Bucket System

8/4/2019 Bucket System

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Thank you and we hope you enjoy hydroponics and building your own system.

Laura and Tipowners ofwww.Hydro-Plans.com

High Performance Bucket System

Grow plants faster with a bigger yield, build this system, you won't be sorry. This is a great

system that is easy to make. This system works on the drip method of hydroponics. I like usingthe expanded clay balls but you can use Perlite, lava rocks, pea gravel, coco fiber anything that

drains well and offers the roots plenty of space for oxygen.

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All the parts, except for the clay balls, were purchased from Home Depot, andWalmart. You can get the clay balls at a hydroponic store or online. Pea gravel is very cheap and

works very well, giving good support to hold up the plant. You can get gravel at any rock quarry.

What you will need to build:

5 Gal Bucket

Any general 5 gal bucket will work but stayaway from clear buckets that let in light.

This bucket will hold your nutrientsolution so Please Get a New Bucket that

hasn't had paint or toxic chemicals in it!

This one pictured on the left is from HomeDepot is only $4.99

1/2 Gal Bucket or Flower Pot

I used this plastic flower pot from Walmart.You can use any container that will fit

snuggly inside the 5 gal bucket but shorterleaving room to hold nutrient solution. This

flower pot works nicely it is 13.5 inchesacross the top. 10 inches from top tobottom. 7 inches across the bottom.

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inch inside diameter rubbergrommets

You only need one grommet for eachsystem you make.

You can get these at any hardware store,Home depot etc. They will be in theelectrical section.

This is used to seal the inch elbow thatgoes through the bottom side of the 5 gal

bucket.

inch barbed elbow

This is used to go through the side of the

bucket into the rubber grommet.

It must be inch outside dimension to fitsnug into the barbed elbow connector.

You can get these at any hardware store inthe irrigation sprinkler section.

During assembly the grommet goes intobucket first then the elbow goes into thegrommet. Soapy water will help you push

the elbow into the grommet.Notice the grommet goes between the 2ridges on the barbed elbow.



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inch barbed T Connector

The T connector is used for the drip ringthat supplies the nutrient solution to the

plant.

You need 1 for every system you build.You can get these in any hardware store in

the sprinkler section.

3/8 inch Outside Diameter Tubing

The important measurement is the outsidediameter. It needs to be able to fit inside ofthe inch T connector.

You can get at any hardware store in theplumbing section. The tubing is white .Important dimensions are below:

Inside diameteris inchOutside diameteris 3/8 inch

You need at least 2 feet per system. I got25 feet at Home Depot for about $5



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inch PVC pipe

You need about 16 inches for each systemyou make. It can be purchased at mosthardware stores.

It isn't expensive, but you may have to buy

a minimum amount of 10 feet.

Aquarium sealant 100% silicone

You don't have to have this but you shoulduse it to glue the air tubing in the pump

assembly.

Always use non toxic adhesives whenpossible as you are growing plants that willprobably be consumed.

I got this at Freidman brothers homeimprovement about $3.50



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Aquarium air pump

This air pump shown is a dual outlet pumpfrom Walmart. You can run a couple ofyour hydroponic buckets with this pump.

You don't have to get the dual model getwhat your budget allows.

Make sure you get air tubing also.

Hydroton Clay Balls OR

I like the clay balls for this but you can useother products that are less expensive.

Pea gravel works great, gives good plantsupport, and is real cheap!

Perlite works good, less plant support.

Lava rock works fine and gives goodsupport for plants.

Well that is the list of parts you need to build the high performance bucket system. You will

need a power drill and some drill bits. Pipe cutters or a hack saw and thats it.

Ready to start building? Lets go and remember if you are having problems contact me, I willbe happy to answer any questions for you.



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The first thing we need to do is drill a hole in the side ofthe 5 gallon bucket for the inch grommet to go into.

Look at the picture on the left. Notice that the inchhole is at the bottom of the bucket. You need to go as lowas possible without breaking out of the bottom. Drill thehole 1 and inches up from the bottom. Drill slowly soyou don't make the hole bigger than inches.

The grommet needs to go into the hole and provide a watertight seal after the inch elbow is inserted.

Next put the grommet into the inch hole in the bucket.

After the grommet is in the bucket take the inch elbowand put a little soapy water on it to ease the installation intothe grommet.

You need to be patient and use a bit of force for it to go in.

The picture on the left shows the elbow properly installedinto the side of the bucket.

The picture on the bottom left shows the inside of thebucket. Notice the grommet is even all the way around.

Set the bucket aside as you are done with the 5 gallonbucket portion of the assembly.



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This is the pot that holds the plant. Notice thehole in bottom of the pot. It is as close aspossible to the edge.

The hole needs to be approx 7/8 inches. The inch PVC pipe needs to go through this holeand be semi snug.

Measure your outside dimensions of your PVCpipe and drill accordantly.

In this picture you can see the pipe is in thehole and standing on its own.

Remember measure twice and drill once.

You can always make a hole bigger but youcan't make it smaller.

Now that the hole is drilled for the pumpassembly we need to drill drainage holes.

