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[TUTORIAL] DIY - 2 PLANT HYDRO "BUBBLETOTE" BUILD


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Submitted By: bubblegrower Submitted On: Today, 10:44 PM Submitted In: Grow Room Tricks and Tips:Click here to go to tutorial

 

 

2 PLANT "ON A BUDGET?" BUBBLETOTE FOR UNDER $30 COMPLETE

 

ok follks, here we go. simple to build, simple to operate, and VERY cheap to set-up. let's start with the parts. everything is from either meijer or wal-mart. if you click on each part, there will be a link to the EXACT same item i am using in this application. the only things not avaliable at meijer/wal-mart are a couple 5" net pots and some hydroton clay pebbles. you can pick those up at your local hydro store or online.

 

PARTS:

10-gallon Sterilte storage tote. the link is for a bulk purchase, but they are $3.49/each in the store. wal-mart.

20-60 gallon aquarium air pump. $8.99 in store. wal-mart.

meijer seems to have a janky online spread, and i can't find these items online, but they have these 2 items in the pet/fish dept. the air stones are $2.29 and 25ft of air line was $2.89 i believe.

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and then as was stated, you will need to pick up two 5" net pots ($2.00) and a small bag of hydroton clay pebbles ($5) at the local hydro store.

 

 

so here is what our mess is looking like so far:

 

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let's start with the hardest part first. the holes in the lid of the tote. and folks, it aint hard at all. ok, when using a 5" net pot, you want your hole to be about 4 3/4". we don't need the net pot falling through into the water/nutes below. i would recommend practicing real quick on a piece of cardboard before you actually cut the lid. just to be sure everything fits before you mess up a brand new tote. ok, 4 3/4" hole. you know what you have laying around the house that is perfectly 4 3/4" in diamater?

 

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yup, a compact disc. ready-made template for your holes. now this isnt rocket science, just eyeball out a couple holes on the lid and trace the cd with a marker.

 

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don't have a 4 3/4" hole saw? neither do i, a razor knife works fine. take your time, "score" the plastic a few times around..... you probably won't get it to just cut right out. but remember, this is by far the hardest part of the whole process, so concentrate on not slicing your fingers off, and when you get done, you have this:

 

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hard part is over. i swear. ok, next step. we do need 2 more holes in our bubbletote, but they are kinda already there for us. in the model of sterilite brand tote i used here, there are pre-drilled drain holes in the handles:

 

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but these holes aren't quite big enough to slip our aquarium air line through so we need to make them just a touch larger. sneak into the kitchen (hopefully the wife is on the couch and mesmorized by the new episode of Gray's Anatomy) and snag a steak knife. just kinda stick the tip in the hole and twist it around a few times.

 

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ok, do both sides:

 

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awesome. now we are getting somewhere. next cut off a section of air line..... 5 feet or so is good. i like to have enough excess air line that i can move my air pump well out of the way. run the air line through the hole you just widened:

 

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and then attach one of your 6" air stones from meijer. i like these particular stones because they are fairly heavy and will stay on the bottom without help.

 

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and then connect the other end of the air line to your new air pump.

 

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and repeat the same process using the other hole/air stone and plug it into the other outlet on your air pump.

 

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holy smokes folks........ i think we are on to something now :D let's fill this bad boy machine with some water now.

 

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ok, this is kind of critical for down the road. i fill one gallon containers and dump them in. measuring how much water i add to get to "my point". that point is about 1/8 to 1/4 inch below the net pot. if you keep the water level about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch below the bottom of the net pot, you have reached the sweet spot. the air stone in the bottom of the bubbletote will shoot air bubbles upwards through the water. when these bubbles reach the surface they pop. the goal is to find the perfect level to where the net pot is not sitting in the water, but actually the bubbles are popping on the surface and just getting the bottom of the net pot wet. once the bottom of the net pot gets wet, it will transfer that moisture to the bottom layer of hydroton pebbles. the pebbles then transfer the perfect amount of water/air between themselves and eventually to the rockwool cube. the cube will stay damp, but not "soaked".

 

once the roots form and grow through the rockwool cube, they will continue growing through the clay pebbles, and then through the sides of the net pot, and ultimately down to thrive in the nute/air filled goodness of the solution.

