First Grow Newbie Bubbleponics

Hi. I'm new to this forum and a first time grower. I'm growing in my 4ft long x two ft deep closet. My first month of growing was under 2, 48inch florescent plant lights, in rockwool, and between that and serious inexperience, I killed about 4 seeds and the only survivor of that batch of seeds was harmed by over watering (topfed) and insufficient light.

I chose hydroponics on a whim and went in blind. I thought it would be easy, I was wrong!!! So I wasted 6 weeks killing the first seed I touched (see it below) it had suffered through every mistake in the book (I should have read the book first)!

Another forum mediator corrected me with Bubbleponics so my last seed planted is flourishing now 4 weeks old.

while my first plant (feminized Gelato) is barely 6 inches tall.

My next batch is going to be 100 percent successful...

My light is now a 1000w led with veg and bloom switches. (She's 9 weeks old but 6 inches tall). At what age or size hould I start them under the bloom setting? I have had them under full spectrum as I don't get my second light till about another 4 days. Then I can separate them under 2 lights.

I would like to get at least 1oz from the dwarf.

Please look over my pictures and tell me when should I put this plant into the flowering stage under my led?

New subject.

My age is 64 and disabled Nam Vet and have not used painkillers since Michigan got legalized, but since my wife passed away, with my income cut in half I'm forced to grow my own.

So within the next 4 to 6 weeks, I hope to never see another dispensary

I have room for 5 or 6 pots and want a perpetual grow of either clones and or seed.

PS. My city water has a ppm of 800 + - and i can't afford distilled water so i devised a "free to $20" DIY water purifier/filter that brings just my ppm down to 97 ppm in only one night. I'm still working out a few improvements that will lower help better with the PH without needing standard commercial chemicals.

Being an avid garage drawer engineer, I always look for a way to keep my money IN MY POCKET. i spent just a few minutes studying commercial water purifiers, and came up with this.

See my YouTube video and I hope it helps with your poisioned city water like mine and if you're willingto try it and if you know any way to improve my design, to drop the PH, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!! I actually used only what I had lying around. The only Experimental $$ I spent was $12 for my activated charcoal packs but all else was sitting in my spare hydroponic failure box I'm updating it to include some minor tweaks anyway.

Im also posting a video of how to daisy chain all my led grow lights w/adjustability, using only the 4 Hanging rope/pulleys supplied with the one light for about 5/10$$$ and no need for more than 4 hangers.

.....pics? youtube link?

2WorldsFrog said:

.....pics? youtube link?

Click to expand...

Sorry but I'm new this forum and the format is different from what I'm used to.

My first ever DIY and YouTube video

2WorldsFrog said:

.....pics? youtube link?

Click to expand...

Ps,
My photos

If it is getting bigger still I would let it grow a little more before flipping to 12/12. I'm by no means an expert but I would think that having more vegetation to grow flowers from would serve you well. I had some weird ph issues in my rdwc and I have a gg4 dwarf that is still only about 18" tall with only 3 weeks left to go. I only flipped it because everything else in the tent was ready. It's got a few 6" colas of frosty solid bud going though so hope is not lost.
Cool idea for the water filter, my RO filters are killin' my water bill so I'm trying to figure out a way to knock down the ppm from the tap. I just got a sample of megacrop for only the cost of shipping($4) that's enough to mix up like 250 gallons of water(I think) and from what I've read on riu I'm pretty sure I can use regular tap water with it, but I want to start at as low of a ppm as I can get without all the filters and wasted water. Seems like people get good results from megacrop on the cheap so I'm giving it a shot.
Welcome to the forum and good luck

This water filter is usable in any size reservoir and the water can be stored for water changes and even for drinking water.

I bought spring water and it was over 500ppm. I'm looking for a solution to the damn PH HOWEVER; with this pure of water it only took me 1/2oz of GH PH Down to treat 5 gallons instead of 2 gallons. That took the PH down to 5.8/.9

I'm getting a 10/20 gallon plastic can so i can even store drinking water as well also to be prepared for any other water issues.

My next tweek to this system is to find a long lasting PH buffer

Does this forom have expert moderators that monitor and help guests with hydro cannabis?

