My OBBT Bucket Build

Paraphrasing DM from other threads:

The corn cob ash has a high level of potash (Potassium). This is for the flower phase delivered as a tea. The advantage to corn cob ash is that because it's so high in Potassium, you need very little, and this keeps things pH stable.

Most wood ash is 4-7% Potassium by weight. Corn Cob is 25% to 35% Potassium.

I found this. Joshua trees are in the yucca group. I'll just have to make some and try it. Thank you very much.

Yucca is a starchy plant widely grown and consumed in the southwestern United States, Central America and the Caribbean, where it is often used as a substitute for the potato. Touted as a valuable source of vitamins A, B and C, as well as being rich in potassium, iron and phosphorous, yucca is also hailed for its anti-inflammatory properties. It is often sold in powdered form by health food stores as a remedy for arthritis. It's also very tasty, and when boiled and then baked, yucca fries offer a healthy alternative to regular potato french fries.

Click to expand...

Good luck!

As a side note, I burned up maybe a dozen corn cobs and have a bunch of ash. Not sure what the concentration of Potassium is in Yucca. Again, most wood / plant ash has Potassium.

Here's what I have for a Schedule. Ferts and supplements are as follows:

A Organig Veg Tea
B Organic Flower Tea
C Supplementary Salts for Flowering
D Foliar Veg Spray
E Foliar Flower Spray



All comments are welcomed.

Here is a consolidated OBBT Material List and sources if anyone's interested.

This is a very brief general overview.

What is the OBBT?

The OBBT is an organic growing method that relies heavily on bacterial and fungal participation. This harmonic microbiotic community protects and nurtures the plant. A beautiful example of microbial cooperation and symbiotic relationships, this method is simple, fast, and effective. It’s a great peace of mind knowing that you have 100% natural plant product with no man-made chemicals to worry about ingesting.

A very significant difference between this method and other pro-biotic “bucket” methods is the total immersion of this system to support the micro-culture. The entire OBBT system is dedicated as much to the well-being of the plant as it is to the well-being of the micro-culture tending to the plant. The complex cadre of bacteria and fungus are not introduced as an additive or enhancement. They are instead the very heart of the OBBT system. Given the right circumstances, the micro-life will break down organic soil amendments and “spoon feed” the nutrients directly into the plant both at the root and foliar levels.

Lastly, the system relies on the tremendous benefits of natural plant hormones. These hormones are added to the growing medium as well as through foliar sprays.

The Bucket:

The system is built in a container such as a 5 gallon bucket with standard plumbing parts from your hardware store. There are no pumps or hoses. The bottom 1/3 is water and lava rock / Hydroton with continuous bubbling introduced through AirStones and an outboard air pump. The top 2/3 is an organic coco-based medium with active compost and amendments. The resulting medium has poor water holding properties, but excellent water-wicking properties. This creates a very low density, open and airy medium that essentially waters itself.

The constant rising bubbles bring moisture as well as Oxygen for the microbial community. The large volume of rising moist air easily percolates through the low density medium and will host a very diverse micro-community.

Stability and Maintenance:

The OBBT system itself requires little maintenance, and no environmental monitoring other than the water level. All of the nutrients are pre-loaded in the medium, and the mico-life feeds the plant at a maximal level. The pH is profoundly stable, again a side-benefit of the micro-life. So no measuring pH or TDS.

Once up and running, you will dump water into the system perhaps weekly. A very occasional brewed tea can be added to help with the chemistry changes associated with flowering.

Likely the largest maintenance will come from the 3-4 times a week floral spray. These are loaded with microbes such as Lacto Bacillus as well as natural plant hormones.

rrog said:

Good luck!

As a side note, I burned up maybe a dozen corn cobs and have a bunch of ash. Not sure what the concentration of Potassium is in Yucca. Again, most wood / plant ash has Potassium.

Click to expand...

I guess it would be simple enough to use the corn cobs but that would take half the fun out of it and I'd have to be serious. I'll save that for my main plants. This is just to try out hypothesizes. Perhaps I'll burn some cob and see how the ash compares. I think it's the silvery white color that is from potassium which is left after everything else burns away.

Should be a way to find out how much Potassium is in the ash. More efficient than growing and trying to assess.

Here is the recipe I'll be going with. I'm mixing 10 gallons of medium. I estimate 3 gallons of medium per bucket for three buckets.

I cut back on Blood Meal and Bio Tone per LadyL. The Bold measurements listed are simply an easier way to measure these things efficiently. I'm sure nothing bad will happen if you have a little more or less of anything.

Side note: I didn't wind up opting for the FINE Coir, just the medium and coarse. I'll be adding a cup or two of both medium and coarse to make up the volume.