 

this is a good time to take one of your net pots out of the lid so you can peek inside and get the water level just right.

 

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once you hit your spot, i draw a line on the side of the tote. on the inside. with a magic marker. you could also use a piece of tape or something. since i kept track of how much i added, i know it took me EXACTLY 6 gallons of water to hit the spot. that will help down the road after doing flushes. after flushing you can just re-fill to your line and add nutes accordingly for 6 gallons of water. ;) here's our line:

 

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well hell....... let's plug this puppy in and see some bubbles.

 

 

 

bubblegrower likes:

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ok. let's grow something. got your clones rooted? me either, so let's pretend for a minute:

 

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ok, i start with a thin layer of clay pebbles on the bottom of the net pot:

 

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then set the clone/rockwool in the net pot and cover the rest of the way with the hydroton pebbles:

 

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and then repeat of course, and folks, you have a built yourself a bubbletote:

 

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and soon, you will have this:

 

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congrats!!

 

this system will maintain 2 plants all the way to harvest. occasionally, depending on strain/veg time, a plant may "outgrow" the tote. well, not really outgrow it, but with larger strains, after sometime you may want to move them to one plant/ tote. it is very simple to move plants if you have to. just pull out the net pot and all the roots, and put into another tote. if you grow mostly indica strains, you will have no problem with 2 plants in one tote all the way to the end. some sativas that get long and lanky may want the whole space to themselves...........

 

peace, love, and BIG happy grows:

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combine the bubbletote with this affordable but effective nutrient plan for max yield with minimal start-up costs.

 

THE LUCAS METHOD

 

the "Lucas Method" is very simple, cheap, and it works. we only need 2 kinds of nutes. General Hydroponic Flora Micro and General Hydroponic Flora Bloom.

 

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here is the formula:

 

VEG: 5ml of Micro and 10ml of Bloom per gallon of water. (5-10) IF VEGGING UNDER CFL LIGHTS

VEG: 8ml of Micro and 16ml of Bloom per gallon of water. (8-16) IF VEGGING UNDER HID LAMPS

FLOWER: 8ml Micro and 16ml of bloom per gallon of water. (8-16)

 

 

there are a couple different methods on backfilling whatever the plants drink/what evaporates. i recommend backfilling with full strength nutes/water as needed to maintain the proper water level in the bucket/tote, and then doing two rez changes throughout the cycle. once at the switch to flower, and once after about 3-4 weeks of flower.

 

 

---and here is a "normal" schedule for a plant:

 

seedling/clone/veg 2-4 weeks. 8-16 nutes. 1/2 strength for first few days for seedlings. 5-10 nutes under flourescent lights

rez change

flip the lights to 12/12

flush (just plain ph'd water for 24-48 hours)

rez change and continue with 8-16 nutes

after a month i try to flush once again

then back to 8-16 nutes

 

 

after 6 weeks of flower, depending on the strain and how much longer it will need to finish, i have to make a decision. i "final flush" for a week minimum so if i am growing a 7-8 week strain i will go into final flush now. if it is a 8-12 week strain i will go back to 8-16 nutes for as long as needed and then into final flush for the last week or so.

 

 

also, another couple freebie tips. when adding the nutes, add the micro to the water first, and then the bloom. NEVER mix the 2 nutes together and then add the combination to water. this WILL promote lock-out.

 

after adding both nutes (separately of course) STIR/SHAKE WELL!! can't say it enough. make sure you have it all mixed up real good. don't rely on your bubbles to do the mixing for you.

 

the flora micro will stain carpet/clothes if not tended to right away ;)

 

assuming you are starting with r.o. water (ph7) the nutes will drop the ph to a perfect 5.5-6.0. i RARELY have to add ph down to maintain proper levels. at any rate, do whatever needs to be done to maintain a 5.5-6.0ph level. and i keep my water temps at 68-70 degrees.

 

also, for 99 cents ANYWHERE in the kitchen department. (target-walmart) this is my best friend. the turkey baster. perfect for measuring nutes out.

 

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here are another couple 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 vegetative and flowering cycles you should dump your nutrients, then flush (possibly with Clearex) to remove salt buildups, then change to the other feeding program. Always shake your GH nutrient bottles before using them!

