 1 - reservoir large enough to hold 32 gallons. I use a 45-gal Rubbermaid tub.
- 1 - Water pump. I recommend a pump with a rating higher than 300gph. A faster pump will drain the buckets much quicker. I currently use a Mag Drive 9.5 (950gph). I've also used a Maxijet 1200 which took 12 to 15 minutes to drain the buckets.
Use a tin to cut a 5" hole in your lids. This will fit a 6" Orchid net pot perfectly. Print the circle, cut the circle out, and trace it onto the lid. Alternatives to net pots are the small 4" plastic pots from Home Depot. Drill lots of small holes in the bottom of pots and they work just as well. Don't forget to drill a ¼" hole for the airline in the top of the lid.
Take your 7/8" wood cutting drill bit and make a hole near the bottom of the bucket. Make sure the hole is smooth and free of any plastic shavings. If any plastic remains take a razor blade and carefully cut them away, but do not make the hole any larger. Failure to do this could introduce tiny leaks.
Insert the ½" rubber grommet into hole. Sometimes a little water on the grommet helps to ease it in. Now push the ½" straight barb about half way through the rubber grommet.
The controller bucket needs seven holes drilled in bucket the same way as shown above. The holes are spaced about a ½" apart. Now that all the barbs and grommets are in place, it's time to connect the buckets. Before connecting the buckets you should map out a 5 x 5 foot space where the buckets will fit. Place each bucket in its final position where it would be at the end of flowering. Connect all the buckets to the controller with the ½" vinyl tubing. Make sure there's enough slack on the tubing so you can move the buckets later. I usually make a few adjustments to the tubing before filling them with water. It's a big pain to fix things later when all the plants are in.
Airstone Weights
This part is optional as everyone has their own way to keep the airstone at the bottom. I prefer not to use anything metallic in my buckets. You'll need some ½" tubing and glass beads that can be found at Wal-Mart in the crafts section.
Cut a 3" piece of ½" tubing. Drill a ¼" or 5/16" hole in the middle of the tubing. Take the glass beads and push one into each end of the tubing.
Left: My garden uses a single air pump (The Pump 40) to provide air for 19 buckets. Air is pumped around the grow room via ½" PVC pipe and split into ¼" air lines by four dripper manifolds.
Middle: The parts for the dripper assembly. All parts can be found at Home Depot in the irrigation section.
Right: The dripper dividing air to the controlled buckets. Normally used for water, it works just as well to portion the air around the system.
For nutrients I use General Hydroponics Flora series. I suggest using these nutrients for your first run to avoid any problems.
There are two nutrient formulas to use in your bubblers. I currently recommend the Lucas nutrient formula for use in bubblers. The advantages are more Mg, more overall available nutrients, less mixing, and less nutrient changes. Bud density seems to have also improved.
The pH is initially set at 5.2 to 5.8 and usually fluctuates up to 6.3 with no problems. When using the Lucas formula, change the nutrients after two weeks. Always top off with plain pH adjusted water during the two weeks. All measurements are per gallon!
For those who wish to use Highgrade's formula. This formula also works well, but nutrients should be changed every 7 to 10 days and topped off with the same strength nutrient solution. You could also use a TDS meter to keep your nutrients within the proper concentration...not recommended for newbies .
Highgrade Nutrient Formula
- Grow - 5ml
- Micro - 3.3ml
- Bloom - 1.65ml
- Grow, Micro, Bloom - 3.3ml
Bloom ( 1-2-3 )
- Grow - 1.65ml
- Micro - 3.3ml
- Bloom - 5ml
I can't stress this enough: you must have healthy and well-rooted clones before placing them into the bubblers.
I root my clones in small cups of a 50/50 vermiculite and perlite mix. Sometimes I use Schultz Soil Conditioner when vermiculite is hard to find. It works just as well and washes off easier. After they're rooted (7 to 10 days) I place them in 16-ounce plastic cups with the same vermiculite and perlite mix. I veg the clones for 7 to 10 days under fluorescents while feeding them with the recommended GH clone formula (1.25ml/gal grow, micro, bloom). Usually I cut my clones three weeks before my current crop finishes to ensure they're ready on time. Eventually I'll root my clones in a bubble cloner or something similar, but for now this works just fine.
