Buick455gs
Member
This is my first hydro setup, running DWC in a 5gal bucket. I'm using frozen bottles of water to cool my res. My question is, will it harm the roots if they touch the frozen floating bottles?
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Question about res cooling
- Thread starter Buick455gs
- Start date
shouldnt be but from my personal expierence i had to use a shit otn of bottle to keep it cool and replace them throughout the day.
my place might of been hotter then yours though.
my place might of been hotter then yours though.
Buick455gs
Member
Thanks, I'm using 32oz gatorade bottles changing it out twice a day during lights on.
How warm is the res getting? You could consider adding a bubbler, some sub-culture and molasses. This will keep a micro-herd of beneficial microbes active in the res. They're like guard dogs, keeping the bad microbes at bay.
When I did this, I heated my res with an aquarium heater to 75F. Never, ever once had funk in the res.
When I did this, I heated my res with an aquarium heater to 75F. Never, ever once had funk in the res.
mate frozen water bottles will shock the plant if they touch the roots - do not use them! Some easy methods to lower the temps are:
put mylar or aluminium tape round your rez to reflect heat away
raise the rez off the floor
have a fan blowing the heat away from it
these will only low it a few degrees however, the best solution is just to buy a rez chiller, it will keep your temps at a constant 68F which means no root rot, no algal growth and super oxygenated water which your plant will love
put mylar or aluminium tape round your rez to reflect heat away
raise the rez off the floor
have a fan blowing the heat away from it
these will only low it a few degrees however, the best solution is just to buy a rez chiller, it will keep your temps at a constant 68F which means no root rot, no algal growth and super oxygenated water which your plant will love
obscuredbycloud
Member
^^ I disagree with shocking the plants, but anyway.
My temps are about 80 in my growhut. I have a different setup but I need to use frozen 2lit bottles and I have about 5 of them which I change out every few hours when the light is on, and at night, I do the same but my temp is easily to manage.
So I can keep my res down to low 70's, but I still need to get it lower and bottles are only a temp solution.
My temps are about 80 in my growhut. I have a different setup but I need to use frozen 2lit bottles and I have about 5 of them which I change out every few hours when the light is on, and at night, I do the same but my temp is easily to manage.
So I can keep my res down to low 70's, but I still need to get it lower and bottles are only a temp solution.
Txsbigtymer
Member
Before I got my chiller I coiled my air stone lines about 2 to 3 foot and zipped tied it to the louvers on my a/c unit and it worked better then I expected. hope that helps.
Yes, frozen bottles do not help your roots, why? Shove one down your pants to your nuts, and hold it there till you become clear on the concept. I grew that way, it is not a good solution, only a short term fix.The chaps above saying 75 and 80, disregard their advice going forward.
Insulation. and controling your environment temps is the key.
H
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ancientmariner
Member
LOL Haps.Yes, frozen bottles do not help your roots, why? Shove one down your pants to your nuts, and hold it there till you become clear on the concept. I grew that way, it is not a good solution, only a short term fix.
The chaps above saying 75 and 80, disregard their advice going forward.
Insulation. and controling your environment temps is the key.
H
I really think you should consider benefitial microbes as I posted earlier. Cold roots don't bode well for growth.
The reason you're cooling your res is to avoid primarily anaerobic bacterial growth. Turn the tables on this by bubbling heavily.
Introducing a small quantity of beneficial microbes in the res, plus some molasses to feed them will defend your res from these anaerobic invaders.
It's cheap, natural, highly effective and allows root temp to be higher which the plant prefers
The reason you're cooling your res is to avoid primarily anaerobic bacterial growth. Turn the tables on this by bubbling heavily.
Introducing a small quantity of beneficial microbes in the res, plus some molasses to feed them will defend your res from these anaerobic invaders.
It's cheap, natural, highly effective and allows root temp to be higher which the plant prefers
i run 6 5gal dwc buckets in my 4x4 tent, and do a 400 & 600 vertical. And my bucket water temps hovered around 78*, with a canopy temp of also 78*. So, i upgraded to a commercial 1 airpump that puts out 600gpm and also put a small fan blowing intake air onto the pump, and that lowered my bucket temps to 70*. And now i'm getting better growth from the plants. What size airpump are you using? I WAS using an ecoair 4. If you're not using a commercial pump in DWC, definately try one. It makes a big difference in temps and O2 saturation.
rrog, I do not say your way is wrong, but I would never, never add molasses, for most, that is asking for multiple problems. But I do not fault you,, just don't buy it myself.I do root autopsies on every crop, so I learn, and improve. Roots grown at 68-72f are consistantly healthy, at 75 and above, there is always evidence of root rot somewhere in the root. Below 65, root development and all growth slows, in water, not in soil.
There are many ways, I stick with insulation, because it works for me.
H
Well, you faulted me enough to feel the need to rate my post as "unhelpful"
What is the concern about molasses? It is so tremendously diluted that I would not think it would have an impact on nozzles. Also due to the dilution it isn't impacting overall nutrient balance.
Gonna have to go with Haps and Soph on this one. Roots submerged in water will uptake oxygen best at 68 degrees. There are many threads with links to scientific data here in the hydro section.
If you can grow with higher res temps, more power to you. However, I would never chance root rot or miss out on the better growth and happier plants.
If you can grow with higher res temps, more power to you. However, I would never chance root rot or miss out on the better growth and happier plants.
First of all, I realize no one here is going to raise their temps, etc. So I'm not here selling.
Fundamentally one problem with some perspective here is that when root systems start failing above 68F, etc., it's not the temp itself, per say, it's much due to the un-inoculated res solution. With no active agent to dissuade unwanted bacteria you'll of course get root rot when you raise temps into their favorite zone.
This all presumes you're getting sufficient atmospheric O2 in the medium. O2 is primarily introduced via air, not DO
A quick look on the internet for formal lab data indicates plants like corn (corn is not weed, I understand) have optimal root metabolism at temps above 70F. This assumes there is a mechanism to deter harmful bacteria.
I used this technique quite successfully in a chem hydro drip system. Started with peroxide, then moved to organics and bubblers in the chem res. Saturated O2 levels (based on temp) and never a hint of funk. Simple biology.
Again, not selling bubblers here, but wanted to clarify that temps above 70-75 will not be problematic if you have an inoculated res.
Chilling the system does not inherently help an organism that uses temperature as a metabolic driver.
I'm done with the rant, thanks for listening, and I won't trouble anyone any further.
Buick455gs
Member
Wow, thanks for all the responses. You never see this kind of love in the soil forums. Anyway like I said I'm running a 5gal DWC bucket, 2 Aqua Culture 5-15 gal air pumps (I use 2 pumps incase 1 dies), 4 small airstones, and Gen Hydro Flora nutrients. The reservoir is wraped in metal duct tape to keep out light, and the temps run 75F-78F. I saw some redish brown shit on the roots and went crazy. Well upon further research I found that Gen Hydro Flora Micro will stain the roots. I will not be investing in any res chillers or anything at this point as this is just a test run. I plan on completely switching over to hydro soon but that requires a complete room redesign (no room for 2'x3' Ebb & Flow trays), at which point I will be getting a res chiller if needed. I have 5 dirtball ladies flowering now and when their done it's on. Once again thank you for all the help. I think at this point I'll NOT use the frozen bottles and see what happens. If all else fails I always have my old dirtball ladies to fall back on.
