Marineman's 1st grow journal - 600w Bio buckets

Good morning everyone! Its a great day for growin!

So this is my first full grow, I had two attempts go sour from lack of knowledge. But now i have done all my homework and am on my way to a great crop.

Setup - So the setup is basically a very close approximation to BigTokes bio bucket. I have 6, 5 gal buckets and a 35 gal reservoir. With a 600w digital ballast that currently is not ducted or fanned atm, thats my next project. See picture 1. Also am running a 800 gal/hour mag drive water pump.

Water - Now this i have been thinking about quite a bit lately. I started with using tap water like everyone else. But then i had an idea. What i have been doing is taking snow from outside and then running it through a simple britta filter. I have been using this way to get more pure water. If you have any ideas or comments on this subject, please let me know. Im interested to find out if anyone thinks this is a better way to do it instead of using nasty tap water. And then in the summer my plan is to set up a moisture or some type of rain catcher. Is this overkill? Would tap water be better or the same?

Nutes- I have been using the General Hydro GO pack. Which includes:
(Including Suggested Dosage per gallon)
Week 1
Bio Thrive Grow- 5ml
Bio Thrive Bloom- N/A
CaMG+- 5ml
Bio Root- 5ml
Bio Weed-2.5-5ml
Bio Bud- N/A
Bio Marine- 5-10ml
Diamond Black - 5-10ml

So what i have been doing is running 10% of the suggested dose which for week one would be 25ml for all 5 ml doses and 50ml for 10ml doses. Now that im on week two i have been thinking about going to 20% but not sure if that is too fast and too much. This seems to be working but could or rather should i up this? And how fast?

Now i had a thought when my friend came over to check out my system and the thought was to use dry ice. What i have been doing is buying dry ice from the gas station down the road and i have been putting a good cup of it into the reservoir every morning and the ladies have been loving it! I thought that this would help untill i get the fund-age to buy a CO2 re-leaser. I have also been putting dry ice in the water bottle i use for foliar feeding. And the ladies have really been enjoying that! I could really use some feedback on this subject as i have not heard of any else doing this. Good idea? Please discuss.

Right now im running the ballast at super lumens. It has 50%, 75%, 100% and then super lumens. (125%?)

Im a soil type guy so im just guessing in things i say.

The setup light wise looks great the last pic on the right looks like the plant is overwatered.Is this a flood and drain type setup?how often?I give you props for starting hydro.Years later im still guessing at things in soil.Imo you woulda been better off starting in soil.

Not to say you wont get great results.Im sure you will just mighta been a little easier to get it done with soil and get similar if not better results

.Id think this early in life you could keep the same height and lower the ballast to 250w setting or equivalent.It could save you some cash.As well as lower the heat.I would also think about swapping to a metal halide bulb until flowering.Great setup ill be following and expect to see great things coming!

Thanks bro! As far as the plant looking over watered, that's just because I gave them a huge drink of water mixed with dry ice. What do you think about the dry ice use? And what temp should I lower everything to? Right now the ambient temps are around 70 to 72°F. Another question is what do the res temps need to be during veg and then during flowering? I forget to mention I live in Wisconsin were it's super cold right now. This setup is in my basement and the res is on the floor to keep it nice and cool. Should I get an aquarium heater for flowering?

Also I plan on building a nice stand for the bio buckets this summer. Built from wood the buckets would sit almost flush on the top and have the resevoir be right underneath the buckets and build some doors in for light proofing. Inside i will have an old fish tank for a reservoir. Nice and simple.

One other thing... why do you think I should switch to MH? I was always told to use HPS during veg and the MH for flowering? If you could explain that reasoning that would be great!

Im not experienced with hydroponics at all but can add a little help.After a google search i found anywhere from 65-75 to be the norm for res temp in hydro.

I dont think the dry ice is beneficial now but i could be wrong.

Mh puts out a more natural daylight spectrum which encourages less strech or distance beetween budsites.Hps emits light that is similar to fall with more focus on the red spectrum.If you only have the cash for one bulb go with hps start to finish.

I just put a metal halide lamp in my flowering room and am mixing the spectrums.I have to say after one week i see noticeable results.The metal halide also has more uv which help with trich production.

Hmm. I have just always been told the contrary about when to use both bulbs. I do have both bulbs already so that's not the problem. And if you look at the pictures, you'll notice that I am running two led panels on either side of the main light. I'll have to do a little more digging on which bulb to use when. Oh also I am currently on a 24 on schedule.

