Basic Bubbler (DWC) System

[MstryShovel]

Hi friendly friends Ive also made a cheap little system, for basicaly under 50$ total

Tools and Equipment:
Scisors
Knife
baby bottle nipples
air pump
airline (hose for pump)
Air stone
extention cord
rubbermaid tub (1'x6"x5"(LxWxH))
Spraypaint


Method:
1) the rubbermaid I got was see through so i used a green spraypaint i had lying around to paint over it and cover everything and make it generaly opaque. You cant see it in any pictures but i also left a little window so i can peep in on the water levels and see how the roots are doing (and marked danger levels with a marker). In the lid to the tupperware I cut (honestly i didnt have  good enough knife to do the job so i resulted to melting it open) then sprayed over everything

I would reccomend doing more than one hole at a time but im a glutton for punishment and have only done one

2) After all the paint dried I stuck the nipples in the hole. With the nipples though i cut the end nub off pictured:

through this hole you will later put your cutting, into your aqueous solution.

3)unpack your air** stuff:

then put it all together and into the bottom of your bucket:

And fill it with water, and thats pretty much done.
I would reccomend drilling or carving a little divot or hole to poke your air tube through so it wont kink aswell as an extra hole for pouring water in, so as to not disturb your roots too much.

4)thats pretty much it just pop your cutting in, and viola you are done,




later improvemtns will be a stabalizing system for when the cutting gets bigger, i dunno how it will do mabey just a makeshift cage or something to keep it upright. Also dont kno what im going to do when it outgrows its box,  let allone the rootmass gets too big for the hole. what eves!

[Paradoxic]

Nice, simple guide, we will have to get all these hydro guides situated cause we got some good info and pics, they just need to be organized.

So MystryShovel, you dont use a medium, you just stick the plant right in? Also whenever using spray paint you have to be careful because it can be very toxic to plants. My friend sprayed the inside of his bubbler system and learned that the hard way. Be sure to keep us updated on the hydro grow, you might even wanna start it as a new grow log.

[MstryShovel]

yeah i figured as much, i only painted on the outside though so hopefully we wont see any toxic interaction, ill keep you updated how well it works

[Sam Fisher]

[Moved as New Topic]

Simple Drip System Using a Water Pump

[Paradoxic]

I put that as a new topic, sweet ass addition! Genius+ Now I just want to add the part about adding a drain valve to the DWC.

I also added you as a cultivation contributor so now you can stuff like that anytime you want.

[jhazel]

Very helpful.

I wanted to try to build a basic bubbler system like the one above, but I figured it would be a good idea to wait for a cutting before trying that. The plant that I have was soil grown, and I didn't want to risk it not being able to adjust to such a different environment.

I was reading an article out there about using a bucket bubbler setup. It said that it can be a huge problem once the plant gets bigger, because of the need to remove the lid to perform water and nutrient changes, as well as checking nutrient levels and PH. According to the article you would be removing the lid at least once per day. It said that this wasn't much of an issue with a small plant, but it would prove difficult as the plant matured and would eventually cause damage to the root ball.

I was really interested in trying a bubbler system, but the article made it out to be more work than it was worth. What experiences have you all had with it? How does growth compare to a regular soil growing medium?

[Paradoxic]

I found a bubbler system to work quite well, my plant on it grew very quickly and was extremely healthy. However, at a point its growth became stunted, probably because I never changed out the water because, just as you said when my plant was large it was a pain in the ass if not impossible without damaging the plant. However, there is a solution to that...a drain valve at the bottom of the bucket. I have been meaning to get an addition to the guide on how to add one but I haven't gotten around to it yet. If anyone else could add that it would be great...either way it should be up here soon.

Yeah it was probably a good call to keep your plant soil, in most cases its a very bad idea to switch from soil to hydro (the other way around is fine though). Personally when it comes to Salvia I prefer soil, but hydro can be fun to experiment with. Currently I am only growing soil, but in the future I will probably play around with hydro some more.

I'll try to get the drain valve guide up for ya asap...you gotta promise to post a grow log though , we really need someone logging a hydro grow.

In case I didnt already say it, welcome to Salvia Source, jhazel!

[jhazel]

You have yourself a deal. I cannot wait to take a cutting and get a hydro system up and running! (considering I got my plant a week ago a cutting may be awhile in the future ) I was so tempted to attempt a soil-to-hydro transfer, but I want to get some experience growing Salvia "the old fashioned way" before getting into the hydro method. You get that guide up and Ill make sure to post a hydro grow log

[Madmax]

Alternatively, you could locate the pump in a separate vessel to prevent the roots from clogging it, then all you'd have to do is place a guard over the water outlet orifice.