Bubbleponics vs Waterfarm

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stonedream

Member
what is the difference between the two? If i understood correctly bubbleponics is a DWC with added drip irrigation. Isn't that the same thing as a waterfarm?
 
mike91sr

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
Bubbleponics is just another name for DWC where the roots are submerged and the water is aerated. The waterfarm has the drip ring and is designed to contain roots mostly in the hydroton, and the res water underneath gets aerated via the drip ring.

I ran a water farm 8-pack for a bit, now use a RDWC, and am firing up a UCDWC as we speak. I didn't like the waterfarm nearly as much as the latter. Waaay too much hydroton, didn't like the separate grow chambers(netpots are way better), too small of containers, and the drip rings did nothing and I ended up pulling them off to add airstones which worked better, but then its just a seriously flawed DWC with too little capacity.

5gal bucket with an airstone is a much better choice, and can be built for about half the cost of a waterfarm unit.
 
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stonedream

Member
I've heard people state countless time that DWC is without a drip and Bubbleponics is DWC with a drip (they are not the same thing, or so i've read that here many times) People have even said that Bubbleponics is not true DWC because of the drip. so , forget about the names, what i really wanted to know is: a DWC with drip irrigation is pretty much the same thing as a waterfarm without the fancy tubing? I have a dwc system and wanted a waterfarm for next grow and if i can just add a drip i guess that's better than making another system. Anyways ty guys:peace:
 
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Evo8Emperor

Well-Known Member
the drip ring is useless for bubbleponics if you want to call it something. young plants keep the water barely touching the net pot and you'll be all set. let the water level drop a bit as it grows older if you want or some people keep it high through out veg and lower it during flower.

So its all apples to oranges just got to see what works best for you.

I wouldn't spend the money on drip rings and you wouldn't need a whole new system to try them out. just integrate with your current set up and see if there are any improvements. Do this on a new grow and not in the middle of one.
 
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stonedream

Member
Evo8Emperor said:
the drip ring is useless for bubbleponics if you want to call it something. young plants keep the water barely touching the net pot and you'll be all set. let the water level drop a bit as it grows older if you want or some people keep it high through out veg and lower it during flower.

So its all apples to oranges just got to see what works best for you.

I wouldn't spend the money on drip rings and you wouldn't need a whole new system to try them out. just integrate with your current set up and see if there are any improvements. Do this on a new grow and not in the middle of one.
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Unless i'm misinformed, saying drip ring is useless for bubbleponics sounds weird. Bubbleponics = DWC with a drip irrigation, without it its just a DWC, DWC = just an airstone in res, no irrigation, as you stated above.

I am currently in a DWC grow 3 weeks flower( no sign of pistils though... but its a 100% sativa i still have hope). Anyways, i've been reading journals and the most fun to read/amazing ones, especially in yield are the waterfarms. Then I looked at the concept and couldnt find much of a difference other than the irrigation with the circular tube. One other difference is the size of the pot containing the pellets. I will have to try the same 1 bucket system i currently have with irrigation and see if i can get similar results to a waterfarm, if not then it can only mean more hydroton pellets = more yield, cuz what other difference is there?
 
mike91sr

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
stonedream said:
Unless i'm misinformed, saying drip ring is useless for bubbleponics sounds weird. Bubbleponics = DWC with a drip irrigation, without it its just a DWC, DWC = just an airstone in res, no irrigation, as you stated above
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Regardless of terminology, I agree that a drip ring is useless in any form of DWC. I've used it, turned it off on 4 of my 8 sites, and saw no root or foliage difference after a month. Disconnected the rest and haven't looked back. You already have the roots sitting in solution. What exactly do you hope to achieve with it?
 
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stonedream

Member
mike91sr said:
Regardless of terminology, I agree that a drip ring is useless in any form of DWC. I've used it, turned it off on 4 of my 8 sites, and saw no root or foliage difference after a month. Disconnected the rest and haven't looked back. You already have the roots sitting in solution. What exactly do you hope to achieve with it?
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well, the water gets oxygenated when surface water comes into contact with air, a irrigation system allows your reservoir to come into contact with surface of hydroton and therefore you get more oxygen for the same air pump (no water pump used). But you've tried it and seen no difference, probably meaning you have a strong enough air pump anyways, maybe the secret to a water farm is a large pot with lots of hydroton that needs the irrigation to stay moist. yeah, kind of makes sense now that i think about it, more roots in hydroton means more oxygen which means faster growth, and the bottom roots do the real drinking...

