Bubbler DWC Tutorial - PART 6

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Bubbler DWC Tutorial - Part 6

The following tutorial has been copied and pasted from 420magazine.com

Lets look at some Clamp Reflectors:



These are cheap flimsey Clamp Reflectors, average about $9 each. They are plastic and not very durable. The clamps are cheap and flimsey too.



These are much better, stronger Clamp Reflectors, about $ 13 each. They will last forever.

IF you see PLASTIC on the Clamp Reflector, they are cheap and flimsey and you should avoid them.

I have come to believe that two 42 watt bulbs, in one Clamp Reflector is the most efficient, cost effective way to provide light to your Grow.

You also need one of these EXTENDERS to go into the socket first:


And then one of these are screwed into that EXTENDER:





To make this:

AND
I saw these in the store:

And you can put these



in a Surge Protector

and make these:

I fastened the Surge Protector to the log, so I could stand them up in the floor between the plants.

You can see how this was made with the PLUG-INS in the socket.

The Importance Of Mixed Lighting (Dual Spectrum)

It is common knowledge that plants absorb warm and cool spectrum of light throughout its life. But I find that the importance of mixed lighting is understressed throughout the growing community.
During the flowering phase of a plants life, Warm light is better utilized to increase the size of a plant's buds. As CFL growers we tend to pile up on 2700k bulbs to increase our yield. In most cases, growers assume that warm light not only grants us larger buds, but insures that those buds are of connoisseur quality as well. This is not to say that one can not achieve a very successful crop off of pure warm spectrum 2700k lighting. We see it all the time as members of the Grow Forum Internet community. But as CFL growers, almost all of us demand a higher efficiency for our dollar.
So what does this mean? Clearly I'm trying to emphasize the necessity of cool lighting during the flowering phase of a plants life. But why? Well thats simple. As many of you may have heard or read before, Cool lighting (6500k) introduces a UVB spectrum that benefits the potency of the buds our plants are producing.
" The writer's own experience allow for a more specific conclusion: If the UVB photon is missing from the light stream(a), or the intensity as expressed in µW/cm2 falls below a certain level(, the phytochemical process will not be completely energized with only UVA photons which are more penetrating but less energetic, and the harvested resin spheres will have mostly precursor compounds and not fully realized THC©.

Now it would be completely unreasonable to ask a grower using a 1000watt HPS to switch out for MH lighting even though it produces quality of the weed. Sticking with blue spectrum lighting in a plants flowering phase would greatly decrease the size of the buds and the yield of the plant. People using high wattage systems tend to grow for cash crop. No single person really needs a pound of buds.
" “Metal halide produce the best potent buds with less lumens for the money but better smoke. After years of testing with some friends who did want to keep THEIR recipe (more hps) I found their buds to be harsh, full of CBD, make me eat and sleep. The blue spectrum will give you a final product that have everything included:taste without curing, potency and yield.
For lower wattage growers who grow for self use, and are not on a low budget, it would be beneficial to replace their HPS with an MH for the last week or two of budding. This is because the last weeks of a plants life before harvesting is dedicated to the ripening of the buds, and not the growth of the bud itself. It would not greatly impact the yield of the plant, but have a great effect on the quality. Interesting, but this only applies to a few amount of growers that fit this category.
As CFL growers, we would be fools to ignore such information. It is astonishing that so many fantastic growers to not utilize cool lighting even to a small supplemental degree. We owe it to our selves to scrounge up a few bucks in change and take a drive to Home Depot. Buy a pack of 6500k bulbs (26watts tend to be popular, 42s are better) and set them somewhere not far off from your buds. Don't let your hard work return with unsatisfaction. Added quality with increased quantity(more light). Mixed lighting should be standard knowledge, not found in the advanced cultivation section.

Side Note: Reptile lighting found at pet stores is not ideal for UVB lighting. Yes they do emit a high % of UVB than regular CFLs but they output less light and emit over 12x more UVA light than UVB light which can harm your plant.