Before loading the clones you'll need to fill all the buckets with nutrient water. Also check for any leaks, airstone , pump, and, arrangement problems.
Take your clone and gently loosen as much perlite and vermiculite off the roots as possible. Then rinse the roots in a bucket of water to get the remaining particles off. There will be some perlite and vermiculite remaining between the roots.don't worry about it.
Now lay down one layer of geolite in the bottom of your net pot. The reason for one layer of geolite is so the roots grow past them and into the water faster. Get your clone and gently spread out the roots over the geolite so they're not clumped together. Gently fill the pot with geolite so no roots are damaged. Place the net pot in the lid and pour some nutrient water from the bucket over the geolite to make the roots happy.
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All filling and draining happens through the controller. To fill the system I first fill the Rubbermaid tub with 32 gallons of water where nutrients and pH down are mixed in. A waterbed faucet attachment with a garden hose is used to fill the tub. From there, water is pumped into the controller.
To drain, place a pump in the controller and pump all the nutrients into a bathtub or sink. There's usually ½"-1" of water remaining after draining that has no noticeable problems on the plants. When draining you should turn off the lights and air pumps. The roots are going to be without water for a few minutes so this will minimize stress on the plants. I have a certain strain that goes limp after the first and second water changes until they get a larger root system. If this happens, keep the lights off for 30 to 60 minutes. They usually pick back up within an hour and finish fine with no problems throughout the grow .
Through experimenting I found that keeping the water level ½" below the net pot encourages the roots to grow out faster. The roots will be kept moist from the splashing of the bubbles. Roots should be growing out of the net pot and touching the water in 3 to 5 days. Once the roots are in the water the plants will begin to take off. After a nice set of roots are in the water (approximately 7 to 10 days after transferring) bring the water level ½" to 1" above the bottom of the net pot.
I usually veg my plants for 2 weeks max. On average they will be around 10 to 12" tall before going into flowering and finish at 3 to 3.5 feet. If you let them get too tall before flowering they will probably stretch past 4 feet so be careful and know your strain well.
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Vegetative week 1-2: Start with the given veg formula and leave the water in for the full vegetative cycle. The plants will have hardly used any nutrients after the first week so it's ok. As the plants use the water you will need to top off with plain water. When the water level drops 3 to 4" below the bottom of the net pot you should top off with a 5-gallon bucket of plain pH water. pH the plain water according to the pH in your bubblers. For example if the average pH in your buckets is a low 5.2 you would pH your plain water at 5.8 to 6.2 and vice-versa if it's high.
Flowering week 1-8: On day 1 of flowering change the nutrients to the Bloom formula. By week 4, you'll probably be topping off 3 to 4 times a week with plain water. A smart grower will want to install a float valve in their controllers to keep the water always topped off.
Experienced growers should use an EC or TDS meter and adjust accordingly. I change to plain water the last 3 to 5 days of flowering to clear the plants of excess nutrients.
Tips for a Successful Bubbler Garden
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- Check your airstones at least ONCE a week. Air output should always be like a new airstone .
- Keep air temperature below 84 F and relative humidity under 66%.
- Rotate plants once a day. If you see a weak branch turn it towards the light. Move the smallest two plants directly under the light and the largest to the edge of the garden. I do this until the stretching has stopped.
- To support your plants, build a square frame around your grow area out of 3/4" PVC and run a trellis across the frame. Secure all branches to trellis using green wire plant ties. Obviously the plants have to be in their final positions before doing this.
- For maximum pH and nutrient control you can pump nutrients from the controller to individual buckets using 1/4" dripper lines. This will give you a recirculating system.
- Install a float valve to keep the water always topped off. Hydro shops and usually hardware stores will stock float valves.
- Learn how to optimally prune your strain.
Growing with bubblers in this system is a breeze. Check your airstones , change your nutrients on time, keep up the maintenance, and your plants will reward you. Whenever you're in doubt about a nutrient problem just change the water with freshly mixed nutrients. After you've successfully completed a grow in this system you can start tweaking the garden to your own personal needs. Everyone have fun growing and stay safe.
Written by train1 .
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