quick dwc question

[avant gardener]

trying to cut costs i shot myself in the damn foot an got the cheap ass orange homer buckets instead of the black ones. surprise, i've got algae. there are a bunch of them plumbed together with 2inch pvc, and it's not feasible to replace them at this point in the grow.

my knee jerk reaction is to black them out with paint, but that's going to be a huge fricking mess, and i'm pretty sure that the voc fumes aren't any good for the girls.

anyone have any ideas for a safe, clean, economical way to keep light from shining through my buckets?

 

[ladydog]

Hey I havent tried it, but i see alot of people using reflective duct tape to keep light out of buckets. Just tape up the outside of them and they should keep light out. Also you can add bleach to your rez to kill the algae, and it wont harm your plants at all in small amounts.

 

[careforcrops!]

Insulate your buckets with silver bubble insulation then wrap it in black plastic works great

 

[stillsmokin843]

i was gonna say the same thing hvac tape and or any good flexible refletive material should work well reflextic i think is supposed to work well havent used it yet. any thing like this should work well

 

[stillsmokin843]

fyi if you do decide to paint them dont forget to scuff the buckets well so the paint will stay stuck but i still think reflective is better

 

[avant gardener]

silver hvac tape it is. pictures to follow.

 

[Leeroy&Co:]

aluminium foil

 

[overbudjet]

Insulate your bucket with bubble insulation,it will keep light out and keep your water cold.

 

[avant gardener]

Insulate your bucket with bubble insulation,it will keep light out and keep your water cold.

with the growtronix on the wall and everything.
nice lab man!

 

[Warped1]

I always wondered about those orange buckets..now I know. Glad you got it fixed

 

[avant gardener]

yah.
thanks for all the suggestions.

i got through taping about ten of those buckets with the silver hvac foil before i felt like hanging myself. no way in hell was i getting through the rest of them before xmas.

as it turned out, the answer was right under my nose.
the white/black visqueen i already put on the walls wound up being the easiest fix.
my shop might not look like a funky spacecraft,
but i got the whole job done in less than two days working alone.
it cost me less than a hundred bucks,
and it works just fine.

$7 a piece for black buckets?
hydrofarm and sunlight supply can both kiss my ass.

 

[avant gardener]

got it done.
here is how they look:



thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

lowes buckets.