All of the 26, 42, 65, 85 and 105 watt bulbs I have discussed here have regular sized sockets and the bulbs fit into any normal socket.
200 watt CFLs and larger have a much larger socket, called a mogul socket.

8' Power Cord with Mogul Socket


If you use a 200 watt CFL bulb or larger, you will need a Mogul Socket.


This is a Mogul To Standard Bulb Adapter




I can not find the words to accurately describe those Parabolic Reflectors, except to say they are AWESOME! The MYLAR does not reflect nearly as much light as a Parabolic Reflector, and I've never seen any reflector that compares. They just fit the base of a 105 or 200 watt CFL.
They are huge and yet lighter in weight than any reflector I have ever seen.
Here you see one with a Mogul Socket and cord:

Temperatures, Humidity


The temperature is the hardest factor to take control of to me. When confined to a small space, ballasts and HID lights can push temperatures sky-high in no time flat. That is why I use CFLS, to avoid venting heat. This is especially true during hot summer months when outside temperatures reach the highest temps. Nighttime (LIGHTS OFF period) temperature can be just as difficult to regulate during cold winter months. Most gardeners are aware that temperature in the grow room plays a major role and can greatly affect the growth of plants and the quality of the finished crop. Most gardeners do not know how controlling the temperature of their garden in very specific ways can achieve a superior crop. Drift too far from these ideal temperatures and watch your plants and crop suffer.
Before getting started it is highly recommended that every indoor garden has a Max/Min thermometer. (Digital $4.95 at Walmart)





This product allows the gardener to see exactly the fluctuations in temperature within their garden, day and night. Without this useful tool there is no accurate way of knowing the different temperatures between daytime (lights on) and nighttime (lights off). The difference between the two temperatures is very important to plant growth. Anymore than a 10F-15F difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures and you risk shocking and stressing the plants. You want a 10 degree difference between LIGHTS ON and LIGHTS OFF temps. In general the optimal daytime temperature for plant growth is between 70F -75F. Drift to far above this range or too far below and growth can be severely affected. Daytime temperatures exceeding 90F or under 62F and plant growth will be slowed and stunted. Plants do thrive in Afghanistan's 110 degrees, but they momentarily quit growing at that temp. If the temperature drifts higher than 95F the plant’s enzyme production will drop off and the plant will begin shutting down. At temperatures above 92 - 94, high photosynthesis shuts down due to the stomata in the leaves closing down to conserve water. At normal temperatures the stomata will be open, taking in CO2 and sweating water to keep the plant cool and allowing for transpiration.
Ideal temperature varies depending on whether or not CO2 is being introduced to the environment. A more suitable daytime temperature when the air is being enriched with CO2 is 80F-85F. This temperature range promotes the exchange of gases between the plants and the environment. Also, it can speed up the process of photosynthesis. Plants in an environment at 86F can perform carbon extraction from CO2 twice as fast as at 68F. It is still recommended that the nighttime temperature drop no more than 15f from that of the daytime temperature.

There is another relationship between temperature and the absorption of gases by plants that many hobbyist growers are aware of. That is the relationship between the temperature of the water in your reservoir and the amount of oxygen the water can hold. The best range that your reservoir can be between is 60F-75F. Ideally the reservoir temperature should be at 65F because this level optimal for processing oxygen. Also this temperature will help control transpiration (the act of drawing up nutrients by evaporating water throughout the leaves), and humidity levels. Buying a simple aquarium floating thermometer will allow you to know where you fit in this range.



