DIY CFL Bubbleponics Grow Cab

MataGrowa

MataGrowa

Well-Known Member
Ok first time grower here. I'd like to start out by thanking all of the bubbleheads, especially Roseman, for all of the knowledge shared. After reading and following https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/234626-rosemans-diy-bubbleponics-tutorial.html and much more for the last couple of months I am almost ready to start my first grow. I have attached lots of pics. The cabs interior is 50" tall by 30" wide by 21" deep, painted entirely flat white.

For lighting I made a DIY CFL light out of pvc and metal flashing hanging from a chain for easy movement. I have eight 42 watt cfl's, starting with six 5100's and two 2700's and then going to the opposite. I will have a better pic of the light soon. I will also have 2 clamp reflectors with Y splitters and two 42 watt cfl's in each for side lighting for a total of 504 watts total when at max.

For Ventilation I have an 80mm pc fan for intake blowing through pvc and onto the plants. For exhaust I have a 120 mm pc fan blowing out through a DIY carbon filter. I went with a bigger Exhaust than Intake so that my air leaks around the doors will become passive intakes.

And for my girls I have a 10 gallon sterilite tote, six 3" net pots, a 66gph submersible pump attached to a 6 port drip manifold, two 12" airstones attached to an air pump, rockwool and hydroton.

The seeds I ordered from attitude seed bank through a walmart prepaid visa and recieved my full correct order 7 days later. I ordered two Barneys farm feminized seeds 5 packs. Sweet Tooth and Morning Glory. Here are the links. http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/barneys-sweet-tooth-feminized/prod_1257.html and http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/barneys-farm-seeds/barneys-farm-regular-seeds/barneys-farm-morning-glory/prod_353.html. They sent three free seeds, Dinafem Moby Dick, Dinafem Blue Haze and DNA Fem Hashplant Haze. For my first try I am going to grow 2 each of the Barneys seeds, and the Dinafem Moby Dick and Blue Haze.

I am currently running a test with the whole setup in place minus the hydroton, rockwool and of course seeds, and so far everything looks pretty good. The temp In the cab is running about 85 but I can bring that down some by lowering the temp in that room and the water temp I don't know as I haven't picked up my submersible thermometer yet but it actually feels very cool so I feel good about that. I plan to pick up ph up and down, a ph meter and the submersible thermometer in the next day or two and then I believe I am ready to go.

So should I just post my grow here or would it be more appropriate to post it in the grow journal section? I am thinking I would be better off here where all the bubbleheads seem to hang out.
 

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volcomrider157

volcomrider157

Well-Known Member
hey man that looks great; and mad props on that sweeto reflector you made there you and me are like on the same damn page right now I just dropped my seeds in the rockwool about an hour ago. but yea tell us about that manifold you're runnin there...does it have pressure regulator valves? or is the pump small enough that by the time you split it 6 ways its just a trickle anyway. I'll be following along with you as we are about at the same stages feel free to stop by and check out my gig if you see it floating around in the forum "Will this work!?(Bubbleponics)"
 
Lt Shiny Sides

Lt Shiny Sides

Well-Known Member
Everything looks great man. Nice setup. You should just use this thread as your journal so that all the DWC/Bubbleponics growers can find your thread easily. I'll be here to follow along. GOOD LUCK!
 
FryingPanFlyer

FryingPanFlyer

Active Member
Man, your set up looks great, I'm impressed with the ventilation piping!

One comment though, this bubbleponics set up really works! I've got a grow going with 6 plants in a 30" x 48" closet, it's stuffed already and I just went to flower last Sturday! 6 plants are really too big for my space, but it's fun to look at them in there.

Good luck, I'll be following along!
 