Anyone here familiar with small indoor space hydro? My first real use of my space is my next grow of autoflowers is just a few weeks away and looking for 6 or 8 pots cooking up for some summer "fireworks"! I'll begin when this one is getting finished. I'm still deciding about how ambitious it'll end up being. I have 7 or 8 beans and 3 or 4 inside and 3 or 4 outside. Maybe I can find an online ouija board for that decision?


I'll try to figure out how to post/publish a grow diary with active photography.

Nice. I was thinking about just running a simple fridge filter for my next grow. I did really well with tap water so I don't see a reason not to use it. I am only like 80-100ppm from the tap though.
What questions do you have?
Lose the vinegar, you are using it for PH down right? Get some real PH up and down. They have buffers which will keep your PH where you want it for longer periods.
Anyway....
What are you using for air pumps? What kind of airstone?
What are your PPMs? What are you mixing in there for nutrients? I think I see calmag on one of your bottles.
The dwarf either has aeration problems or something is funky with the roots.

I found a great spot to download FREE POT BOOKS. I downloaded a grow bible first and got lots more. Books look great and complete like the real ones I have here. No web site but just a page of links. Just right click on what you want and then "Save Link As" to download so they don't open first as some are 50+ megs. They got lots. Enjoy.

5BY5LEC said:

Nice. I was thinking about just running a simple fridge filter for my next grow. I did really well with tap water so I don't see a reason not to use it. I am only like 80-100ppm from the tap though.
What questions do you have?
Lose the vinegar, you are using it for PH down right? Get some real PH up and down. They have buffers which will keep your PH where you want it for longer periods.
Anyway....
What are you using for air pumps? What kind of airstone?
What are your PPMs? What are you mixing in there for nutrients? I think I see calmag on one of your bottles.
The dwarf either has aeration problems or something is funky with the roots.

Click to expand...

Im NOT using vinegar for any hydroponic nutrient use.

I tried vinegar as a co2 supply by dropping dabs of baking soda; I didn't like vinegar because dropping baking soda into PH down is much more efficient than vinegar for supplying a daily dose or two of co2. It's kinda like my having an evening cocktail with my plant.

Im contemplating a diy automatic co2 infusion device for just about 30/40$$ or less.

Warezaholic said:

Im NOT using vinegar for any hydroponic nutrient use.

I tried vinegar as a co2 supply by dropping dabs of baking soda; I didn't like vinegar because dropping baking soda into PH down is much more efficient than vinegar for supplying a daily dose or two of co2. It's kinda like my having an evening cocktail with my plant.

Im contemplating a diy automatic co2 infusion device for just about 30/40$$ or less.

Click to expand...

And that dwarf is ancient history. Her problem was that it was in rockwool that had drown the roots by "topfed irrigation" and that was all totally MILDEWED!

Bubbleponics saved my second plant before starting another topfed disaster.

All future growing will be Bubbleponics or maybe even try a couple in dirt as well.

Warezaholic said:

I tried vinegar as a co2 supply by dropping dabs of baking soda; I didn't like vinegar because dropping baking soda into PH down is much more efficient than vinegar for supplying a daily dose or two of co2. It's kinda like my having an evening cocktail with my plant.

Im contemplating a diy automatic co2 infusion device for just about 30/40$$ or less.

Click to expand...

Burning a candle in your grow will supply lots of CO2. I made some alcohol lamps that burn methyl hydrate and can get my CO2 over 1500ppm in 15 min. Made one with a smaller wick that can leave on all day that burns lots less fuel and keeps it up nice. I bought a CO2 controller a couple years back that tells me the levels I get but haven't managed to free up enough cash to buy the tank to run CO2 gas off of it.

Even just sitting in the room working on the plant gets the CO2 up over 1000ppm in a half hour as long as the exhaust fan doesn't kick in and suck it all out.

Nice solution to co2 however an open flame is less appealing than giving baking soda dropped into a mild acid (such as PH down). Im seeking a cheaper acid. Vinegar is inefficient and needs manual stirring. My DIY solves this manual input issue by using a dirt-cheap automatic fish feeder to drop baking soda into a waiting cup of acid at preprogrammed times...

By placing a few marbles or stones in the feeder will aid in moving the power around preventing clogs.

No fire extinguisher required!!

Warezaholic said:

And that dwarf is ancient history. Her problem was that it was in rockwool that had drown the roots by "topfed irrigation" and that was all totally MILDEWED!

Bubbleponics saved my second plant before starting another topfed disaster.