Another great reason for regulating the temperature in your grow room is that biological processes can be speed up exponentially by every degree. This is true for your plants as well as the potential pests that may invade your grow room.
Pests such as spider mites can reproduce up to 10 times faster with every degree the temperature rises.
These pests can destroy a garden in no time flat! You really do not want to make it any easier for them. Spider Mite Eggs and webs can screw up the buds so bad, they can not be smoked. With a daytime temperature at a steady 72F - 75F and a nighttime temperature of 65F is much easier to control and destroy spider mites, thrips, and many other pest populations.
The same principal can be applied to the prevention and control of fungi, molds, mildews, and bacteria, which can spread more rapidly when temperatures in the grow room or reservoir exceed 90F. Also, the warmer the air, the more water it can retain which means humidity levels can easily go beyond the recommended 40-50% for Vegging. (You want high humidity for VEGGING, and low humidity for FLOWERING.) This high humidity coupled with lower nighttime temperatures can cause condensation to form on leaves. This will invite molds, mildews, fungi, and bacteria to take over you grow space. With high temperatures the likely-hood of losing control of the problem, such as powdery mildew, is very high. Once control is lost your plants may be the next to go.

Temperature is also very important when it comes to starting seeds and getting cuttings to root. Placing seedling trays on a heating mat will reduce germination time dramatically. Speeding up germination time usually leads to stronger and healthier plants. Also, less time spent between crop cycles makes a garden efficient. More harvests provided in less time can equal big bucks in the pockets of professional growers.
The ideal temperature for sprouting or cloning is 80F. Any higher and you risk burning the roots. Also, many seeds simply will not germinate at temperatures over 90F. The seeds will become dormant and never sprout.
The same principal used for seeds is used on cuttings to coax roots out quicker. The sooner cuttings can establish roots, the better. If roots can be forced quickly they will grow strong and stay strong. A bottom temperature of 80F-85F, roughly 10F warmer than the air, will speed up rooting time and help to jump start those roots once they do begin. Let the temperature get too high or too low and roots growth will be hindered or they will never grow at all. Using the proper technique and the proper temperature for bottom heat not only can rooting time be speed up from 2 weeks to as little as 3 days, but the survival rate of your cuttings will drastically improve.

On the topic of roots, there is an ideal temperature for the root zone after the plants’ roots have been established. Roots are working 24 hours a day and constant attention is required concerning temperature in and around the root zone. The ideal temp for this root zone is generally 65 to 75 degrees F. At this temperature the ion exchange between the roots and the environment around them is at its absolute best. This means that the plant’s root system can take up more macro nutrients, more micro nutrients, and more oxygen at this temperature than at any other level. This makes a plant more efficient and a plant working efficiently will provide a superior yield.

Amazingly, some growers grow successfully with no thermometer for the air or water. But for maximum efficiency, you got to take control of temps.

HUMIDITY? that is more simple to me. Get the Humidity VERY high for VEGGING, and VERY low for FLOWERING.

in Vegging, I mist MINE daily, like a tropical forest rain. I do raise the lights up, to be careful with my bulbs getting wet and breaking. And when it rains outside, it also gets cloudy and the sun's rays are blocked, so I block my light during mistings. Plants in outdoors, in nature do get an occasional rain shower or thunderstorm. Do you let it rain on yours? I do, but artificially by MISTING.

My 420 grow-buddy Jonnybtreed says



A cheap stick-on aquarium thermometer is a great way to check the temp of your system without checking pH, taking a water sample or even as a backup for your digital. Those cheap digital probes get off calibration a lot easier than you'd think. So for .99 I certainly suggest one of these .

HUMIDITY? that is more simple to me. Get the Humidity VERY high for VEGGING, and very low for FLOWERING.

Have you ever seen how an outdoor plant loves a rain shower? In Vegging, I mist them daily. I mist with plain distilled water and i mist with a foilage spray too. I do raise the lights up, to be careful with my bulbs getting wet and breaking. And when it rains outside, it also gets cloudy and the sun's rays are blocked. Plants in outdoors, in nature do get an ocasional rain shower or thunderstorm. Do you let it rain on yours? I do, but artificially by MISTING.
AND, I bought a cheap humidifier.


Cheap De-Humidifier for closets and tents
$40 at amazon.com



Cheap Cool Mist Humidifiers from Walmart:
$26


Graco, Cool Mist Humidifier, 1.5 Gallon $29.96



Ultrasonic Humidifier With Light $28.97



I must say I quit using the Humidifier. Discovered something cheaper and easier.