 

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 (Magnesium) Mg deficiencies in most normal feeding programs recommended by manufacturers. Cannabis needs a lot of Magnesium to thrive.

 

The Flora Micro is providing the Nitrogen and the Magnesium in the proper balance, thus there is no need for the Grow formula and little or no room under the maximum acceptable ppm limit of 1600 @ 0.7 conversion.

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  • 1 month later...

Hey BG hows about a bubble cloner?

 

I built one out of a small clear tote with 4 1 inch neopreen inserts i have the pump hose airstone and all that was wondering for cloning alone do i have to use some kind of nutrient additive or just go plain water?

 

I will be transplanting the clones to soil once i see good root formation.

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Sorry I'm just learning, what is lock out? And do you mix like just a gallon at a time for keeping the correct level, adding the nutes to it in the same order?

 

'Lock out' is when there may be too much of a certain nutrient, or pH is off, and it may prevent the plant from using a certain other nutrient.

 

As far as the level and nutes and mixing, I'm a dirt farmer, and can't answer that one. I'm sure BG knows the answer.

 

Best of luck to you. :thumbsu:

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Hey BG hows about a bubble cloner?

 

I built one out of a small clear tote with 4 1 inch neopreen inserts i have the pump hose airstone and all that was wondering for cloning alone do i have to use some kind of nutrient additive or just go plain water?

 

I will be transplanting the clones to soil once i see good root formation.

 

CLONING FOR THE BUBBLEBUCKET

 

i have had a couple questions about cloning and the bubblebucket, so i am gonna try to answer them here.

 

a bubblebucket is a cloner as well. it's that simple. it is an all-in-one machine ;)

here is a very crude and undesirable sketch of our bubblebucket. we see the plant, rooted in a yellow rockwool cube, surrounded by hydroton clay pebbles. the cube and hydroton are sitting in the net pot, and you can see the air stone/bubbles (in red) and the proper level at which to keep your nutrient/water solution.

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ok, stop laughing. :D

 

so, we are ready to take a new clone. i try to take clones from the bottom of the plant. the hormones are more proper in this area. use a very sharp and clean razor and cut at a 45 degree angle. here is a good spot to take your cutting.

 

WinterGarden_CutClone.jpg

 

 

once cut, dip directly in water, and then into cloning gel/solution/powder, and then into the rockwool cube. i don't use a cloning agent. plain water works just fine for me. it may take an extra day or 2 for the clones to take root, but it's one less chemical that i have to buy and have laying around.

 

so we have our cutting planted in the rockwool cube. drop it in the netpot and cover with clay pebbles and get the whole setup into your bubblebucket. at this point the bucket should have clean ph'd water in it.

 

if you keep the water level about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch below the bottom of the net pot, you have reached the sweet spot. the air stone in the bottom of the bubblebucket will shoot air bubbles upwards through the water. when these bubbles reach the surface they pop. the goal is to find the perfect level to where the net pot is not sitting in the water, but actually the bubbles are popping on the surface and just getting the bottom of the net pot wet. once the bottom of the net pot gets wet, it will transfer that moisture to the bottom layer of hydroton pebbles. the pebbles then transfer the perfect amount of water/air between themselves and eventually to the rockwool cube. the cube will stay damp, but not "soaked". depending on strain, humidity, and temp, the roots will begin to form in 4 days to 2 weeks.

 

once the roots form and grow through the rockwool cube, they will continue growing through the clay pebbles, and then through the sides of the net pot, and ultimately down to thrive in the nute/air filled goodness of the solution. once they get through the sides of the net pot and become visible for the first time, i change from clean water to veg nutes at 1/2 strength for a couple days, and then bump to regular strength.

 

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hope this helps a little. not really trying to do a DIY on cloning, just trying to show that there is no need for a cloning machine or anything else to take up space or money. if you use the bubblebucket, it is the only thing you need from the day you cut the clone to the day you cut the whole thing down.

 

 

:)

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in an effort to branch this thread off into it's own thing about tote use/construction i may as well add this:

 

 

12 SITE BUBBLEBUCKET HYDRO SYSTEM

 

i have had a couple questions about linking a bunch of bubblebuckets together and then to a central reservoir. this makes your grow as easy as can be as all of your checking/filling is done through the rez instead of each bucket individually. also, when operating like this, the initial build is much less complicated than building a single bucket. i am a little short on pics at the moment, but i will add more as i build my new system soon.

