Hydroponics DWC Bubble bucket HELP! Hydro,Soil?

Hey there,

I'm soon to be a first time grower. Thought I had it planned and was going to go with soil. Now I feel like hydroponics is the way to go. Is it? Whats a goof proof hydro system?

Out of these 3 systems, which one would you go with if you were me and planning on 2-3 plants at a time, Autoflower plants for the first 2 or 3 grows, THEN definitely bigger longer 12/12 plants once I'm used to the setup. Problem with a huge reservoir is I have no way of draining and refilling other than carrying it up and down or making like 30 trips up and down every week with buckets. At 8 lbs each gallon, it can get heavy. So maybe 2 or 3 bubble buckets, but maintaining pH/PPM on each one will drive me crazy. Are the larger reservoir setups good from seed to harvest?


BubbleBucket2.3 Complete DWC Hydroponic System Grow Now - eBay (item 140418412072 end time Aug-16-10 22:26:38 PDT)

or

Super 2 Hydroponic Grow system 5.5" net cups - eBay (item 360271455349 end time Aug-10-10 08:59:09 PDT)

or

"Super 3" Hydroponic system 6" net cups & 18 gal tub - eBay (item 360272477280 end time Aug-13-10 10:03:07 PDT)

I have trouble committing to and ordering shit and spending all my money, so talk me into it. Help me get started.

Thanks, and more Thanks in advance.

Lookingg for your

Help me out Hydroponic guys!

Hey dude,

Welcome to the Garden.

FWIW - I struggled with the same choice when I started growing. In the end I went with soil, and I am really really glad that I did. Hydro is great, but it is more demanding and less forgiving until you know what you are doing. Soil, in many ways, is so much easier to get started with.

Those hydro systems you showed are really low end, small, and for the money not really much. You could build the same things on your own for less than a 1/3 of the prices offered. Of course your real expenses will be on lights, ventilation and nutes. That's where you want to spend your bucks.

I agree that starting off with just 2-3 plants is the right way to go. So, get some beans, germ them up, pop then into some soil, turn on the lights, and watch them grow.

Just my .02

Good luck.

Hydro is a good place to start.

You probably want something automated, so I would say look into creating a simple Ebb and Flow table system.

Get yourself a large tote with a cement mixing tray, drill some holes, add some bulkhead fittings to your table to a pond pump set to a timer and you're basically set to go.

With a few other things you can be set up for under $50 max, as a starter grow.

What are your plans?

If you can't manage shuttling four 5gallon buckets of water once every 2 weeks, you could maybe run a long hose from a sink or RO system to your grow?

Get yourself an 18-34g storage tote container ( I like 18g), a cement mixing tray that fits the lid of your tote from Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart or any hardware store.

A pond pump can sometimes be found at random fish stores and you will need a timer that can be set for 15min intervals, analog or digital.

Also, some people including me like to use an air-pump in their E&F systems to help keep the solutuon oxygenated and the pH stablized.

10-12$ for the pond pump

20-30$ for the timer

20-30$ for the air pump

7-10$ for the tote container

7-10$ for the cement mixing tray

5-10$ for the 2 bulkhead fittings ( 1/2" and 3/4")

3-5$ for the 1/2" poly tubing for your pump to flood tray

10-20$ for the drill bit kit to make your holes for bulkheads

10-13$ for a 13liter bag of hydroton clay pellets

10$ for 4-5 net pots. ( I like to use 5.5" net baskets cradled within a 6" net bottom pot to keep light out, but give roots max room to grow and stay comfy)

Then you will need your lighting, your extraction/exhaust fan, circulation fan(s), pH/PPM Digital tester/meter (dont skimp on this/ you need keys, can't drive a ferrari with your feet), ph UP&DOWN, nutes, amendments and your armory for pests and infections.

Depending on where you live you will also need a means to cool your space, which will help keep your reservoir at the proper temperatures so you dont get critters and nasties. If that is not enough to keep your res at the proper 65-68f to keep root rot away, you will need a chiller which can be as expensive as your lighting.

Hydro gets expensive when you start off, but it seems to make day to day operation that much easier, which seems to save money over time, considering the system recycles and the medium is reused.

E&F is a good begininers hydro set up. Experienced users love 'em so you won't grow tired quickly of them either.


Good luck, and don't go buying any system you can easily build - if your space allows.

Definitely agree with everything you said. The double bubble bucket 5 gallon set up is nice though, since I talked to the guy and he said he will include 8 rockwool seed starting cubes and enough hydroton for a lifetime for $55 and $12-15 shipping I have been thinking very hard. I do think soil is best for me to start out, but a couple fellow Xbox360 gamers are telling me hydroponics is the new thing, no bug no mess for the grow room and way quicker growth.

Thats another thing, my closet is looking like this:

Grasscity.com Forums

Grasscity.com Forums

Hope you can see the pictures.

I have checked out the Ebb and Flow, and thats what many recommend due to the easy maintenance,

but they are too big for my current insanely stupid shaped closet. I hope you guys can see the pics in the links I just sent, shows the closet and then the dimensions and whatnot. With my 250w Sun System 2 with enclosed ballast in there, I only have 3 feet of room to the floor

Appreciate the help and info FUNK!

I have the 250w HPS Sun System 2 with tempered glass insert, Fantech 4" 117 cfm inline fan, and hole lot more needed. Wish I had a normal sized closet, I would have been smoking my own grown bud right now! Still have to figure out intake/exhaust as I dont want to cut holes in my walls.

Thanks guys!

I think you may be confusing what I'm suggesting with the Ebb and Grow system, which is a number of grow containers with a larger reservoir + control tank.

Are you saying your closet will not fit a single rubbermaid tote? If you are running a 250w HID, you must have enough space to fit a single roughneck tote, the footprint is barely 2x1, or so.

Again, if you were going to try to go the easy way out by trying to purchase system, then I can see how you may run into sizing issues, but I have a very small space and I can easily fit a single tote in there with a 27liter sterlite tray for the flood table.

You say, with the hood in your space, you only have 3ft of space before the floor? Sounds like you are hanging your hood from the closet clothes-rod?

You could saw out this clothes-rod and replace it when you're done. This will enable you to raise up your hood to allow for optimal grow room.

3ft is not much when you consider you have not yet moved in your hydro system.

Maybe you should try Hempy or a drain to waste coco grow?