A Guide to Building and Operating Bubblers

[MU]

erm, dunno for sure mate, as ive not personally used soaker hose, but i have heard from other people who have used it that its the dogs dangly bits.

i plan to try out soaker hose later this year.

[Guest Ludacris2004]

im about to order 8x 12" aqua fizz stones but dunno now been reading about that soaker hose im in two minds think i might just risk it and get some soaker hose?and do i need the 4mm soaker hose?

Edited May 17, 2005 by Ludacris2004

[MU]

yeah, its 4mm micro soaker hose you want.

its supposed to give more bubbles for less air pressure.

other respected hydro growers say its good, so i plan to try it myself.

good luck!

[Guest Ludacris2004]

ill be ordering tomorrow cant wait to try ill post results is the one by hoselock any good ill add a link

at top of page this the one ???

Edited May 17, 2005 by Ludacris2004

[MU]

yeah, hoselock is what im planning on usng too.

let us know how it goes, mate.

[Guest Ludacris2004]

just ordered it i will ill try get some pics aswell

[MU]

groovy!

[MU]

for completeness, and for my own future reference, i have found this post on the lucas formula, by hydrorascal at cannabisworld.

This is courtesy of .... Snaps_Provolone

General Hydroponics Flora Series Feeding Strategy - Lucas Formula

G-M-B (Grow-Micro-Bloom)

0-5-10 - For Vegitative cycle (18/6)

0-8-16 - For Flowering cycle (12/12)

The numbers indicate the number of mililiters of Grow, Micro or Bloom formulas that I use in one gallon (US Liquid) of nutrients.

You will notice I don't use any of the Grow formula, don't need to, the Micro provides plenty of Nitrogen.

There are two ways to work with this formula:

1. Top off the reservoir daily using a pH corrected water solution as required to maintain full reservoir level. After adding back an amount of water equal to the amount of your reservoir capacity you should change the reservoir and put in fresh solution.

2. Top off the reservoir daily using a pH corrected 100% strength nutrient solution as required to maintain full reservoir level. Continue to use this nutrient solution without dumping the tank unless the PPM rises above acceptable levels.

Between vegitative and flowering cycles you should dump your nutrients, then flush (possibly with Clearex) to remove salt buildups, then change to the other feeding program.

For young plants, just transplanted into the hydro setup, give them 50% strength nutrient mix to prevent overfeeding them while their young. Gradually bring up the mix to full strength as they grow over the next few weeks or so.

The lucas formula is normally intended for use with RO or near 0 PPM water.

NOTE: The lucas formula eliminates the need for epsom salts to correct Mg deficiendies in most normal feeding programs recomended by manufacturers. Cannabis needs a lot of Magnesium to thrive. The Flora Micro is providing the Nitrogen and the Mg in the proper balance, thus there is no need for the Grow formula and little or no room under the 'acceptable' PPM limit of 1600 @ 0.7 conversion.

Expected PPM levels:

At .5 conversion:

0-4-8 = 473ppm

0-5-10 = 592ppm

0-8-16 = 947ppm

At .7 conversion:

0-4-8 = 663ppm

0-5-10 = 829ppm

0-8-16 = 1326ppm

Addback Calculator (For Advanced Users)

Say you were running the 0-8-16 formula, at .7 conversion with a 22 gallon res. When you first fill it up, your ppm will be 1330.

Now you have been growing for a week, and some of the water has been taken up by the plants, some has evaporated, and now your res is at 947ppm. You need to get your ppm from 947 to 1330. Here is the equation:

((target-current)/target)*8 mil's per gallon*res gallons = micro double this figure to get bloom mil's

Example:

((1330-947)/1330)*8*22

(383/1330)*8*22

0.3*8*22 = 53 mil's micro

53 mil's micro double that and get 106mils bloom. So 53micro and 106bloom to add back to your 22 gallon res to get you from 947 to 1330.

All courtesy of Snaps_Provolone

[Guest Ludacris2004]

Riteo i got my soaker hose running today on the end of my air pump omg the amount of fine bubbles are so good compared to an airstone which i also tried id go with soaker hose they give off more fine bubbles which oxgenates the water more than airstones

[MU]

glad to hear it.

any pics of your efforts? hows it going ludacris?