MataGrowa

MataGrowa

Well-Known Member
Thanks for all the encouragement guys I really appreciate and thanks to Roseman and Lt Shiny for the plus reps. The hub was an ecoplus air manifold http://www.growwurks.com/air-manifolds.aspx, but as Roseman probably suspected it was letting a stream thru instead of a drip. That was from the part of the system I bought off Ebay. It was the tub, the pump, the hub, twelve 1 1/2" Rockwool cubes, a good amount of hydroton and the 3" net pots and the tubing for $50. I know I could of saved half that but I didn't want to fool with the holes in the lid. Anyway I replaced the hub with a DIG 6 port drip emitter which I have pictured.

I have a question about the thermometer/hygrometer I have pictured. I've seen a bunch of people on here using what i thought was the same model but I can't figure out how to get an actual humidity % instead of just a LO or HI reading. I probably have the cheaper model, if so I'll just return it and get the other one.

So I went to the Hydro shop today and I got GH nutes, PH Down, a TDS meter, Azatrol and a ph test kit (all pictured). They didn't have a ph meter under $70 and I was looking at something more like the Hanna ph checker which is around $35 so I got the test kit which from what I've read will be fine. It was the first I have heard of Azatrol but it is supposed to kill any kinds of bug or worm before they become a problem. It was $12 for the two bottles which are supposed to be used the first and third weeks of full nutes.

Well I feel like I'm ready start. Right now my plan is to get everything clean and ready one last time. Clean off the hydroton by straining it till the water comes thru clear. Then I will soak the Hydroton and Rockwool in 5.0 ph water for 4 hours. Then I will ph balance what I believe will be about 7 gallons of water (I plan to leave the water level 1" below the bottom of the netpots) to a ph of 6.0. Then I will put the Hydroton and Rockwool in the pots turn the system on and as of now my plan is to take the seeds right out of their packages and put them in the soaked Rockwool. I believe this is what Roseman said he was going to do next grow. Please correct me if I am wrong. Now the guys at the hydro shop brought up a couple of issues with this. First my water seems to be running quite cool. Should it be warm until my seeds sprout? Second should I have some kind of dome over my tub at this point to keep it super humid under the dome?
 

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Lt Shiny Sides

Lt Shiny Sides

Well-Known Member
You seem to have answered most of your questions on your own LOL. I would recommend at least soaking the seeds in a bowl of lukewarm water for 24 hours before putting them in the rockwool. Yes, you should put some sort of dome of the seedlings to give them that high humidity that they love. Plastic bottles, cut in half, work well if you have nothing else. As for the Thermometer/Hygrometer, I have seen many other people using the same one, but I have no idea how to use it...didn't it come with an instruction booklet?
 
MataGrowa

MataGrowa

Well-Known Member
Well thanks for the quick response Lt. I just hope i gave myself the right answers. I will definately consider soaking the seeds first, I am on the fence on that one. I think I threw away the instruction booklet for the thermometer. I believe the thought process was there's 4 buttons what do I need an instruction booklet for?
 
FryingPanFlyer

FryingPanFlyer

Active Member
MataGrowa said:
Well thanks for the quick response Lt. I just hope i gave myself the right answers. I will definately consider soaking the seeds first, I am on the fence on that one. I think I threw away the instruction booklet for the thermometer. I believe the thought process was there's 4 buttons what do I need an instruction booklet for?
Click to expand...
Is that the thought process before or after partaking in your favorite herb?
 
FryingPanFlyer

FryingPanFlyer

Active Member
Lt Shiny Sides said:
You seem to have answered most of your questions on your own LOL. I would recommend at least soaking the seeds in a bowl of lukewarm water for 24 hours before putting them in the rockwool. Yes, you should put some sort of dome of the seedlings to give them that high humidity that they love. Plastic bottles, cut in half, work well if you have nothing else. As for the Thermometer/Hygrometer, I have seen many other people using the same one, but I have no idea how to use it...didn't it come with an instruction booklet?
Click to expand...
For a germinating dome I use the plastic container I get when I buy prepared foods at the grocery store, I like the price point, free! Here's a pic of some seeds I'm starting for a neighbor, I lent him the starting container. I'll attach a pic of the container.
 