Damn well ain't you a plethora or research information and elite Excel skillz. Loving it. When are you going to get this bitchin ass thing moving? I'm sure your going to give RipVanWeed a run for his money. As for the potassium, i don't think your going to find a clear cut answer as to how much, because it will probably very. BUT i'm going to shoot you guys a link which many might not quite understand but it's all good. Read the abstract version and understand that the burning process of the corn helps make it potent.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...serid=10&md5=1c4646490bba5300d65ca8d30b41c39b


Anyway i plan on going to HD like now... lol then i have to try to finish working on a car, which i'm not looking forward too, but thats life. If i get a chance i might start pushin my bubbly box, but that might not happen tonight, or if it does it may be around 2 or 3 in the morning.

Hey Switch. I plan to start the bucket boilin' on the 19th. Start seeds on the 21. Put them in the OBBT sometime before the 27th.

Thanks for that article. I'll check it in a bit. Cool of you to post that. I generally like that stuff.

rrog said:

Should be a way to find out how much Potassium is in the ash. More efficient than growing and trying to assess.

Click to expand...

They do sell a cheap test kit to check levels in aquariums. Again that might take some of the fun out of it.
You guys have already done the work involved with this setup. I plan on eventually following what you have done, but first in order to understand it I have to make all the mistakes. It's my way of dealing with being a little slow in the head.
I'm thinking the ash used is chosen not so much for the amount of potassium left behind but rather for what isn't left behind. Burning simply gets rid of what we don't want. It cleans the potassium. A very clean ash would therefore suggest a higher concentration.
My main grow is outside. Being in a hot dry climate, I like growing in a pit rather than raised beds. It also makes it less obvious.
While I have pretty good soil, at 18" down it gets pretty sterile. It takes time to activate. It would be nice to speed up the process as well as have it replenish itself for the next grow. While mine isn't an OBBT grow, your threads, LL and DM as well, put the information I need in one spot.
Being in ground, with the leaching, my quantity of needed materials goes up. Cheapness as well as a desire to recycle my yard waste leads to using what I have. I also think to some extent that native plants while providing their own compost put into the soil what is needed by that particular soil. One has to be careful because some become to concentrated and become toxic to other plants hence my ghetto setup. I want to find out how many ways I can kill a cutting.

I'm testing the system at full air for a couple days. See what busts loose. Looking very sturdy so far. No leaks. Uniseals are great.

Is this possibly too much air? I have yet to lay down the volcanic rock.

This is 960 GPH into 6 air stones. Obviously the 1/4" airline and stones create some resistance. Not sure how much.

Here are a couple of images. Any thoughts before I proceed? I'm inclined to go with it as-is.

Jeeeeesus rrog!

Yea, uhhh, that looks like plenty of air mate, hahahaha!

I've never seen an OBBT suffer from low air-flow and it sure doesn't look like we're gonna find out from yours! I have no idea if that's actually too much, in theory too much flow is pretty hard to get. As long as your medium is super-spongey and doesn't bubble and froth as the air passes through it then there shouldn't be any problems.

This is kindof cool though, we'll get to see if there is any benefit to be had from massive air-flow through the tubs. Since you plan to set your rig up so similarly to mine it should be a good test. My money is on you seeing super-fast fungus development when you go to incubate your tubs, but I'm not sure you'll see much difference otherwise. But shit, who knows!? Looking good, keep it up buddy!

Well hell I'll give it a go then. Thanks for the opinion LadyL.

Rrog,
Where did you get the uniseals?
I just threaded fittings into the buckets with a washer and nut on the inside but I like yours better and I am going to make up 2 or 3 more for the next run.

http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/829/Uniseals

http://www.wernersponds.com/uniseals sizes.htm

http://afishybusiness.com/Plumbing_...Tank_Adapter?zenid=22b4ouno4n1eptg3lrvu37nnt0

Prices vary. These are really the way to go and are significantly better than threaded in my small scale tests. The curve of a bucket make these the best solution.

rrog said:

http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/829/Uniseals

http://www.wernersponds.com/uniseals sizes.htm

http://afishybusiness.com/Plumbing_...Tank_Adapter?zenid=22b4ouno4n1eptg3lrvu37nnt0

Prices vary. These are really the way to go and are significantly better than threaded in my small scale tests. The curve of a bucket make these the best solution.

Click to expand...

Thanks rrog. I am using kitty litter buckets so they are square but I still have small leaks so I want to pick up some uniseals.

Good luck. They kick ass!

rrog said:

Good luck. They kick ass!

Click to expand...

For anybody else looking for them, I found the US distributor: http://www.aussieglobe.com/uniseal3.htm

The 1/2 inch are only 1.49 ea.
I ordered 15, shipping was $6