[Guest Ludacris2004]

yea not bad not very big yet but the roots are starting to grow into the water now just germinated some big bud seeds aswell so i will be sticking them in, in a few days

[MU]

ive found a shop who sells general hydroponics nutes, so im really excited now, because i will be able to try the lucas formula on 2 different 3-part nutes, and see how they compare. thanks to efforts from cheesefarmer, i now know the NPK of both nutes are quite similar, and with a common inventor from both companies, so it should be an interesting excercise. (thanks cf, btw.. i couldnt find that NPK info on AH nutes' homepage... )

ive also decided im going to buy an RO filter and use pure water, as lucas intended... might save me some headaches.

i will keep this thread updated. be back at hydro in the autumn, and as much as im enjoying my current soil grow (and i am, immensely! ), im itching to get back to bubblers and continue to gain more knowledge in using them.

if you get a chance to post any pics, ludacris, be cool to see your setup mate.

Edited June 5, 2005 by MU

[YourDrooganLeader]

eyup m8, cheers for the most excellent post

i have just germed 10 ak47 and am in te process of setting up some dwc pots and your post has given me some top ideas.

am having problems starting the seeds in rockwoll starter cubes, i have germed all the seeds, the have all cracked, 2 even have their cotyloydon leaves. i have put them into rockwool starter cubes and into my heated prop following the instuctions to the letter but, after 2 days the seeds are still not futher on than when i transfered them from the germination tray??? is this ok?they are in cubes in a holder on the mat in the prop. this is kept at 26 celcius. the bottom few ml of the rockwool starter cubes are damp but where the seeds are it is apparently dry. i have just destroyed 10 western winds by pouring water straight onto the starter cubes as i did not really know what i was supposed to do. expensive mistake even though i got the seeds half price.

i have started many plants hydroponically using clay pebs, vermiculite and perlite but have never used rockwool and my mate told me to have o go as it does away with surgical style replanting (where i inevitably kill 1 or 2 cos am 6 foot 3 , 15 stone of clumsy fool with hands like shovels. not exactly designed for delicate type things )

any advice mu mate? i read all your posts and consider you to be one of the best minds on this site as you are constantly searching for improvements on your already well thought out designs.

10 ak47 in dwc (5 x 25 ltr tubs starting 2 per tub. will flower them early to pick out males and then revert them back to veg where i will have 1 plant per tub) i have hesi hydronute and a 600w hps which i have aircooled. there is also 8 x 18w flos.

cheers mate

[MU]

hi mate,

i'll try my best to help, but need more info please.

i have germed all the seeds, the have all cracked, 2 even have their cotyloydon leaves. i have put them into rockwool starter cubes and into my heated prop following the instuctions to the letter but, after 2 days the seeds are still not futher on than when i transfered them from the germination tray???

are you saying that after planting the germed seeds into the cubes, that 2 of them have now sprouted and are showing their cotyledons after 2 days? if so, that sounds fine to me and about the right amount of time for them to start poking through the cubes. depending on how deeply you inserted the seeds into the cube and whether they were the right way up will determine how long they take to sprout through the cube.

also how did you prepare the cube? the way to do it is to soak them in ph-adjusted water (no nutes at this stage) - around 5.8-6.0 ph, squeeze the excess water out thoroughly, scrape with a sharp blade a little hole in the top of the cube and insert the seed carefully into the hole with the tap root facing downwards - if placed upside down, this will delay the shoot coming through the cube by upto a few days.

you mentioned a heated prop... did you have it switched on? if so, i dont think its necessary at this time of year (or ever, if inside a warm house), and this might be drying out your cubes too quickly...

if temps are right, the rockwool cube should stay moist enough for around 3-4 days, which should be enough time for the shoot to break the rockwool surface, before you need to rewet it. but if the cubes are drying out more quickly, what i do is just lightly spray the top of the cube with some ph-adjusted water, being careful not to water log the cube.

hope that helps mate,

mu

[tony2wheelsgood]

Hi MU, i put a couple of bubblers together recently and was initially pleased with the results. i was running a rainforest at the same time and as the weeks went by it was apparent that the aerocloner was much quicker. Bigger root mass and more impressive veg growth once the roots had established.

My bubbler clones go through holes in a polystyrene sheet which rests on the water and i wondered if i put a small airspace there, would that help rooting. after all, the space just above the water, where the bubbles are bursting must be well saturated with moisture and air.

Thanks for the posts btw, it was your ideas that got me to try bubblers in the first place and i'm sure mine can work better. the other option is to buy an EZ cloner but they are very expensive and i've heard they take longer to clean than a rainforest. second option, another rainforest - superb but pricy.

edit: can you see any alps from your windows.

Edited July 28, 2005 by tony2wheelsgood