Looking for answers

I will be switching from soil to a homemade 5-gallon bubbler bucket here shortly. I am doing this cuz I recently came into some WW seeds, and I want to maximize my yeild as much as I can, for as little as possible. I would absolutely love to put some serious money into these babies, but as it happens to be I am broke as a joke. My problem is, I have no experience what-so-ever with hydroponics. I am however a very quick learner, and would like to make sure I do everything right. Now, for someone as broke as me, what are the essential products(inc. nutes, medium, lights, etc.) I should be looking for. My setup will be as stated,

1 x Black 5-gal. bucket with lid
1 x air pump
1 x airstone
1 x 6in. net pot

There will be no enclosure of any kind. This project will be set down in a corner of my basement. The basement stays between 75-80F. Fresh air is constant. I will just be hanging a light(or lights) from a rafter above the setup. I would like to use CFL's, but I am having trouble finding any
125-250 watters in my area. Any helpful info anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

'bump' anyone?

I just started a similar setup yesterday I am new to growing so we can help each other out I have a tub with 3 pots, a few sprouts, I also have a soil and cfl female growing I am tryin everything to see what works, even have an aerogarden but I am saving that to clone in i think lol

I was looking into buying one of those Aerogarden's, but like I said, I am completely broke. My setup is just a one-spot bucket. I'm going to do everything I can to make each plant female. I don't really know how much I can do, but I've read some things. Just gonna have to give it a shot in the dark. For some reason, I'm not getting a lot of help here. What's up guys and girls, where is the love.

bump, bump

I'm not sure how much help i can be but i use general hydroponics three-part nutrients plus some additives. my grow media is hydroton in net pots (I do line the net pot with coco-tech but that isn't necessary) - though making sure no light enters the reservoir is important. i use a half of a rapid rooter to hold the seed - but you could use coco, rock wool, or whatever you prefer/already have... i would also recommend HIDs but if you are stuck using CFLs just keep them close to the plant and keep the plants short (which will effect yield negatively).

also -- i've never used the aerogarden but every successful grow i've seen using them has customized them so much you might as well of taken the money spent on an aerogarden and buy some HIDs.

anyway - that's my two cents

Well, I am planning on using rockwool cubes and either Hydroton clay or lava rock. What is rapid rooter, is that a type of rockwool?

I am using rockwool and hydroron in my home made bubler set up the aerogarden is just something I wanted to try figured why not...... I do have a nute question will any liquid nutes work or does it have to be hydro/aero specific??

poke_smot said:

Well, I am planning on using rockwool cubes and either Hydroton clay or lava rock. What is rapid rooter, is that a type of rockwool?

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rapid rooter looks like a jiffy pellet or rock wool:
Hydroempire, Organic Hydroponic Nutrients, Indoor Grow Lights and Supplies - Rapid Rooter Replacement Plugs - Bag of 50 [GMGHRRPLG50] - $11.95 (NOTE- I am not advocating this store - this is just an example) - i like them cause they don't mess with pH, they are easy to use and i have a bunch of them.

bigd921 said:

I am using rockwool and hydroron in my home made bubler set up the aerogarden is just something I wanted to try figured why not...... I do have a nute question will any liquid nutes work or does it have to be hydro/aero specific??

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I don't know if any will work but i'd recommend something designed for hydro since they also probably help buffer pH. any two-part or three-part should get you started.

thanx email468. is there a cheap route i can take on the nutes?

like Schultz or Osmocote?

i am not familiar with either of those products ... sorry.

Do you know of any companies that have 2 or 3-part nutes that are cheap? I'm tellin you, the only person more broke than me is the homeless guy under the overpass. lol

those brands you mentioned might work great - i just don't know. as for the common nutrient manufacturers, i think Advanced Nutrients is the most pricey but many folks say they are "the best". i use General Hydroponics three-part because that is what came with my system and i use tap water and G.H. has a hardwater micro solution. BioBizz and foxfarm are two more companies i hear are good (again no personal experience). you can price them but i think G.H. is probably cheapest - i say this because they come with a lot of systems.

i am looking for a cheap nute route also, guy at my hdro store recomended a 2 stage it waas $35 total if I cant find a better alternative I will go that route

a buddy of mine said he did a simple bubler set up and used the liquid miracle grow for soil in it and it worked fine, not sure any ideas?

i would go with the cheap hydro nutes before anything else.

Alright, thanx a lot! I'm gonna go look into a couple of different ones.

cool! good luck and happy growing.

thanx email