 

PARTS LIST:

reservoir...... anything from a 10 gallon storage tote to a 55 gallon drum is fine, it just needs to be taller than a 5 gallon bucket.

13 five gallon buckets

160gph water pump

100' black vinyl tubing

14 air stones. i like the 6" dark blue kind.

100' aquarium air line

20-60 gallon aquarium air pump. dual outlet.

26 barbed coupler/connectors

26 rubber grommets

enough hydroton clay pebbles to fill (12) 5" net pots.

12 net pots. 5" is fine.

2 commercial 6 outlet air pumps. this is overkill on the air/bubbles, but i like bubbles :P you could just get the larger model pump and an extra splitter and feed all 12 buckets. i like having 2 separate air pumps because it makes moving things around much easier.

 

 

here is your basic design:

 

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ok, looks complicated but don't freak out. it's really not.

 

lets start with the 12 buckets you will be growing in. (green circles above). each bucket will have 4 holes in it total. 2 in the lid, and 2 on the sides. for the lid, one hole should be centered and be 4 3/4" in diameter. this is for your net pot to sit in. the other hole in the lid is just a little 1/8" hole and i try to keep it close to the edge of the lid. a hole just big enough to pull the air line through. the 2 holes on the sides of the buckets should be 13/16". i put those 2 holes on opposite sides of the bucket and about an inch from the bottom. this is where your rubber grommets/couplers will be pushed through each bucket, and then we will be linking them all together using the 1/2" black vinyl tubing. (black lines above).

then we will drill that same 13/16" hole an inch from the bottom of the reservoir and connect them all together. the dual outlet (cheapie) air pump is for the reservoir. hook up 2 lines to the pump, with 2 air stones on the other end, and drop them in the rez. keeping the rez bubbling is a good thing. :) the "rez" in this application really isn't "reserving" anything, i am simply calling it a rez, and it is just really a bucket with no plants/roots and you can access the water easily to check levels/add nutes. you could also just use another 5 gallon bucket for the rez.

 

the grommets are pretty cool, just drill your hole, and push it through, you will know when it is seated properly. then take one of the 1/2" connectors and shove that through the grommet. as i said, i am a little short on pics right now, so lets just pretend this red coffee container is a 5 gallon bucket:

 

this is how you make the "entry set-up". here we have our 5 gallon bucket, rubber grommet, and barbed coupler.

 

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after you have your 13/16" hole as seen above, push your rubber grommet through. you will know when it is seated properly.

 

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then push the barbed connector through as well.

 

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and finally, attach your black vinyl tubing. i usually use a zip-tie here also, just for safety.

 

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ok, get all 12 buckets built, get the first bucket in the chain connected to the rez, and the last bucket in the daisy chain to your 13th bucket.... the "control bucket" (smaller blue circle above). really this bucket isn't controlling a dang thing, we will just call it that. this bucket does absolutely nothing but hold a pump to pump water into the top of the rez. this keeps a constant flow of water, and kills 2 birds with one stone. moving water = more oxygen, and this also keeps everything stirred up constantly.

 

get your 2 commercial air pumps set up and run a 1/8" aquarium air line from the air pump through the lid of each grow bucket, all the way to the bottom, and attach a 6" air stone.

 

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ok......... looks like we have everything set up. lmao... yeah right. anyways, this system is gravity fed. once everything is connected and tightened up, its time to fill the system. as you can see, filling the rez will allow water to flow through all 12 grow buckets and then into the control bucket. from the control bucket, it gets pumped into the rez and the cycle continues. so anyways, keep filling with water until you reach a level about 1/4 inch below the net pots. then make a mark inside your rez. this is your optimal water level and should be maintained daily. so everyday it is as simple as opening the rez, checking your ph/ec/ppm.... whatever you check, and then backfilling with water/nutes anything that evaporated or the plants drank. this is SO MUCH EASIER than checking all 12 grow buckets individually. and much easier to maintain proper ph/nute levels in one central rez as opposed to each bucket individually.

