Pipedream"s 150w Tiny Bubbler System

[treehugger]

ooh and im gonna go buy me one of those siphons...that otta make changing out my 20 gal res' a breeze!

 

[treehugger]

went with a drill-powered siphon instead. havnt used it yet.

it has hose outlets on both sides and cost $8.00 usd. ive been using irrigation pumps to drain res but it leaves like 4" of water. i think this will be a good alternative.

 

[Pipedream]

treehugger - Welcome aboard. As far as pest control goes, I'm with you on the neem oil. I also use some tea/tobbacco/soap solution as well. However, when things have gotten a bit to "much" in the past, I have used the "Safer Miticide" made for veggie gardens, and "No Pest Strips" as well. With either of these products (and any other chemical as well) if you use it within a week of harvest, be sure to allow your finished buds plenty of time to air-dry in an open area.

 

[Phantom594]

Hi pipedream ive been lurking around the forums for probably a year and ive finally mustered up the courage and the funds to start something special, as well as hopefully become an active poster on the site. Ive read this thread probably a dozen times and Firstly id like to say you are a god among mere mortals haha. Second i had a couple of questions with your setup, i apologize in advance for sounding stupid but im not that handy with tools and im trying to learn how you guys build some of your stuff. How did you make the airvalves on your manifold? Did you drill holes in the pvc pipe or did you find a plastic pipe with airvalves already on it? Im worried when i try to mimic your air delivery system it wont be air tight. Also i feel really dumb for asking this but when you top off your buckets do you pour water in through the top of the net pot? Or do you take the lid off and pour it in that way?

 

[Pipedream]

Good Morning, Phantom594 - well it is where I am a least. Glad to have you along for the ride.

First off, the air valves are cheap plastic items I bought from the local Aquarium store. Here's a link to the manufacturers website for reference...http://www.twolittlefishies.com/tlf_prod_access.html?lang_id=1 Now as far as the manifold goes, its just $4 worth of PVC parts from Home DePot. The valves have two different ends, one is a push-on fitting for airhose, and the other is a screw thread. I just used a drill bit a hair smaller than the size of the screw thread to drill the holes in the PVC pipe and just screwed them in. It was a nice tight fit, so I didn't even use any glue or sealer. One more thing on the valves.... I recently bought a few more to build a small set-up for a friend. When I got them home, I noticed that they had the screw thread on both sides. I was worried about attaching the airhose. However, it really didn't matter. It turns out that the screw threads are the perfect size to push the hose onto and they work fine. Last thing on this subject...When you drill out the PVC, make sure you clean out the inside PERFECTLY. If you leave any drill shavings inside, they will find their way into your airvalves and block them up.

As far the watering goes, if I'm just topping off with plain water, it goes right thru the stones on the top. If I'm adding nutes however, I take the whole top off so I can take measurements with my TDS or PH meters, so the new liquid goes in that way. This also gives me the opportunity to inspect the root system, how the airstone is functioning, and check for excessive sediment in the bucket.

Always glad to answer any questions folks may have so feel free to post away.

Regards & Thanks for the kind words. PD

 

[DownDrome]

Yo Pipedream .
I'm also no way near getting my shit together, but when I do I want it pretty much like yours, or whatever I can muster, first thing i got to get me some furnature and then design around it. Do you think it would be too much fuss if your cab had a wee mother cab in there too ? I got an apartment see, and a lonly weed plant near the cill is suspishious to say the least.

bloody tight cab mate, good luck!
Peace

 

[Pipedream]

DownDrome - No, its fairly easy to section off part of the box and make a small veg chamber. If you check out the "Microgrow" thread or the "150w HPS Club" thread, you'll likely see several examples set up just that way. And most of them are in a cabinet much smaller than mine. So if size and security are a concern, you can still have a great set-up.

 

[Phantom594]

Hey pipe i had a bio question for you, i hear a lot of people talking about beneficial bacteria and harmful bacteria, do you see any problem with H202 killing both harmful and beneficial bacteria? As opposed to using the products that just "kill bad bacteria." Like you im attempting to save money and H202 is much cheaper than the hydro products...

thanks for your help.

 

[Pipedream]

I too have heard about it, thought about it, and discussed it with the "experts" at the local university greenhouse that I sometimes frequent. Yes, I know it could happen. In fact, I have a koi pond in my yard and its filtration system is a living bio-mass of beneficial bacteria. Their main purpose is to turn the amonia produced by the fish into harmless nitrates which then in turn support the plant life. Of course, this is a 5000 gallon system in which the water remains in place for years, not days.

My feeling is this, in my type system with only a gallon of liquid present and it being consumed every few days, little if any beneficial bacteria exist, and, there is even less of a source of amonia to worry about. The plants don't need the additional nitrates as we are already forcing them to consume as much as they possibly can with our tailored nutes. On the other hand, if I were to go to a system with a reservior in which large quantities of water were to remain for extended periods of time, I might re-think my position.