I saw some posts of root mass in water farms and its just crazy, really crazy.
 
mike91sr

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
Have you considered just adding more air to the res you currently use? I'm just not sure why you would want to replace water/rootspace with hydroton. More mess, cost, hassle, fungus/pest risk, and less rootspace. If you want to maximize oxygen availability to a plant, do one of 2 things: Aeroponics or large air pumps. Also, running a drip over a root as opposed to floating it in a solution will cause less root tips to form. If you know about root physiology, you know it's the tips we want. You can't force one section to only take in oxygen and the other to only take in nutrients, doesn't work like that.

I'm also not sure what you mean about waterfarm root masses, I've been more impressed by my DWC roots from the exact same room. Bigger plants=bigger roots. The best roots I've ever seen are from HPA or AA, THOSE are efficient root systems.
 
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stonedream

Member
mike91sr said:
Have you considered just adding more air to the res you currently use? I'm just not sure why you would want to replace water/rootspace with hydroton. More mess, cost, hassle, fungus/pest risk, and less rootspace. If you want to maximize oxygen availability to a plant, do one of 2 things: Aeroponics or large air pumps. Also, running a drip over a root as opposed to floating it in a solution will cause less root tips to form. If you know about root physiology, you know it's the tips we want. You can't force one section to only take in oxygen and the other to only take in nutrients, doesn't work like that.

I'm also not sure what you mean about waterfarm root masses, I've been more impressed by my DWC roots from the exact same room. Bigger plants=bigger roots. The best roots I've ever seen are from HPA or AA, THOSE are efficient root systems.
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https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/458371-scottyballs-tribute-grow-pineapple-express-26.html

check that out, the pictures of the root mass, they just look so healthy and nice, compared to my roots that look ok but not nearly as great.

scottyballs' original grow had the same kind of awesome roots, and thats just with floranova bloom no other nutes or additives or h2o2 or anything.

This is why i wanted to get a waterfarm... everyone who tries it seems to be lovin it and my hydro store doesn't have them and i have to make it myself or order online, which made me think of my original post in the first place.

oh yeah, i just remembered, i read in scottys original thread saying that he spent thousands on aeroponics and tried other systems too and went back to waterfarm because it was more simple and better at the same time.

i learned so much from this https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/344359-pineapple-express-g13-labs-seed.html

EDIT: another pic of great roots https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/344359-pineapple-express-g13-labs-seed-29.html
 
SOMEBEECH

SOMEBEECH

Well-Known Member
Bubbleponics is also where i got into Hydro, Like a 6 site deal with powder nutes theres also a site called Tht.

As far as drip ring when roots hit nutes,No need Unless you have a lot of medium.

I have one tht has a Coco lid 12"you fill with hydrotron its about 5-6inches deep,So you must run the drip
all the time.Maybe not must but you will loose alot of rootmass if tried to let the roots hit nutes.


Beech
 
mytwhyt

mytwhyt

Well-Known Member
Anyone that recommends not using the drip ring, doesn't understand what happens in the hydroton... When you remove the drip ring, you stop dissolving oxygen in the water. The concentration of oxygen in the air and water are not the only factors which determine how much oxygen will be dissolved in water. The amount of surface area between the water and the air will also determine the rate of oxygen exchange. The hydroton provides a huge area of interface. A bigger surface area, as when water runs over rocks in a rapids, allows more oxygen to enter the water. Water temperature is also very important in determining the amount of oxygen which will become dissolved in water. Filling your waterfarm with air stones won't put any more D.O in the water than the drip ring will.. That's not just my opinion, it's what happens in the wet hydroton...
 
mytwhyt

mytwhyt

Well-Known Member
They are great. This is the latest in a modified waterfarm... I think about wk 6.. Can't show you her bottom right now, but you can peek under her skirt when she's dead.... I showed you mine, show me yours....
 

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nitro harley

nitro harley

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Malevolence

Malevolence

New Member
If you have a big net basket full of rockwool/hydroton it probably is best to use a drip ring... I just have 3.5" net pots. Those roots are impressive... how long did you veg?

I think the picture points out the roots much prefer to be submerged in dwc than in hydroton. I could be wrong, but it looks like the main root mass was in the bucket, and with a net basket that large, it looks like you are getting 2.5g - 3g of water and root space to work with. With a smaller net pot and no drip ring, you have more like 4g - 4.5g of water and root space.

I don't really know... I've never tried a drip ring or bigger net pots; just smoking a bowl and just a thought. One thing I do know is you can't go wrong with a plain 5g dwc bucket. Nice as fuck roots either way.
 
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