Metal Halide Light: Grow Lights featuring metal halide lamps provide high lumens and primarily blue/violet spectral energy for seedling and vegetative growth. Metal halide lamps are available from 2600° Kelvin (increased red spectrum) for enhanced flowering to 6500° Kelvin (higher blue/violet spectrum) for enhanced vegetative growth.

hPS Light: Grow Light systems featuring high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps provide high lumens and primarily red spectral energy for growth during a plants budding, flowering and fruiting stages. HPS lamps are available from 2000° Kelvin (red spectrum) to 3000° Kelvin (enhanced blue spectrum).

I guess you could have got the two mixed up.So much reading combined with too much toking does it to me.

they even make a dual arc bulb that put off hps and metal halide!Also research ceramic metal halide which puts out the most natural spectrum.

You're right. Got em mixed up. MH are currently in. I did lower the ballast to 75% and moved the light itself down a bit.

As far as the dry ice goes, how could it not help? It infuses the water with carbon dioxide. Ever since I started adding a cup every morning, i have really noticed a difference. Like i said i also add a little dry ice to the water i use to foliar feed, and misting the ladies with that water about 3 times a day. I haved noticed a noost in growth and color. It essentially turn you water into soda water which I've heard good things about adding to your res. It just seems like a good alternative to a CO2 machine until I can afford it.

I have also purchased a small plug in negative ion generator. It has really helped since this is a basement with no outside ventilation. Although I do have 2 fans, 1 oscillating. I am seriously considering buying a large unit with a built in UV light. They help to turn your stale inside air, into fresh air. They also help against molds, dust etc.

For the record I went to 20% on the nutes of the suggested usage of my GO nutes.

Also let me know if there's anything you might need a closer pic of.

One last thing I was concerned about was the adding of trace nutes to my current ones. Is that something we could discuss?

If you are noticing a difference then by all means keep doing it.I am beggining to read the plants and this is all its really about.Providing enough but never too much.

marine im not the best one to ask about or discuss nutes related to hydro.I guess i grow pseudo organic.I start with fox farm soil then add some mykos and worm castings.I dont add anything but water until i flower 4-6 weeks.First week in 12/12 i use a jamaican guano tea or botanicare pro bloom with liquid karma at full strength.Everytime i water i add the botanicare pro bloom with the liquid karma or a guano tea.I dont ph my water,I only add straight water the last week in bloom.

This method works,many organic nuts would say its not organic.On another note botanicare pro bloom is available for hydroponics.Not sure how organic my method is really but it works without guess work with any strain ive grown everytime.And the smoke tastes great!!

simple is a good place to start bro

simple is a good place to start bro

how come you guys are wasting energy talking about lighting,,,that's beginner stuff, co2 too...obviously you don't fully understand bio buckets if your only comments have nothing to do with bio buckets....bio buckets is a simple to run advanced recirculating dwc system. ive been growing indoor for years and these biobuckets are tricky.Bio buckets are basically aquaponics without the fish...ive used many organic nutes and they all can work except maybe earth juice,,,stuff smells too funky...but you can use pure blend pro and yeid as much as using chem nutes with this bio system,,it makes organic hydroponics not only plausible but easy

your making it too hard...lay off the dry ice you don't need it,,,also this system boosts yeids enough that co2 isn't necessary..I cant make sense of how you ran your drains...your not using gravity?thats how bio buckets work,,,with an unrestricted return line set at a slight incline...

.best to start with a contant flow bio drip system with lava rock medium...just use a drip tray and make the drain big (I use a shower drain) this is my big tray for flowering and I just made a foam lid and cut holes in it for the pots...by the end of flower the whole tray is full of roots....I been starting in riot rooters and peat pellets...after rooted well I put them in 6" net baskets in red lavarock and veg for 1-2 weeks in small drip tray made from a germination tray with net pots pushed close togeather so I can veg with compact flourescents.then into flower in the big drip tray...oh yeah and the rez is in the middle under the table,,,let the water fall 12" directly into the rez....im just topping off the water by hand every few day instead of using the float valve.im using pure blend pro and liquid karma and 200ppm shitty RO water,,,,never check my ph....I use no co2 in the room and just constantly pump outside air into the room.also drip manifolds are as easy to make as plugging the end on a short 3/4 hose hooked up to your water pump then just drill tight(3/16ish) holes and jam your drip lines into the hole in the tube....then run line to plants and tie them to the net pots so they don't accidentally move and drain out your rez onto the floor(ive done it,,,more times then id bear to say)
bio is not the worst place to start but there are just a lot of parts to biobuckets...my bio drip table works great and gets me at least an lb under a six hundred with only a week of veg...my method is better for small plants or sea of green....once you get the hang of it its easier then soil....I get the same growth in 1 week of veg that I get in 2-3 week in foxfarm ocean forest soil. and buds swell nice and thick and its mostly organic so tastes awesome with all the bio benificials...
.for now id say put your buckets on stands so they can drain into the side of your rez like big toke....they need to drain freely and waterfall at least 5" from my experience

ill make sure to stop by again soon so post an update for us and feel free to ask me questions...feel like a bio encyclopedia lately

I was upfront about not knowing dick about hydro.Hes starting from the bottom.

