A question on bucket bubbler size

http://shop.modularhydro.com/Eco-Flo-Quad-Hydroponics-System-4-Quart-EcoFlo-Quad-4quart.htm

The above link is a four quart system (and they also have a two quart system).

My question is why do I need a 3.5 or 5 gallon system?

Wont my plants do just as well in a four quart system?

-thanks

simple bigger roots bigger fruits

http://shop.modularhydro.com/Black-Widow-Grow-Bucket-DWC-Quad-35-gal-System-Bundle-Quad-blac-widow.htm

I’ve come up with this 4 bucket, 3.5 gallon bubbler system. I think it will fit well in a four by four tent. Any thoughts on the above system?

-thanks

From what I’ve read, if hydro is new to you (as it is for me), larger buckets are easier to learn with, more stable than smaller ones

I just do the math a basket dictates water nutrient lvl in a container so roughly 5-6" of depth is airspace this is needed to prevent trunk rot in a 5 gal bucket that is roughly a gallon so in a 3.5 gal system I would assume a gallon loss as well? maybe more since it is square and shallow?
Doing that simple math I then go how big can my root mass get without swinging my ph like crazy in 2.5 gallons of water? and then I think of how root bound my plants get in 3 gallons of dirt and why my plants in 5gal pots are nearly twice the size? My next hydro DWC system is 100L container but when full and running I expect it will hold 75L 2 plants large enough to occupy a 4x4’ scrog or 4 fast flipped plants.

Hey Donald,

This is what I’m not getting and it’s making my head spin! Many moons ago I used to put 6 inch Square pots in a tray, 6 pots per tray, four trays in a square with air stones in every tray in about an inch of water under a hid (24 plants packed closely together) and I’d grow them straight up, no cropping no trimming.

I call growing like that ‘Hot & Fast’, opposed to low and slow style which would be analogous to scrogging… (hot and fast and low and slow are terms from another hobby, barbecuing but I feel there is an analogy)

I’m so confused right now! Do I want to grow the way I used to, a proven system that I’m comfortable with or do I want to go the way of scrogging training etc.? I’ve got to decide so I can buy the necessary equipment.

Those are some really impressive gardens I’m seeing with just a few trained plants! But at the end of the day I’m interested in maximum yield for minimum effort.

If 24 plants can give me even just a half ounce each every two months I’m happy! Hot and Fast grows them quick so theres not much maintenance and a lot less time for things to go wrong during a grow cycle.

Are there any other growers who use a system similar to mine? I am very curious what others think and would very much appreciate input? I see a lot of the big commercial gardens online look like they’re not cropping and I got to think that’s the fastest way for maximum production

-thanks

hot and fast is SEA OF GREEN lots of smaller plants single or less kolas DWC deep… water culture is a different system but can be done exactly the same. I am simply offering my opinion that I myself want bigger roots deeper water by no means am I saying don’t go with what you want or think will suit you best.
I am merely voicing a second point or playing a sounding board for you to make your own choices with the information provided since many here like to train and SCROG bigger buckets works better for this and I voice ideas with others in mind too. Many are legal growers with a limit on how many plants they can have so they desire most yield per plant which is reason they SCROG they can keep mother plants and make a single plant fit 4x4’ screen not breaking the rules for their permits :wink: I assumed this was your goal my bad

Personaly I grow perpetual and not exactly legal I crop a plant every 10 days and average 1.5 oz for my smaller plants but they progressively get larger since a clones have head start over my seedlings started with 2 months veg now have plants that vegged nearly 4 months double the size of my first plants in flower.

Hey Donald thanks for the input, well here is part of the confusion because when I started this about 30 years ago SEA OF GREEN meant exactly what you just said and now its morphed into ScrOGging somehow…

Everything changed. I’ve been away for about 20 years and everything has changed and I’m just trying to catch up!

I’m mmj and legal up to 10 ounces but that’s not my biggest concern, I want to get setup to run steady again, much like yourself.

I’m in the design phase now & I’ve got a lot of choices and can’t afford to buy twice. Did I mention how much things have changed :slight_smile:

-thanks

Many of the changes are good they are in the science end which is evolved end if you want to grow SEA OF GREEN make your own bubbler rubber made tote a few airstones pump and you’re off to the races

Hi @Paranorman,

You probably want a flood and drain table, also known as “ebb and flow”, if you want to do a “sea of green” with a bunch of small single cola quick and fast plants.

You could absolutely do DWC with a bunch of small modular containers, but it would be best if you could then also have them all connected in a “undercurrent recirculating system” to avoid the aforementioned instability with pH in systems that have very little water volume compared to the size of the roots and size of the plant. Having one control reservoir to check pH and EC/TDS will also make it a lot easier than having to check each container’s pH and TDS individually.

ScrOGging has developed because of laws that restrict total plant count. Much of the way the laws have been written, they consider seedlings and freshly rooted clones no different than adult plants and they all count towards your total.

happy growing,

MacG

Thanks Mac, Donald mentioned plant count a couple post back and I finally got it!

(I feel like Duh! right, but at least I get it now. Like I say I’ve been away for a looong time)

I appreciate all the input, I was just about to order some 3.5 gallon bubblers but now I’m going to go with what I have and what I know and I’ll be fine now that I know the reason why people are going to such great lengths to train plants.

Scrogs are beautiful and impressive and it’s awesome when one plant is made into a monster but it doesn’t really fit my need/situation right now.

-thanks