All future growing will be Bubbleponics or maybe even try a couple in dirt as well.

Click to expand...

Bubbleponics is a topfeed way of doing DWC and the topfeed is totally unneeded. I use RubberMaid tubs with two 12" airstones in the bottom and just use a turkey baster to water new clones in the net pot twice a day for around 3 or 4 days until roots emerge from the net pots then stop doing that. About 50 tubs worth of growing that way since '01 and it works great. Sometimes as many as 16 plants in one tub too.

I first ran into the Bubbleponics crew headed by RoseMan at 420 mag years ago and we had a huge feud about it that ended up with me banned. Long story but I'm welcome at 420 now tho rarely go there. He's long gone. lol

This is a 16 plant tub's root mass.

I am keenly aware that topfed is BS and it ruined my first several plants (including the dead dwarf). Bubbleponics saved my world and will be under all my auto's (unless I take a stab at dirt 4 a few outside plants) this is my roots just before and after adding my new brownish GH Micro nutes.

The black you see is the shadows from the flash.

Warezaholic said:

I am keenly aware that topfed is BS and it ruined my first several plants (including the dead dwarf). Bubbleponics saved my world and will be under all my auto's (unless I take a stab at dirt 4 a few outside plants) this is my roots just before and after adding my new brownish GH Micro nutes.

The black you see is the shadows from the flash.
View attachment 4317146 View attachment 4317147

Click to expand...

The after picture was 3 days after new nutes. The difference in growth is astounding.

just keep those roots healthy and you'll do fine.

pH and healthy roots are the most impt things in hydro.

So far, my res is and has been very healthy and amazingly stable. Especially after adding Hydroguard. I take her vitals every evening before lights out PH is kept 5.7 to 6.0, nutrients at Full Vegetative "minus 25 percent"(not overfeeding YET); at the moment it is drinking the high side of a pint per day, gets some vitamin c at water change along with a battery of nutrients!

Im feeding this plant much better than myself $$$

Interesting use of vinegar. I like the candle! My only thing is I would be scared to leave it burn unattended, but that it probably just the paranoid side of me.

It sounds like you are kind of going the same route I was. I used the exact nutrients and hydroguard you are using now.
Color of roots can tell you a lot, but make sure to keep an eye on the texture as well. They can be stained AF but if they have "body" and hold themselves up you are rocking. What you don't want are limp roots that act like spaghetti noodles. Smell too. They should smell like a fresh cut potato. Smell your res everyday too. It should smell like fresh dirt, earthy. Mildew or dirty sock smell is bad.

Like Oldmed said, read read read. Research is your best friend here. You cannot read too much. This is a really great site I have learned a lot from, and it is run by a hydroponic consultant.
https://scienceinhydroponics.com/
The blog archive is where the good stuff is.

Warezaholic said:

So far, my res is and has been very healthy and amazingly stable. Especially after adding Hydroguard. I take her vitals every evening before lights out PH is kept 5.7 to 6.0, nutrients at Full Vegetative "minus 25 percent"(not overfeeding YET); at the moment it is drinking the high side of a pint per day, gets some vitamin c at water change along with a battery of nutrients!

Im feeding this plant much better than myself $$$

Click to expand...

5BY5LEC said:

Interesting use of vinegar. I like the candle! My only thing is I would be scared to leave it burn unattended, but that it probably just the paranoid side of me.

It sounds like you are kind of going the same route I was. I used the exact nutrients and hydroguard you are using now.
Color of roots can tell you a lot, but make sure to keep an eye on the texture as well. They can be stained AF but if they have "body" and hold themselves up you are rocking. What you don't want are limp roots that act like spaghetti noodles. Smell too. They should smell like a fresh cut potato. Smell your res everyday too. It should smell like fresh dirt, earthy. Mildew or dirty sock smell is bad.

Like Oldmed said, read read read. Research is your best friend here. You cannot read too much. This is a really great site I have learned a lot from, and it is run by a hydroponic consultant.
https://scienceinhydroponics.com/
The blog archive is where the good stuff is.

Click to expand...

Funny you should mention the smell! Something I do every evening at med check is to give the res a sniff but since the HydroGuard and proper nutrients, it smells like sweet fruity earth. Almost crystal clear water (even with the nutrients).

After I get 4 or 5 buckets going I hope I keep the same consistency as now.