Roseman's DIY Bubbleponics Tutorial

When you start an indoor grow, you need to seriously consider three important factors. Well, let me say six.
First three are LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.
The second are
PREPARATION, PREPARATION, PREPARATION.
I 've been preparing for weeks. I've done several GROWs at friend's and relative's homes, (for a share) and I've also loaned out my equipment more than I should have. Sometimes I get it all back, soemtimes, it gets lost in the shuffle.
I'll start with PREPARATION first. That's what I 'm doing.
My Dad taught me the best way to examine your "shit" is to spread it all out where you can see it. So I've gathered it all up, and spread it out so let me show you my closet in our spare bed room, that was really our JUNK room.
I "ll start with some pics first.
I'm a collector of additional and bigger bulbs. Last year, I kept tripping a circuit breaker, so this year, I added another line to the closet.





Cost me $32 for parts, $20 for the 50 feet of wire, the circuit breaker, and the box, to add that line.
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can not emphasize the importantce of keeping the grow area clean.
I looked at my closed and started cleaning it out and found two spider webs in it!
You can not have anything from outside, from outdoors in
the area of your grow. When I brought my tools in from the gargage that I knew I would need, I washed them. The grow area has to be clean!




Here you see a pic of the tools. I use a hammer, a flat screwdriver, a phillips head, some wire cutters, needle nose pliers, large strong heavy duty scissors.

You also see a pic of some nutrients. I had three different people return them to me this month, and I have ten times what I need. I just put them out to see what I have. I also have ten times the amount of pH UP or Down that I need too. You also see several rolls of two sided tape, to hang my Mylar on the walls.

And you see a pile of Surge Protectors. I use many, many more lights than what anyone needs.
I collect this stuff. I have several grow buddies that borrow, and call on me to help. I keep an ample supply of EVERYTHING for emergencies.
It is NOT necesary to have what all i have, and I'll get down specifics later.


Save all of those twisty ties you take off the pumps and wires, you will need them later.

There is a large double window behind that blanket that I attached to the wall. There are also BLINDS on the window, behind the blanket. You have to have total darkness during the Flowering (also called BLOOM) Cycle. You have to be able to cut out 98% of the light to your plants during the Bloom Cycle. (Ill explain the TWO Cycles later)
Also, there is the Privacy Issue. I do not want the meter reader looking in the window and seeing my bright lights.

You have to have a dark room, with NO light at times. I will eventually grow with the closet door OPEN, and will have to have my window covered.

You can also see a roll of Mylar, next to the chest of drawers, 50 inches by 25 feet long, costs $29 for the roll.
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When I get to the Section on LIGHTS, I will explain why a large number of 42 watt CFL bulbs are more efficient than using LARGE 105 and 200 watt CFL bulbs.
But you can see what I have collected.
Those 200 watt CFLs are GIANTS!
There are 200s, 105s, 85s, 65s and 42s there.
I only want to use the 42s, 65s and 85s, but I am going to try the big ones, for a short while, as an experiment. I already know they are going to get TOO HOT.
You also see a collection of CLAMP REFLECTORS .


Those 200 watt bulbs are a lot bigger than those 42 watt bulbs.

You also see two Parabolic Reflectors that I am going to try. Those are expensive, $49 EACH. I've never used them but I will try them on those 200 watt bulbs. Those 20 watt bulbs did nto come with a regular sized socket, (called medium size) they are much larger and are called MOGUL Sockets. I had to buy Mogul Sockets to screw the bulbs into.



Oh, that first pic has my ferret playing on the bed. We was going to throw that old bed away, but kept it for the kids to jump and play on. The ferret thinks it is her bed now. I don't know how I will ever keep her out of that room, except to keep the door closed.
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You see my two tanks, 6 holes in each lid. I need to wash them good, and get the mineral salts from my well water off of them.
The next pic is my 5 gallon buckets. One is needed to do the DRAIN and REPLINISH, when yOu drain the water out and replace it.

You also need a trash can or box for trash near the grow area. I use that ASH Bucket from my fireplace. I had a dozen OLD, nasty air stones I am tossing that have done 5 or 6 grows.

For security and privacy, you want to save all trash from your grow room, and discard it separately. You need to put everything you thow away in a public trash dumpster, and not in your household trash.

You also see my collection of water pumps and Air pumps. I had loaned a few pumps out and was not sure I'd get them back for this grow, so I bought two new ones. Then I got the loaned ones back.
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Here you see a pic of Water Pump Attachments.
Also see some old Botanical Nutrients, I experimented with and did not like. They stain the water brown, and I like my water CLEAR.
There are 100s of Nutrients (nutes) on the market for sale, adn they are expensive. They all claim to work miracles, just to get your money.
All you really need are nutes for two cycles, Bloom Nutes and Veg Nutes, also called Grow Nutes and Flowering nutes.