I roll up newspapers, like a cigar, and put them in a wide mouth quart jar full of water, like a wick, and they help raise humidity.

I lay saucers and bowls of water and 12 ounce styrafoam cups full of water around my reservoir tanks, to raise humidity.

I roll up face clothes like a cigar, (pics will follow) soak them in water and lay them on the lid in between the plants, to raise humidity.

I hang a soaking wet, dripping wet bath towel over a bucket in my closet, and it raises humidity.

I guarantee you that 3 or 4 of these tricks will raise the humidity in a closet by 15%, to 20%.

Temp Control
It is much easier to heat a cool room in winter, than it is to cool a warm room in the summer.

Here are some tips and tricks for controlling reservoir temps, especially in a hot room.

First, insulating your res really helps stabilize the temps. Wrap mylar or insulation around it.
I used to put blue ice bags in the res if the temps started to rise, but I can no longer recommend putting ice in the root zone. During my last grow I did this, and the plant closest to where I put the ice definitely didn't like it; it ended up stunted and there was a bald spot in the root zone where the ice went. And as the root mass grows there's generally not enough room to stick ice bottles in the res anyways.

If you want to use ice to cool the res you might want to try the following ideas:

I rigged some quart and half-gallon jugs using drip line and a drip-line shut-off valve. What I do is freeze them overnight and then stick the line in a hole on top of the res in the morning This serves a few purposes: 1) provides a slow flow of cold water to the res throughout the day, so the roots aren't shocked by a rapid change in temperature; 2) keeps the res topped off; and 3) serves as a ghetto A/C for the grow area. The main disadvantage is condensation; I have to keep a rag under the jug to soak up water.

I built a semi-recirculating DWC for my latest grow - a separate res allows you to easily do maintenance without disturbing the plant reservoirs; 2) I'm planning on doing a ScrOG - once the plants are in the screen lifting the lids becomes problematic; 4) more water means that things like temperature, ph, and nutrient concentration are more stable; and 3) if I need to cool the reservoirs I can put ice in the shared res without worrying about the roots. The main disadvantages are complexity, size of system, and more nute usage.

Some other ideas:

1. Put your air pump in a cool area. It seems like most people put their pump on top of the reservoir under the lights. If it is hot where you put the pump, then you're going to be pumping hot air into the res. I try to put mine outside the grow area if possible, or as close to the inlet as possible.

2. Direct some airflow from the inlet over the res using a fan.

3. If you use a humidifier like what ------- recommends try directing the air from the outlet over the res using a fan. Acts kind of like a swamp cooler; I've found it lowers the temp over my res by about 5 degrees.

4. Running a water pump continuously in the res will cause the temps to rise. I think I have a good idea how the stealth hydro system works, for instance, and I can certainly see the advantages of it during the early stages of growth. However, once the roots are in the water I'm not sure if running the pump continuously is necessary after the roots are deep in the water. I put the pump on a timer and run it kind of like an ebb and flow once the roots are in the water - like for 10 minutes 5 times a day.

Of course, like ------- says, the best way is to keep your room temp down if you can. 75* is out of the question for me, it costs too much to keep my A/C running all day at 70 degrees, especially since no one's home anyways. I keep my A/C at 80, and my grow room at 85.

Air Circulation


Oscilating Fan






An oscilating fan is an absolute necessityto me, in growing.
First it cools the area. Moving Air is cooler Air. Consider in nature, outdoors, plants get breezes and strong winds blown on them, for a reason.
Second, you know how to strenghten a muscle, or make it larger, or stronger or grow faster? You exercise it, you MOVE it.
To strenghten a plants stem, stalk or branch, or make it larger, or stronger or grow faster, you MOVE it too, with an oscilating FAN blowing on it.

Fans help with Temps, Humidity Control, Moisture Control, etc.

Air movement is very necessary for the health of your plants, but too strong of a fan can cause wind burn. Direct your fan toward the tops of the plants and toward the lights. Never position the fan blowing strongly downward on the leaves or you can get wind burn.

I do ocasionally blow the fan directly on my plants in VEG, and everytime after I MIST them, but only for a short while.