 

i am sure there will be hundreds of questions and i am sorry. i dont have my system set up so i cant take pics for a real step-by-step DIY tutorial, but the basics are here for now, i will be updating this in a couple weeks when i build my system so check back then. until then......... ask away and i will do my best to explain the cloudy points of it.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

i have well water where my garden is at .what kind of water should i use for the lucas method. RO,Distilled,spring ? this is my first attempt at hydro.i have the flora micro and flora bloom.and when the water level is low do i add nutes to each gallon of water or just add ph,d water.also i could only find 5 and 10 inch air stones so i got 1 10 inch airstone for each bucket will that work .thanks for the help

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i have well water where my garden is at .what kind of water should i use for the lucas method. RO,Distilled,spring ? this is my first attempt at hydro.i have the flora micro and flora bloom.and when the water level is low do i add nutes to each gallon of water or just add ph,d water.also i could only find 5 and 10 inch air stones so i got 1 10 inch airstone for each bucket will that work .thanks for the help

 

r.o. water is best

 

here's a couple 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.

 

 

and the 10" air stones will work depending on what pump you are using. if you are using a $9 wal-mart pump, i would tee the 2 ports together and send the power of both ports to one stone:

med_gallery_13801_60_957530.jpg

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r.o. water is best

 

here's a couple 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.

 

 

and the 10" air stones will work depending on what pump you are using. if you are using a $9 wal-mart pump, i would tee the 2 ports together and send the power of both ports to one stone:

med_gallery_13801_60_957530.jpg

thank u very helpful info thanks again

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how do i rinse the hydrotten before i use it plan water,peroxide ect.thanks

 

if it is brand-new and fresh out of the package, you want to rinse REAL REAL good in hot water to get the "factory dust" off, and thats it!!

 

after you have used it for a cycle is when you need to start cleaning/bleaching/soaping/boiling or whatever.

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Hi,

Hey, how much are those rubber grommets plasic tube fittings?

What's with the fancy submersable pump? How much is that?

 

I have a nice submersable pump that moves water pretty fast,it's one of those backyard fish pond pumps,would that work?

 

Do the system pump and bubble pumps run during the dark period? :unsure: lol, I know I'll get my chops busted for asking that..

How many de-humidifiers am i gonna have to buy for a small basement bubbling all this water down there?...Sorry for some of the dumb donkey questions..Thanks

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Another awesome help thread. Thanks BG..You've been pinned :thumbsu:

 

an honor.

 

and an addition for those who may see it here instead of the help thread:

AEROCLONERS AND WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR CLONES

 

 

ok, i have been hit with this misconception more than twice over the last week, so im gonna correct it right now :)

 

when cloning with an aerocloner, you DO NOT go into rockwool after they are rooted.

 

ok, here's a daisy cloner (aerocloner):

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after 4-15 days depending on strain and what stage of life the "mother" was in, you will see roots like these:

 

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once they have a good root showing its time to do something about it. normally, if i am going straight into a 5" net pot and into a bubbletote i will let the clone go another day or 2 past the pics above.............. but to conserve space, i have a "junior high school" for them to visit first sometimes. if they are going to junior high, this is the time to do it.

 

in junior high i line a 3" net pot with a single layer of pebbles, and then put the clone in gently. stand her straight up and fill the pebbles in around the edges. here is the junior high tote with 1/2 strength nutes in it for our lil' babies:

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after a few days in junior high, our plants begin to grow some roots. notice i use the net pots and not the mesh pots for this stage. if you use the net pots, the holes in the sides are much larger, and you will have the ability to retrieve your plant much easier. if you use a mesh pot, or if you get to your net pot too late and the roots have already secured themselves to the pot, i just plant the whole 3" pot inside the 5" pot and fill around the edges with hydroton.

 

but if you do it right, you will catch your junior high plant at just about this stage:

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from here you can dump out the pebbles, retrieve your clone, and transplant into a 5" mesh pot in a regular bubblebucket or bubbletote:

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and with the right strain, nutes, and attention, after another 16 days you will have this:

med_gallery_13801_60_637796.jpg

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they will work just fine.

 

I used to use peat pellets - the expandable ones - and then transfer those to my DWC. I found that the peat would make the stem get mushy and sometimes cause stem rot. Also the introduction of the organic matter flaking off those peat pellets can cause rot root.

 

I'd stay away from the peat and use rockwool or the spongy Root Riot or Rapid Rooters.

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  • 8 months later...
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