I have tried LIQUID KARMA as a supplement or catalyst, and found it made a difference. it is expensive and not necesary.

I use cheap, pre-packaged, pre-mesured, pre pH balanced, NO brand named nutes :
GROW or VEG N-P-K 10:5:14
CALCIUM 6%, MAGNISUM 2%, SULPHUR 3%,
IRON .12%, MANGANESE .05%,
AND BORON, COPPER, CHLORIDE,
MOLYBDENUM, AND ZINC .01%


BLOOM or Flower N-P-K 5:15:14
(NOTE A VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF NITROGEN IS STILL IN THERE)
CALCIUM 5%, MAGNESIUM 3.5%,
SULPHUR 4%, IRON .1%,
AND BORON, COPPER, CHLORIDE,
MOLYBDENUM, AND ZINC .01%

You need to google and study up on N-P-K definitions and proportions.

In the next pic, you see a stack of 12 inch and 8 inch long air stones. Next to the airstones, are rockwool cubes.
You can also see a small 4 inch round airstone I used for my first grow, three years ago. They work OK, but a 2nd airstone really helps alot. It is all about ample oxygen to the roots! I ahve seen a one inch round airstone made for aquariums, used in one 5 gallon bucket and it worked just fine.

In the next pic are some bags of Hydroton rocks, some 1/4 inch plastic tubes for the air stones, some ONA for odor control, and my 30X microscope behind the date on the pic, some 3 and half inch grow cups, also called grow baskets, and some meters laying next to the tubes.
You do NOT have to have those meters and I will show you how to grow without them. They are handy and helpful, but not necesary. A good pH meter, with batteries and calibration solutions are about $50 to $60 each. A cheap one on ebey is $30.
A good ppm meter runs $60 to $120. Again, you can easily grow, without them.

You also see some extra, empty water bottles. They ar much needed.

You also see some Themometers and some Humidity Meters, that are much needed.

A pic of my pH meter in the blue case is seen. I 've done 3 grows with pH test strips when I did not have a pH meter. You can get the pH test strips at any fish aquarium place, or at the pool supply place.

You see a pile of chains, and a carton of 25 feet of small chain, that I hang my Clap Reflector Lights from.

The Home Defense Pesticide in the next pic is odorless, stainless and works great.
Every week on this site, I see 4 to 6 new posts, complaining that spider mites ruined their crops. Eggs and larvae and all kinds of critters can ruin a crop, and better and easier than finding a remedy and cure, is using a preventative.
You have to make your grow area "bug proof"!
SPRAY the walls and floor good with a good pesticide, not one just made for ants or roaches.


And you see some extra extension cords in that drawer.


Here you see my walk in closet, only 24 inches wide, which is excellent for the tanks and grow area.

I do use a ceiling fan, two oscilating fans and a small fan too. You do not need all of those, just one wuill work fine.

The last pic shows the end of the inside of the closet.


A different view of the closet.

Let me review here.

Preparation.

You have to have supplies, that can be obtained at any Pet Store, Aquarium Department, Hardware Store, Walmart, Lowes, Targets, or Home Depot. If you can order off the internet, www.amazon.com has everything.

A list to consider is
a Camera, Reflective Material of Mylar or white paint or panda film, or white plastic sheets like they use for garbage bags, 2 sided tape to hang the mylar, a hammer, two screw drivers, flat and phillips, a box of extra large thumb tacks, a roll of duct tape, a roll of masking tape, 2 dozen extra large twistie ties, large scissors, a black magic marker, small scissors, a razor knife, wire cutters, two clean empty plastic gallon water jugs, a clean quart jar, a large collander, a tea strainer, a straightened wire clothes hanger, a can of pressurized air, a big spoon, needle nose pliers, regular pliers, wire cutters, a measuring cup, clean water, seeds, nutrients, lights, pH UP and Down, reflectors, extension cords, surge protectors, an extra 5 gallon bucket, a syphon hose made for aquariums, 24 feet of small cheap chain to hang lights and reflectors from, a large trash can, trash bags, vacumn cleaner, oscilating fan, styrafoam saucers to make lid covers, fishing weights to hold down the air stones,
sun glasses and a cap to wear so the lights don't blind you, my Grow Bible, a notebook and ink pen to take notes and make a daily diary journal, pH test strips, grow cups, rockwool, hydroton, water pump, air pump, air stones, 1/4 inch plastic tubing, ODOR CONTROL, Pesticide, Large Spray Bottle, and the Reservoir TANKS.