I bought a 2nd fan, like above, but on a three foot tall stand and I use both now, one blowing up and over, and one blowing down and low.

I took the largest beach towel I could find, actually two of them, and soaked them in the sink, and hung them in my closet, over a bucket, one in each end of the closet, on a clothes hanger, to raise my humidity. I will use more wet towels and more cups of water laying around when the plants get a little larger.

Notes:
One of my feeder tubes got disconnected for about 12 hours while I was away at work, before I noticed it and the two inch tall baby plant just dried up to a crisp and died.

I had 5 duds that did not sprout, so I replaced them with seeds I had germinating in the wet papertowels. But that means 6 of the plants are 5 days younger than the other 9. That is OK, with STRETCHING, (explained later) they will all look about the same size in two weeks at max.

That will explain the pics I am about to share.

So far, I have been limited to using 1/4 dose of nutes, causing me a slower start. I have sprouts big enough for a full dose of nutes, but in the same tank is one or two babies NOT ready for full nutes. Oh, well, fecal matter occurs sometimes!
A few days ago, I put 1/4 packet of GROW nutes and 1/4 package of MICRO nutes in both tanks and in the 5 gallon bucket. It was a small feeding, but the plants were not ready to eat a full meal and none of them were the same size in each tank. Here you see me preparing the SH powdered nutrients, I pour them through a tea strainer to make sure they are disolved.

One thing for the new Deep Water Culture grower to be aware of is the water flow from the six port manifold. IT MUST BE A SLOW TRICKLE!!
This is what happens if you have too much flow.

I had mine turned way down and this guy still got overwatered(only 1 of 4 seedlings in same tub). I turned that tube off overnight and it perked right back up.

IT MUST BE A VERY SLOW TRICKLE!!!

oday, I drained and replenished the two tanks and bucket.

I found one air stone not working as powerfully as it should, because the air line was crimped and folded at the end. I and all of us need to check our tanks inside daily.

I also found one tank had some hydroton dust in it, making the water slightly brown. It is from adding more hydroton later and not rinsing it good enough.
Draining and Replenishing will fix that.

You should always drain and replenish after the first ten to 14 days, and then every week, once a week. I am draining on Day 5, because of the Hydroton Dust.

To drain my tank, I use a 1/2 or 3/4 inch clear plastic hose made for aquariums, and an extra 5 gallon bucket. I lift the lid about 4 inches, with both arms in the tank, I disconnect the irrigation hub from the water pump. I use my fist as a coupllng, and put my fist on top of the water pump and stick the hose in my fist.
The pump pumps the tank empty within one minute into my bucket. I empty my tanks leaving only an inch or two in the bottom of the reservoirs.

Here I am holding the hose in my bucket and the other end is stuck into the top of the pump, emptying my tank.

Here I am draining the bucket.

If you buy the Drain Plug for the tank, remember to use some plumbers tape, or teflon tape, or some plumbers putty or glue, or it will leak. To use the Drain Plugs you also have to have the tank elevated and not at floor level. I am planning on some TALL plants, so I have my tank sitting on the floor.

I have friends that use a wet vac to drain it and I know several growers that bought a DRILL PUMP at Lowes or Home Depot to drain it. A Drill Pump attaches to a hand drill, and is fast, only costs about $12 to $15.
I also have friends that use a syphon hose or an aquarium vacumn hose to empty their tanks.


You should always have a two inch air pocket inbetween the bottom of the grow cups and the top of the water line.

When you do the 2nd Drain and Replenish, about the 14th to 21st day, you will see a growth spurt the next day, of two inches in height. Every week, when you do the Drain and Replenish, you will see a growth spurt. It is because of the AIR BATH the roots get while being out of the water. This AIR BATH can last up to ten minutes safely with absolutely no harm to the roots or plants. They love it. My roots are barely in the water and the Feeder Tubes are substaining them very good.

Link to Part 7 - http://www.strainhunters.com/portal/forum/bubbler-dwc-tutorial-part-7