Bubble Bucket questions

Starting bubble bucket grow, so I have few questions before start growing.
1. What air pump (g/H; W) do I need for 5 gallon bucket?
2. Which airs tones would give the best result for 5 gallon bucket? Found that there are different sizes and shapes
3. How to plant in bubble bucket if I start from seed. After germination what I have to do, before I plant in bubble bucket? I know that if I start from clone, get roots on them, then I can plant them straight into bubble bucket.
4. I haven't studied all the "Lucas Formula" thread, but could I use different hydro nutrients bloom & micro, instead of Flora Grow, and does Lucas formula work the same in water with 5,5 - 6,0pH?

for the airstone you are going to want a round one that will fit in the middle or slightly off to the side at botom of res.

the thing about DWC is you can use straight from seed or clone, germ your seed first, make sure your growing medium is ph balanced, ( i use rockwool)

Get your netpots of coarse and then you will need your hydroton rocks or hydroton clayballs of some sort to hold your rockwool in place and to spread water equally around the seedling.


For you first week or 2 from the seedling do not add any nutes to your ph balance water, which should be anywhere from 5.9-6.4

DWC is by far the best way to grow in my opinion.

After germination put seedling into rockwool and straight into BB system?

For a single 5-gallon bucket I would use a Whisper 60 gallon air pump. Most two outlet pump will provide enough air.

I like to use the 2" disks. I have tried most stones and wands and found they all seem to get the job done. The disks are simple and stay put with a glob of aquarium silicone.

Place your seeds or sprouts in 1" or 2" rockwool cubes. A few CFLs and 20% veg formula are enough to keep them happy. When you see roots through the rockwool, place the cubes in your net-pots and cover with hydroton. Install your net-pot/basket into your bucket at 50% veg formula (I use 100%, but I don't know what nutrients you are using and how your plant will react). Keep the nutrient level touching the bottom of the basket for a few days or until you see roots falling from the basket. Then lower and maintain the nutrient level at one inch below the basket.

General Hydroponics Flora Series Feeding Strategy - Lucas Formula

G-M-B (Grow-Micro-Bloom)
0-5-10 - For Vegetative cycle (24/0)
0-8-16 - For Flowering cycle (12/12)

The numbers above indicate the number of milliliters (ml/cc) of Flora Grow, Flora Micro or Flora Bloom formulas that I use in one gallon (US Liquid) of nutrients.

You will notice I dont use any of the "Flora Grow” formula, do not need to, the "Flora Micro" provides plenty of Nitrogen.

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.


How to use the Lucase formula in my bucket?
I will give an example step by step.

Vegetative cycle (first stage of growth when the lights are on 24 hours a day):

My bucket's fill point is at 3.5 gallons. So I need to measure 3.5 gallons of pure water (distilled or reverse osmosis) into an empty bucket (not your bubble bucket, just a clean bucket).
The formula calls for 5cc of Flora Micro per gallon (5x3.5=17.5cc). So I add 17.5cc of the Micro to my bucket of water. Stirr it in good.
Next the formula calls for 10cc of Flora Bloom per gallon (10x3.5=35cc). So I add 35cc of bloom and stirr.
Always add the nutrients seperate. Never mix them together before stirring them into the water.

PH....... Your PH needs to be between 5.7 and 6.2. Test your nutrient. Add your adjustment solution in small amounts until you know how strong the stuff is. Mine take 5 full eye droppers of PH up to get my target PH of 6.0
Yours will not be the same. Depends on the water.

Flowering Cycle (lights on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours).

Same as above except a bit more nutrient.
8cc of micro per gallon (8x3.5=28cc).
16cc of Bloom per gallon (16x3.5=56cc)

They sell paint buckets that are clear and have measurments on the side. Good tip.

Any questions?

So I place seedling in rockwool cube and place that inside bubble bucket system. Should I turn air pump on, when the water reaches bottoms of net pots?

This disc?


Placed like this?

You have to always keep the air pump on.

Keep the sprouts in the cubes outside your buckets until you see roots. I just use a pie tin.

You can keep it in the bucket from the start but it will take a lot of checking and more work to keep the cube at the right moisture level.

About air pump, does 1W = 1gallon works for bubble bucket?

I don't know.

are more bubbles better?

so like putting an 80 watt pump on a 12 bubble bucket system

also how loud do those commercial 80 watts get?

depending on the brand of pump can range from the amount of decibels they put out, most actually list the dB on them to give a idea of which pump will be more silent. im not sure but i think the one rumple mentions the whisper i used to use, it was pretty much completely silent, sadly i had a freak accident and drowned the pump and broke it, but it was the most silent pump ive ever used. if im correct it should look like a streamlined blue turtle, with extended rubber feet. its design is probably the best ive seen as far as pumps go also. i recommend this pump if you really care that much about how loud they are, most arent noticeable though once you attach the tube especially if its attached to an air stone and set under water.

the great thing that is different about the whisper though is the motor does not touch the ground, if vibration bothers you also. most other more generic pumps are just flat with rubber bottom, like i said its design is probably perfect and it has feet that lift itself, to be even more silent and cause less vibration than others.

they will sound much louder of course when a tube it not connected. so dont freak out like i did first time i got mine.

well glad i found this, answered my question if rumple used lucas formula or not, i think ill give this a go considering ive spent hundreds of dollars on every possible GH nutrient available, my closet looks like a store lol.

i do have a question for you rumple though if you see this, should i even bother using flora nova bloom? ive used the nova series for my past grows. if i can use it instead and if it will prove better results ill use it. being as your a very experienced grower do you think it would be better to use that? or not really make that big of a difference? i know its expensive but i really have loved the results ive gotten from nova, so if i can stick with it id love to.

mostly everyone i run into uses just the basic 3 part products, just wondering if possibly you have dabbled with nova at all or would know if it would be better to use than the basic bloom from GH. thanks.