Ask me or the BubbleHeads at :
Questions about Bubbleponic Growing Thread
where to get those supplies and what to expect to pay.

Preparation
SAFETY
If you are not in a legal medical growing state,
Rule One, DO NOT TELL ANYONE. Even if you are a legal grower, DO NOT TELL! Someone will steal your grow.
I've been on this site 3 years. The NUMBER ONE reason for getting busted is the X-wife or X-Girlfriend got mad and psissed off and told the Law.
#2, Nosey Neighbors. don't let them see you hauling in strange things. Don't let them smell your grow.
# 3, Cats! Yes, house cats sure do ruin a lot of grows.

Location
Is it empty?
Can you control the smell? the household pets?
Can you control the Humidity? the Heat?
Can you make it ALL Dark with NO Light?
Central Heat and Central Air Conditioning sure help.
Is the area private, and away from visitors?
Is your area clean and bug free?



You can not bring in buckets, tools, or anything from outside, into the indoor grow area. You wil be bringing in bug eggs, spider mite eggs and all kinds of undesirable bugs and microscopic creatures and things that will ruin your grow.

To do anything well, you have to understand it, so let me provide a little background and information here.

Hydroponics
Way over 2600 years ago, a great king named Nebuchadnezzar built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon....the first Hydroponic Garden. 2000 years later, all man had learned was to grow in water, the water had to be flowing or moving. I think most of us have seen hydroponic vegetables growing in containers that look like giant rain gutters, with water running over the roots.
About 50 years ago, man figured out that if the water was highly oxegenated, with air bubbles, then the water did not have to be mofing or flowing.

Today there are several Hydroponic Systems.
I will explain a few here, VERY Simply.

DWC, Deep Water Culture, is the most simple. It is simply roots dangling in water with air stones in the water making bubbles. (sometimes this is mistakenly called bubbleponics)

DWC:



There is also Ebb and Flow, also called Flood and Drain
That is simply a system of flooding water on and off the roots, timely and systamatically.









There is also the N.F.T. System. (Nutrient Film Technique)
I can't find a pic of that, but it is simply using a SPRAY or a flow of water on a timer, spraying the roots.


There is also a DRIP System.
This is a DWC with feeder tubes DRIPPING water onto each grow cup and root base from above. That DRIP has to be on a Timer.

And the Aeroponic System, using a MIST on the roots from below, inside the tank.

A true Bubbleponics System is my favorite. It uses a submersive water pump, that pumps water to an Irrigation Hub, also called an Irrigation Manifold, that divides the water into 6 streams to each grow cup and root base. It is the MOST rapid growing system available. I can get an average of one inch growth in height daily using the Bubleponics Sytem.

So, What Is Bubbleponics, Exactly?

The world’s first continuous plant feeding system, Bubbleponics is a hybrid design that takes the best from both worlds of the Deep Water Culture (aka DWC, “bubbler”) and drip systems. Since the nutrient mix is highly oxygenated, Bubbleponics converts its drip function to a constant feed flow directly to the inner roots. Without needing to take breaks to allow the root base to drain and absorb oxygen, plants in the Bubbleponic system are able to deliver unparalleled growth energy.

This advantage is particularly pronounced during early vegetative phases when the plant’s root mass is still relatively small. Cuttings placed into the system experience no noticeable transplant shock and practically start growing immediately. In experiments measured against leading aeroponic systems, the Bubbleponic design shaved, on average, four days from a two week growing cycle, a 30% growth rate increase over Aeroponics in the early vegetative stage; truly amazing. As the root mass of the respective plants grow larger, growth rate advantages were less evident, however, the plants in the Bubbleponic planter maintained their 4-5 day lead over the aeroponic plants throughout the cycle.

In a series of stress tests, plants in the Bubbleponic system performed remarkably when recovering from an over-fertilized condition. With almost the entire root mass destroyed, Bubbleponics was able to revive 67% of the plants which started re-growing new roots and were able to complete their cycle. None of the other plants in the aeroponic products survived this stress test. The tests concluded that the Bubbleponic system provided significant recovery advantages over other systems when it came to anything that stressed or killed that root mass.

Hub Feeding Ensures Consistency

The Bubbleponic design is, ironically enough, one of the first hydroponic products to use real irrigation parts. This includes a hub feed system, where the main flow from the water pump is broken up into 6 smaller feeder tubes via a pressure regulating irrigation distributor. No other plant’s sites are thus dependant on any other as they would be in most drip systems that use T’ed designs. This also ensures identical feeding conditions at each site.

For this grow, we wil use Bubbleponics . If you do not want to get the water pumps, hub and tubes, that is OK, you can still follow along and do a plain DWC.
You will still learn alot here.