Deep Water/Bubblebucket questions please help

Hi all, im typically an all natural soil grower but i think for a project i'm going to build a cheap bubblebucket and see how it works out. Ive read about a half dozen different plans on the subject and i think i have a fairly good idea of what i'm going to do however i have some basic technical questions that im hoping someone could help me with.

1. I typically only use homemade teas on my plants, first question is can i use these compost teas (im assuming heavily diluted) in the water or do i HAVE to use "hydro nutrients"?

2. Also, as ive never grown hydro im wondering how do you get your clone into the rockwool filled mesh pot? ive only ever used compressed peat moss starter plugs before. Could i use those and just surround it with the rockwool or is there some other technique?

3. Last question is about the water level. Ive read that you want the level about an inch below the meshpot, but if my clone is in its little starter suspended rougly 3/4 of the way inside the meshpot that is quite a ways for water to "bubble" up to the roots of my plant. Do you just water it by hand until the roots get long enough or what? Do the rockwool pellets have some kind of super-meiosis properties im not aware of?

I know these are fairly basic questions that anyone who's grown hydro once or twice could answer, however i appreciate any help all the same. I plan on posting lots of pics in the near future of my indoor organic grows and hopefully this bucket contraption as well. Muchas Gracias

Cykoticc

hey dude i'm not sure about the tea but as for the clone i root mine in rockwool then into net pots then into the bubbler and i've heard the peat pellets can drop in your res and clog it but never had exp with this as i use rockwool and i have the water at the bottom of the net pot till roots hit water then drop the water down an inch hope this helps dude

cool, thanks man that does help. Just to clarify, what i understand is that the rockwool cube should be like half the way down into the net pot and then the water level hangs parallel to the net pot until the roots get down there (then i'll drop the level like an inch) ? The pellets staying wet should give it enough moisture then?

No one has any experience with the teas though? im going to assume that as long as the ph of the tea is balanced then it should be ok. If this is way wrong someone please weigh in, i really dont feel like shelling out for hydro nutes at least until next harvest time, being broke sucks!

BTW the strains i have in my collection are Blueberry (supposedly the original DJ Short variety), Blueberry x Northern Lights, Afghani, Shishkaberry and two local strains known as "gorilla" and "the pops". Would any of these be more suited to hydro than others? Sorry for all the basic questions but this whole hydro thing brings out the tweaker in me i'm noticing. Lol

Peace & Love from beautiful sunny southern oregon
Cykoticc

hello and welcome cykoticc.

I grow using ebb & flood with RW as the medium. I buy my tea from the local hydro store and it works great. I can't make it cheaper than they do and theirs really does a good job. They have a veg and flower tea.

Add all your nutes and then check your pH. Adjust it and then keep checking it every couple of days. I test mine every day and usually have to make small additions of pH down.

Ebb & flood is the easiest and less expensive way to go, IMO. I clone in a Botanicare cloner with the neoprene insert. I then transfer to a RW circular plug that I put into a RW cube.

Hope this helps.

I built a diy waterfarm/bubler 4 $1o each,they are nice!
I am a soil grower that just switched to the buckets cause of lazyness coupled with the fstr growth you get cant loose!
for diy istructions go to
strainguide.org or ill post how to manyana cheers