Freakshow68

High all. After much lurking and the obvious failure of my first grow, I am studying every hydro grow i can find on this forum and learning so much, I might add. I am planning my first hydro grow. I am drawing up plans for 2 cabinets (one veg with CFL's) and one for flowering with air-cooled lights (I'll add another 400 watt HPS to the 400 watt HPS I already have in a duel light, air-cooled reflector exhausted out of the cab), making a list of equipment, meters, and lists of possible nutes to consider. I have one main question.
My question is this:
What type of Bubbler would you recommend for a first hydro grow?
5- gallon bucket - single plant bubbler

or

20-30 gallon tub with 4-6 plants in net pots in the lid?

I am planning on growing onely 1 strain so I won't have to worry about the idiosyncracies of different strains in the same grow. Max of six plants at a time in flower. The cab will be sizable enough for a good stretch, 3-4 feet of head room.

Any and all suggestions are welcome

peace

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You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
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You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
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Lollie

Hi Freakshow68,

That didn't even take a second to decide!
You would be amazed at the differences within a strain you can see. I highly recommend doing one plant per system. That way, if you want to check something out you can isolate one plant and try it. Doing them all in one reservoir would be challenging for me and I've been growing for several years. And that's my

All the best,
Lollie

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Conversions: 70 ppm to 50 ppm = 1 CF = 0.1 EC and 5 ml = 5 cc = 1 teaspoon

Rumpleforeskin

I agree with Lollie

Sauce

With individual buckets you can better give each plant the correct amount of nutes however it's also a lot more annoying to properly measure and correct ph and ppm of each bucket.

For hydro I recommend measuring ppm (digi meter), ph (digi meter or drops), and res temps.

-PPM is different in all cases. Rise/fall is what to pay attention too. (check Lollie's sig quote)
-Ph should be 5.5-6.2.
-Res temps should be 72* or under. High temps = root rot.

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Freakshow68

Miss Lollie,
I bow to your expertise.
Thank you for your input.

RFS,
and thank you, sir. Nice journal you have going. Been lurking there for a while now.

Sauce, excellent advice. Thank you. When are you going to start a journal? I can't wait to see your expertise at work.


The single buckets have it. So floor to ceiling cabs it will be to hold 4 single plant buckets. I've seen Lollie's GJ's and Jamesgang's single bucket journals and know that i will need plenty of room. I don't want to top them under 3 feet in height - then there's the problem of light penetration and delivery to the side/lower buds. Hmmmmm. Any suggestions for lighting? T-5's on the sides of the cab for when the plants get tall?

__________________
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative
and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they
could and should do for themselves. - William J. H. Boetcker

Rumpleforeskin

I have thought about installing florescence bars under the screen to give the bottom buds a bit more light. Problem is they only work up close but you cant let the plant touch them. If any part of the plant touches the bulbs, it kills that branch. I get this all the time with my mother plant. I would not want to risk any pain to my gals in the last few weeks of flowering. The reality is, I get a small amount of scrap to make hash. It's not enough scrap to re-design anything or add heat to my grow. If you train and separate each branch, light won't be an issue.

On the other hand, it sounds like a great idea. I cant wait to see what you come up with. Adding light is always a good idea. Take lots of pictures!

scrogisimo

hey freakshow, are you aware of the fact that 3-4' head roomt isn't much at all? if you're not scrogging, i'd recommend about 6' cabinet or higher if it's a stiva dominated strain...
also, i don't know what's the weather like in your erea, but 2 400w bulbs put out a lot of heat... so check the temps BEFORE moving in the plants
good luck

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Freakshow68

Hey RFS, i was thinking about the flouros having to be close and whether it would be worth the effort or no. I'll have to work out the lumens for diff flouros and see. That's for your suggestions, I have made note of them and filed them under I for "important shit to remember".
Scrogisimo, i am planning on topping the plants or perhpas FIM'ing them at 3 feet of vegetative growth. The cabs will be a minimum of 6' high inside - still working on the design. I appreciate your input and concern, however. I have found a vented dual light reflector, it's called the Growzilla, that can be ventilated. It's expensive ($165) but will work perfectly for my cab.

peace all

__________________
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative
and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they
could and should do for themselves. - William J. H. Boetcker