Look on the next page for the details.



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Here you can see the pot upsidedown. Now there is no perfectspacing for your holes.

Drill the holes with a drill bit that isapprox 1/8 of an inch. The sizedepends on what kind of material youare using in the bucket.

The purpose of the holes is fordrainage. It is very important thatyou have excellent drainage.

Also if you use the bigger aggregatefor your system there is more airavailable in the immediate root zone.

Your plant will grow and the rootswill end up going out of the bottom of

the pot and grow inside of the main bucket. That is normal. Now you can put the pot asideand we will start the pump assembly.

Now cut a piece of the white tubingapprox 17 inches long, that is notthe final length just a starting point.

Next measure the outside of your airtubing and drill a hole 1 inch upfrom the end of the tube.

This hole will be used to insert yourair tubing into.

Look at the picture on the left to geta better idea.

Next we will get the air tubing readyto insert into your pump column.



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Take a piece of your air tubing and heat the tip of an inch with a match or lighter to make itsoft enough to bend. You need to keep the fire moving as not to melt the plastic. When it issoft bend the end at a 45 degree angle and keep it there while it cools.

Be careful not to burn yourself.

After it cools cut the tip parallel to the tubing. Look at the upper left picture.

Now we can insert the end of the air tubing into the white tubing. Look at upper right picture.Now glue it with a dab of aquarium sealant. Tape the air tubing to the white tubing while thesealant dries.

Set that aside and lets go to the next step.

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This is the inch PVC pipe that gives support to the pump assembly. Cut the pipe to 14 and inches. Then cut a 45 degree angle on one end of the pipe. Look at the picture on the topleft. Be careful cutting the pipe as not to cut yourself. You can use a hacksaw or PVC pipecutters.

Then push the white tubing with the air tubing

on it into the PVC pipe. The tubing will go allthe way into the pipe until it reaches the end.

Look at the picture to the left. You can see thetip of the white tubing almost to the tip of the 45degree cut in the PVC pipe. That is how far youwant it to go in.

Now set the pump assembly aside and lets buildthe drip ring. We are almost finished.



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Now take the in barbed T connector and cut it on the last ring like in the upper right picture.You can use pipe cutters like in the picture or a hacksaw blade. Make sure to cut both sides ofthe T connector. Now cut a piece of the white tubing 18 to 19 inches. Stick the tubing intoboth sides of the T connector until it looks like the picture below left.

Then mark the tubing with a permanent marker for the holes like in the picture on the bottomright.

Then dill the 7 holes with a small drill bit 1/16 inch. The T connector should easily move onthe white tubing and go 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the tubing for the correct position



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Now we need to put the pieces together and finish the system. The drip ring can be installedonto the pump assembly. Then we can put the pump assembly with drip ring into the growingpot. Then put the pot into the 5 gallon bucket. Look at the pictures below to see it moreclearly.

Drill a hole in the top of the pot just big enough for the air tubing to pass through. Then stickthe air tubing through the hole. The end of this tubing will hook to your air pump.



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Now we need to cut a piece of clear inch tubing 14 inches long to attach to the inchelbow connector in the side of the 5 gallon bucket. Put a little aquarium sealant on the outsideof the barbed elbow to keep it water tight.

Then drill a hole on the top of the pot just big enough for a 4 inch piece of white tubing to gothrough. This will serve to keep the clear inch tubing upright until you want to drain it.

The clear tubing does two things. First it allows us to see the level of the nutrient solution inthe 5 gallon bucket. Second it can be swung down to drain the 5 gallon bucket when changingthe nutrient solution. Look at the following pictures.

Top left picture shows the hole for the 4 inch piece of white tubing. The picture above rightshows the white tubing through the hole in the pot and into the clear tubing to hold it upright.

Picture on right below shows barbed elbow swiveled down to the draining position.



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Now the assembly is completed. You are ready to add the growing medium and fill up thenutrient solution and start growing.

Whatever you use for the growing chamber (pot) you must first rinse it thoroughly. It isimportant that you start off with clean medium.

I put the clay balls in a strainer pot so I could rinse it before use. You can see in the upperright picture the red coming off of the clay balls. We don't want that in our nutrient solution

.Fill it up partway and position your pump assembly then fill it the rest of the way.



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Thats it you now have a completed high performance bucket system and you are ready to addplants and start growing. When you pick a plant to grow you need to rinse off the roots withtepid water to get out most of the dirt. Be gentle otherwise you could kill or shock the plant.

When you first introduce a plant into your system don't worry about nutrient solution for thefirst few days. Just use water in your system with B1 in it to help with stress and shock.

When the plant is looking happy in 4 to 5 days you can drain the water out and mix up somehydroponic nutrient solution. If you don't have it yet use some miracle grow for tomatoesmixed at the same ratio for fruits and vegetables the same size as the plant in your system.

I hope you can assemble this unit without any problems. Remember if you have anyquestions make sure you contact us by clicking on the link at the bottom of any page.

Thank you again for buying plans from us and check out our other hydroponic system plans atour store

Laura and Tip

Owners www.hydro-plans.com

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Bucket System

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