Can Someone Enlighten Me?

MightyBuddha

Well-Known Member
bubble bucket, DWC and anything else where the root mass is submerged in aerated water would be bubbleponics. It's just nickname for a style of hydroponics.
 

mogie

Well-Known Member
DWC (Deep Water Culture) units are commonly referred to as "bubblers" and are used for a method of growing plants hydroponically in a bucket of nutrients with the plant suspended over the nutrients and the roots growing down into the nutrients which are super oxygen saturated by pumping large volumes into the nutrient solution with the aid of an aquaurium stlye pump with an airstone attached to the airline.

Plants grown in this method grow at superfast rates due to the fact that they are being fed large amounts of oxygen. This is the same reason that the roots can sit in the nutrient solution without drowning. This method of growing is perfect for a hobby grower or one who wishes to grow for personal use. Large scale commercial growers do not generally find this method appropriate for the reason that each plant is housed in its own reservoir, and would simply be entirely too much maintenance in a large scale grow.

For someone who only needs say 6 plants, this method of hydroponic cultivation is an excellent way to grow. When an environment has been created to provide your plants with the optimum conditions required for fast, healthy growth,the one limiting factor left is how much oxygen can be provided to the roots of the plants. DWC growing will take care of this factor and then some! The roots will recieve huge amounts of oxygen for some of the fastest growth rates possible. DWC is one of the easiest and yet most effective forms of hydroponic cultivation.
 

lando421

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys, I knew was DWC was but no where in my reading was the gap bridged between DWC and the term bubbler...I'm building my own unit, and I plan to build an aeroponic unit, however a bubbler has recently taken my interest as it would be easier to setup and provide about the same yield? Thoughts?
 

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
There's only one serious drawback to DWC/bubblers- an air pump failure can trash your plants quickly if you're not right on top of things.

If I built a bubbler, I'd probably organise redundant air pumps ie. 2 airstones in each bucket, driven by 2 separate air pumps. I'd also replace the air pumps yearly. That's about how long their natural rubber diaphragms last. Some air pumps include spare rubber diaphragms, which could be replaced at about the same interval.

If using UV ionisers/ozone generators for pathogen and scent control, remember that ozone is very hard on rubber parts and will cause them to dry-rot and crack sooner than if only exposed to air. You can locate your air pumps in a place where they are not drawing in ozone in the air they are pumping to reduce this effect.

Alternatively, most centrifugal aquarium type water pumps have an aeration fitting that uses the motion of water to draw air in through a small tube attached to the pump output. Small aquarium type water pumps are oodles more reliable than the cheap aquarium air pumps.
 

lando421

Well-Known Member
thanks Al B. I'm going with a DWC system, and I will be using ONA gel in a bucket with a fan fastened on thanks to the brilliance of videoman! So hopefully odor and ozone won't be a problem.

I'll have to do more reading on the small aquarium water pumps and see if thats an option, or buy a couple pumps because they are fairly cheap.
 
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