[BigToke]

You would mix your nutrient solution to the total amount of volume in the system, that means: reservoir plus buckets!! If your using GH (DO NOT) add the total amount of what the label says per gallon, it’s to high!! I start out adding small amounts until the total ppm’s are at 400, then I let that circulate for two weeks before I put my clones in.

[Kaus]

Well done Big Toke.. Hurtback would be mighty proud of your informative thread about his style of growing.. If I could K+ to you.
-Kaus

-=- For the disbelievers back before Hurt left OG I was part of the new BioBucket system and it works fantastic
Beneficial Bacteria From a Old GRow


RootBall


My Old Setup

Sorry for the Hyjack.. Back To your Normally scheduled growing

[BigToke]

Kaus – I remember you from way back in the day bro, good to see an old veteran at this system………yes it is true that I have used a lot of HurtBacks original design, (no need in trying to reinvent the wheel) I used every thing that I could from his design and then made a few modifications of my own, therefore I feel like that I’ve been beneficial in improving the system for folks like me who desire to go big-time, but for folks who like to keep it small then that type of design works great……..anyways it’s good to see ya Kaus and btw are you still growing in the Bio-Buckets? I know that you had some trouble at first so I was wounding if you’ve got everything worked out?

[Kaus]

I did and no i dont.. Ive considered redoing it as a Farmer John setup close to what you have except PVC pipeing in the middle for the return to a large res.

[BigToke]

Sounds very interesting, I wound like to see that maybe some day when you’ve finished it you can show me.

[tokinsmokin]

thanks for all this info Bigtoke, your version of the Bio Buckets is much more refined than hurtback's, i used both threads to build mine. You said to use a 1 5/16ths hole saw for the coupler and hurtback says 1 3/8ths and i couldn't find either one any where? well i revised and went with a 1 1/4 in. and used my dremel to widen the hole which worked well, but became somewhat loose do you think it will leak with the glue gun and silicone?

Thanks for your time big toke great thread, and I will have pics of my room soon with the bio buckets setup for a 4 bucket system with a 1000 watt cool sun system.

[BigToke]

Sounds like your working on a great little system and as for the hot-glue, all you need to do is make sure that you have hot-glued the inside and out of the bucket to at lest ½ beyond your hole, and then used some silicone to wipe around it after the hot-glue has dried and you should be just fine………in order to establish a good Bacterium filed in the system your going to have to let the system run 24/7, it really depends on the type of water that your using in your system as to how long you need to let it set, as a rule of thumb if your using RO-Water one week would be enough, but if your using Tap-Water I would recommend two weeks under most conditions, and there has been some cases that I have only went one week and did just fin, but you now what they say “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!!” so just check the water to see if it has the slick-film to it and you’ll be just fine.

kudos bigtoke thanks for taking this to the next level

being that heat increases biological activity do you think it would be possible to run the system at a higher temps (before plants are inserted) to 80-85 to get the system colonized faster?

I've just built a mini biobucket 2 gallons with a 1 gallon res that I am going to try using for germinating seeds, the seeds will sit in mesh cups in the res side so I can germ multiple strains and I put an aquarium heater in the bucket side to bring the water temps up, was also thinking of harvesting some rainwater for the little system since it is in abundance right now

I also have a 30 gallon garbage can with a 5 gallon bucket drilled and filled with lava rock as my net pot that I've made specifically for a mother, I have a 1250 little giant pump lying around that I'll use, I've ran it constant in a res before and it warmed the water up a bit but not past 70, hoping to get a 'little shop of horrors' type effect

also just had another idea and I'm not even stoned yet, how about a biobucket res system for soil growers, for instance take a 55 gal drum or 2 and pop in a 5 gal 'net pot' and a smaller tub to catch the waterfall and recirculate, anyways what I was envisioning was to have a biological res and one would add ferts and mix their ppm up in the system and let it be for a day to brew and then use about half of the liquid to feed the plants, and then immediately top up the water level back up, I might try it on some outdoor plants

1) If a soil grower is doing everything they should, beneficial bacteria is already present in the soil. The whole point of bio-buckets is to replace the soil ecosystem that is missing in hydro. I think using a biofield in a mixing reservoir for a soil grow is just unnecessary work.

2) As for heat, I believe Bigtoke has said repeatedly not to allow your reservoir temps to get above 80 degrees F. 85 F runs the risk off frying all of your beneficial bacteria, not to mention I believe warmer temps will decrease the amount of dissolved oxygen.

3) Gathering rainwater can be an ecologically sound method of getting water but keep a few things in mind. If the rainwater collected is runoff from your roof, are you sure that there are no chemicals in your roofing that could be leaching into the water? How is the water stored after collection? It should be in a light proof, airtight container to prevent insect and algae growth. If you ask me, rainwater collection should be reserved only for use in outdoor gardens and livestock, water is too cheap to run the risk of contamination in human consumption.

Hopes this helps, keep brainstorming and coming up with new ideas, it's how we all learn and progress.

BigToke, got a question for you. I noticed the first few amber hairs on my NL5xHaze today. My last grow was just bagseed and I didn't flush with straight water for the last week prior to harvest like some people say. Since this is such better genetics, I want to do everything right. Do you recommend running straight water for the last week, or just leave everything alone until harvest. Also, do you recommend 24 hours of darkness prior to cutting, cutting at the end of lights on, at the end of lights off, or does any of this really matter? Thanks for your help.