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MataGrowa

MataGrowa

Well-Known Member
FryingPanFlyer said:
For a germinating dome I use the plastic container I get when I buy prepared foods at the grocery store, I like the price point, free! Here's a pic of some seeds I'm starting for a neighbor, I lent him the starting container. I'll attach a pic of the container.
Click to expand...
Nice, I like that a lot. I think I am going to use that.

Couple of questions.

Did you soak the seeds before putting them in the rockwool?

How long before you put them in the system?

How warm should I keep the tray?
 
Mr. Nugs

Mr. Nugs

Member
Looks like you're off to a good start Mata. Just soak those babies in a wet paper towel with some distilled water cover them up and put them on something like a dvd player and turn it on to keep them warm. They will crack in a day or so. Once the taproot comes out its time to put it in the rockwool with the taproot DOWN. Cover it up. Then you wait... Once they pop out the rockwool, turn the lights on. No sweat.
Subbed btw.
 
MataGrowa

MataGrowa

Well-Known Member
OK I have the seeds soaking in some lukewarm water. I am going to soak them overnight. I have them sitting on top of the cab with the light on inside the cab. No light is getting to the seeds but the top of the cab is warm from the light inside being on without the ventilation running. The pump and airstones I will soak overnight in some water ph balanced to about 6.0. I will fill the tub and balance that water to around 6.0 tonight as well and then let it run overnight. The rockwool cubes I will soak overnight in water ph balanced to around 5.0. Tomorrow I will put the seeds in the rockwool in the cups with hydroton. I have attached a few pics. I have the new hub all setup. The drain i added to the res and the mugs on top of the cab the seeds are soaking in there right now.
 

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MataGrowa

MataGrowa

Well-Known Member
Everything seemed to go well so far. All the seeds popped while soaking overnight in some lukewarm water, exposing little taproots. I placed them all in the rockwool cubes and into the system following Roseman's steps as closely as possible. Now I will wait to see something happen.
 

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MataGrowa

MataGrowa

Well-Known Member
12/13
Everything seems to be going well. All the seeds have a nice taproot that is thickening and shooting its way down through the rockwool.

I checked the water today and after two days it had gone from about 6.0 to about 6.5 which seems very reasonable. I added a half gallon of 5.0 ph water to the res and then took a half gallon out. I rechecked the ph and it was back to the 6.0 range.

Hopefully another day or two and I will see 6 sprouts and move to the next stage.

I included the best pic I could. Hopefully pretty soon I wont need to zoom that much to see the girls. The seed in the pic is Abigail a Barney's Farm Sweet Tooth.
 

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MataGrowa

MataGrowa

Well-Known Member
Seeds started soaking on 12/11 and all popped within 24 hours. On 12/12 The seeds went into the system and today 12/14 I have four sprouts. One of the other seeds looks like it is definately about to sprout. The sixth seed was actually the first to pop while soaking but now seems to have fallen behind the rest but I will stay patient with it. Anyway I am going to put the lights on later today. Here are some pics of the sprouts
 

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MataGrowa

MataGrowa

Well-Known Member
Lights are on.

I have eight 42w CFL's on right now. 6 are 5100k and 2 are 2700k. I have the lights a couple feet above the little sprouts right now. I will most likely lower them little by little over the next few days until they are just inches from the tops.
 

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MataGrowa

MataGrowa

Well-Known Member
Everything seems to be going well for 5 of my girls. This is there fourth day in the system.

They have all shed their seed and they all have one set of true leaves.

They are about an inch and a half tall and I saw a single root growing down from the bottom of two of the netpots.

The sixth seed appears to be dead. I don't believe there is anything going on with that seed at all. I will wait a couple more days before pulling that pot completely, covering the hole and just rolling with the 5 plants.

These pics are not the best detail but you can get an idea. Perhaps I can get my wife to photograph them all later.

 

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