I agree metal halide and hps bulb difference is a first read.I wouldnt say we have wasted time!Hell thats all i do on these forums is waste time!!

Great comments hippie i just jumped in and tried to help the guy out.Im not the most technical guy.But im sure i gave good advice.I dont pretend to know anything about hydroponics or botany.The way i do things work for me consistently hopefully with your help he can get the bio buckets dialed in.Good night to everyone,it time for me to roll up!!

Thanks for the input hippie. To answer some of your questions, please remember that this is my first ever full grow. Hence the 1st grow in the title. Second my buckets are elevated properly above the res and has about a foot of waterfall. I may be somewhat new to this but I have done the homework. And maybe the reason no comments here are about the bio buckets themselves is because that part I understand pretty well. It's the other factors that I'm having trouble with. Let me know if there is a certain component of the system you would like a closer look at and I can snap a few pics.

hippie, I'm more interested in what you think of my system for water filtration? Overkill?

thanks to you both for contributing to my success.

1. Dry Ice (which is frozen C02) may lower PH in your system,
maybe it's why your plant seam like it.
2. Plant eat C02 by stomata and they are located under the leaf.
3. I.m.o.h. only 1 fan is required in this setup and have to blow
air gently over canopee .
4. Use batwing instead of cooltube (if air cooling not in use)no glass more light.
5. Did i see air pump on the side of the rez?If yes, raise them above water level ,by the way they are useless in this kind of system.
6. Everybody have started somewhere

Do you use meter for PH/PPM ?

Hey thanks for stopping in man. Yes I do have a ph reader. I also have a better one that checks tds/ppm/en but I broke one of the probes little glass pieces and just need to get a replacement one.

Hey guys just wanted to stop in and give a quick update. Three new photos. Had a small set back, added a bit too much of nutes in at 20%. Had a small amount of note burn. As soon as I noticed I flushed with filtered snow water. And everything is back to normal.

I stopped using dry ice as that could get spend quick. But I have been using an old soda stream that socks so never used until now. When ever I mist the plans with filtered snow water, i run the water thru the soda stream to carbonate the water, turning to soda water, which the ladies seem to absolutely love! Remember I don't currently have any outside air coming in the basement or is my 600w cool tube ducted or fanned YET. Also am using a small ozone or O3 generator.

I could use some help as how to figure how much nutes my plants are using. Same with fresh water usage. Also at what node do you begin topping? I've been told to top the 5th. Correct? No?

Thanks for all the great info and help throughout this thread. Getting nice in size.

Sway~

Notes: temp at plant height is 72 F and 25-30% humidity. 5.8ph.

hey all just wanted to add a quick note. The ladies I'm currently growing are feminine white widow. Have had the lights running at 75%. ( 100% on the ballast )
I have to keep it a little higher to hit that 71, 72 F mark. remember its in my basement.

Hey all! It's been a few weeks since I have been able to post an update but here it is. If you notice on the new pics, the 4 outside plants are doing great, but I did get some slight bleaching on the two inside plants. I believe this to have been from a little overheating. So I backed of the lights a little and turned the ballast to 75%, down from 100%. PH is still steady at 5.8, haven't had to adjust it for about 3 weeks.

I did pick up a new tds meter, and this is were I could use a little help. I'm not real sure what ppm I should be running at this current stage. Current ppm is about 400. Any help on that would be very helpful. And updates will be a bit more regimented from now on. Thanks guys.

Also one quick note, and I'm sure I might catch some flaming from it. But if it helps another new like me avoid it, I feel I must say it. I'm using 6 inch rock wool cubes, and didn't know you were supposed to remove the plastic that comes on the side of them. That's why my ladies aren't the size they should be. But I removed it from all of the blocks before I left for vacation for a week, and when I returned, my ladies had doubled in size.

On a side note, aqua ponies have really caught my eye. So I'm setting up my old 35 gal fish tank in anticipation of my next grow. Would be amazing if I could get away without using any fertilizers and get a symbiotic thang goin on.