As things stand now, I've been operating this system for many years, often using H2O2, and never seeing any negative results.

 

[Phantom594]

Noted, thanks. An expert perpetual grow setup and a koi pond in your yard? You sir, know how to live and relax. Ive heard people talk about allowing a 24 hr. dark cycle prior to harvest or switching from 18/6 to 12/12 and this and that but you seem to be doing swimmingly without any changes in your light schedule. I ask because i have just enough space in my cab to have two DWC Scrogs running, i wanted them to be staggered and i wanted to use a scrog because i inherited a 4x4x8 tent and a 1000W HPS and i was afraid that w/o a net they would explode into the ceiling when they stretched lol. But given the setup it seems that if i stagger i wont be able to give a dark cycle w/o moving a nearly fully matured plant into another room which would totally compromise my odor control and that is of the utmost importance to me. What is your opinion on the matter?

-Phantom

 

[Pipedream]

I'm 100% for the dark period prior to harvest if it can be done. In fact, each plant is removed from the box prior to being chopped and placed in total darkness for a full 48 hours or even a drop more. During this period they are in plain water with a small single airpump keeping them happy. They're usually just in my basement, but they have been in a closet or the garage when it was necessary.

As far as the light cycle goes, I only use 24/0 & 12/12. They seem to work the best for me. However, when changing from one to the other I will do it in three steps a few days apart if I can. This helps to greatly reduce the stretch. In spite of all my efforts, I have had crops overgrow my vertical space.

Here are some that shot up past the HPS so I had to put in a couple of CFL's to keep them happy.




Of course all of this comes from a 150w grower. I have little experience with high-wattage systems in the 600-1000 range.

 

[herb weedmen]

yes very nice set up..i am new here but found this site threw the cc mag site..i am amazzed at all the greast stuff to learn here..i am starting a closet not much bigger then your cab and am planning on using the bubbler for this .400w mh and a mommy cab made from rubbermaid w/ cfl's..i am also intrested in the constante grow..i would love to leave the drug dealers out of my life and just depend on my own thing..i have medical troubles and found the weed i loved so much is the best meds i can use..i guess what i wanted to ask was is it possible to use a gravity fed system to feed my nutes to this type of system..when i say gravity fed i mean there would be a tube to carry nutes to the bucket from my rezavor and the tube would set just below the water surface and as the water level go's down below the level of the hose tip it would cause it to fill back up ...

and as the roots grow ,the tube could be lowerd to the level needed to maintain a proper depth from the netpot..

thanks for any replys..

great site .

herb weedmen

 

[Pipedream]

Herb - Yes it can be done, but you'll likely need a bit more space for the reservoir and other equipment. The easiest way to accomplish what you want to do is this....

Connect all of the buckets at the bottom with tubing, this will assure that they are all at the same level. Then the first bucket must be designated as the control bucket. Water flow into this bucket is controlled by way of an adjustable float valve. You can also just use an additional container to act as the contol. This is a good method as it keeps the rootsd away from the valve mechinisim. The control bucket must stand at the exact same level as the growing buckets. Now just hook your elevated reservoir to the input of your control bucket and you are good to go.

This works well if all your plants are at the same stage of growth and therefore require the same strength nutes. However, if you are planning on having plants in various stages of growth, it may not be optimum.

 

[herb weedmen]

thanks pd..i am keeping the rez in another area outside my closet for temp control reasons..i have a couple of large containers that came from an old humiditfier and there are valve fittings on there like you discribed...

i am hoping to have a mommy or 2 growing in a rubbermaid cabnet i am building..i'll run fans and a bubbler in there with cfl's for lites..i'll feed this by hand at first but am hoping to put it all together so both areas are gravitie fed...

thanks again and any help i am always greatful for...



herb weedmen

 

[Phantom594]

Hey pipe someone told me that lava rocks serve the same function and purpose as hydroton, is this true?

 

[Pipedream]

Folks do use them as they are light and porus. However, being a natural subatance they are not as absorbant and therefore don't have the same wicking properties. That being said, you are going to use them to anchor the upper roots of an established plant they work fine.

 

[stoney419]

what do you mean whe you switch you do it in three steps maybe i read it wrong just curious thanks man

 

[Pipedream]

24/0 during veg, then
20/4 for two days (step #1)
16/8 for two days (step #2)
12/12 till harvest (step #3)

if I'm really ambitious I'll do three hour steps instead of four and add another two days.

 

[stoney419]

24/0 during veg, then
20/4 for two days (step #1)
16/8 for two days (step #2)
12/12 till harvest (step #3)

if I'm really ambitious I'll do three hour steps instead of four and add another two days.

does it seem to help i just never heard of this but it makes since like outside
thanks for explaining it

 

[Pipedream]

With pure Sativas, it does help to limit the stretch a bit.
The other thing I do is: try to keep the temps during the light and dark periods as close as possible.
This keeps the internodal lengths tight as well.