Cheapest, simplest way of managing temps in a single DWC bucket

S

sven_lordy

Active Member
Hi all! New to the forum (this is my first post) and also a first-time grower. I'm now 5 weeks in with a bubble kush plant. She's a hardy little thing, and it's a good job too... I'm treating this as an R&D run and sadly, I always seem to learn more from my mistakes than my successes. I've now got nutrients and pH dialled in perfectly and she's finally starting to take shape.

One thing I struggled with, and I looked EVERYWHERE for answers... is managing temps. I made 2 simple changes which mean my reservoir is now sat at 18-21c all day, every day, despite grow room temp being an average 28c (82.4f)

1) Covered the lid and sides of the bucket in foil
2) Angled my fan so the humidifier partially blows on the side of the bucket
3) I keep an extra 2l of nutrient solution. That extra 2l lives in the fridge with an ice pack in all day. First thing in the morning I first draw my next 2l from the bucket (less water to cool), before slowly adding the refrigerated to the reservoir. I stick a fresh ice pack in the 2l drawn, put it in the fridge, eat breakfast, then add that 2l into my bucket before drawing the final 2l which sits while I'm out all day.
4) Repeat the exercise when I get home around 6.

I'm using a 5 gallon bucket - if using something bigger, just increase the volume of your reserve nutrient solution.

I'm running a 20/0 schedule under a Mars Hydro TSW 2000, from 6am to 2am. I know some people just throw an ice pack in the reservoir, but this runs the risk of shocking the roots.

This method is dirt cheap and highly effective - nutrient temperature hasn't slipped out of optimal range in the last 10 days since I started using this method.

Hope this helps another newbie! Cheers :)
 
Last edited:
Wastei

Wastei

Well-Known Member
sven_lordy said:
Hi all! New to the forum (this is my first post) and also a first-time grower. I'm now 5 weeks in with a bubble kush plant. She's a hardy little thing, and it's a good job too... I'm treating this as an R&D run and sadly, I always seem to learn more from my mistakes than my successes. I've now got nutrients and pH dialled in perfectly and she's finally starting to take shape.

One thing I struggled with, and I looked EVERYWHERE for answers... is managing temps. I made 2 simple changes which mean my reservoir is now sat at 18-21c all day, every day, despite grow room temp being an average 28c (82.4f)

1) Covered the lid and sides of the bucket in foil
2) Angled my fan so the humidifier partially blows on the side of the bucket
3) I keep an extra 2l of nutrient solution. That extra 2l lives in the fridge with an ice pack in all day. First thing in the morning I first draw my next 2l from the bucket (less water to cool), before slowly adding the refrigerated to the reservoir. I stick a fresh ice pack in the 2l drawn, put it in the fridge, eat breakfast, then add that 2l into my bucket before drawing the final 2l which sits while I'm out all day.
4) Repeat the exercise when I get home around 6.

I'm using a 5 gallon bucket - if using something bigger, just increase the volume of your reserve nutrient solution.

I'm running a 20/0 schedule under a Mars Hydro TSW 2000, from 6am to 2am. I know some people just throw an ice pack in the reservoir, but this runs the risk of shocking the roots.

This method is dirt cheap and highly effective - nutrient temperature hasn't slipped out of optimal range in the last 10 days since I started using this method.

Hope this helps another newbie! Cheers :)
Click to expand...
Chlorine. Either Poolshock (Calcium hypochlorite), Bleach (Sodium hypochlorite) or something like UC Roots (hypochlorous acid). That's how you manage temps, running things sterile.

I would highly advice against using anything alive in the rez if you're running small scale grow. You need a chiller and recirculation to do that optimally.

I would also advice against using peroxide. Many people are gonna suggest using H2O2. While it do work wonders for many, it's easy to overdo.
 
S

sven_lordy

Active Member
Hi Wastei, thanks for the advice.

Currently running Rhizotonic as part of the mix, but that stops (or drastically reduces) when I come out of veg. I don't know why, but the idea of using bleach/h2o2, which the plant will surely be drinking (!?) seems VERY counterintuitive to me... and there seems to be a very large number of hydro growers who do everything they can to dechlorinate their water before use!? I also thought that low temps were as much about optimal dissolved oxygen, not just disease control?

I'm not asking about these things with ANY suggestions that I know what I'm talking about! I don't have a clue... I've just been reading grow diaries, watching YouTubes and trying to figure it all out.

My local hydro store (I'm in the UK) sells Silver Bullet Roots - do you have any experience of it? The way he 'sold it' to me it sounded pretty good. In my mind I'm being 'principled' in wanting to keep the rhizosphere natural, but I know I'd give it up in a heartbeat if there were any signs of root rot! So far, so good... and I know a solution is literally just around the corner if that changes.

Just had a look at your bubblelicious grow journal - really nice setup you're running there!
 
Wastei

Wastei

Well-Known Member
sven_lordy said:
Hi Wastei, thanks for the advice.

Currently running Rhizotonic as part of the mix, but that stops (or drastically reduces) when I come out of veg. I don't know why, but the idea of using bleach/h2o2, which the plant will surely be drinking (!?) seems VERY counterintuitive to me... and there seems to be a very large number of hydro growers who do everything they can to dechlorinate their water before use!? I also thought that low temps were as much about optimal dissolved oxygen, not just disease control?

I'm not asking about these things with ANY suggestions that I know what I'm talking about! I don't have a clue... I've just been reading grow diaries, watching YouTubes and trying to figure it all out.

My local hydro store (I'm in the UK) sells Silver Bullet Roots - do you have any experience of it? The way he 'sold it' to me it sounded pretty good. In my mind I'm being 'principled' in wanting to keep the rhizosphere natural, but I know I'd give it up in a heartbeat if there were any signs of root rot! So far, so good... and I know a solution is literally just around the corner if that changes.

Just had a look at your bubblelicious grow journal - really nice setup you're running there!
Click to expand...
Chlorine is tertiary nutrient for C3 plants. It only sound counterintuitive because you lack understanding about chemistry.

Hydroponics is not natural. The whole concept is to remove as many variables to create an environmental more optimal than nature. pH stability is the most important thing growing hydroponically.

Hydro has no medium. Beneficial has nowhere to multiply in hydro. There's nothing to hold on to. You will constantly battling ratio between good and bad bacteria cultures. Alive systems need to constantly add beneficials because they constantly die of.

I don't want to guess what's in my rez and how the bacteria culture will affect my pH. I want total control and rock stable pH.

I advice people to focus more on surface tension and creating understanding on how to optimize that. One important thing is to remove any biofilm/algae growth in the system, this can be done with either an oxidizer or with enzymes.

"Silver roots" is just hydrogen peroxide. With added silver ions. Not worth the money IMO. It will kill anything beneficial about Rhizotonic, cannot be used in conjunction with each other.
 
Last edited:
Failmore

Failmore

Well-Known Member
I struggled with rot and keeping water temps down for dwc. I switched to flood drain and do sterile with pool shock. The water bottle thing does not work the best. I know adding chlorine sounds goofy but it works. 20200924_185429.jpg
 
S

sven_lordy

Active Member
I'd quite happily switch out Rhizo - main reason I got it was for root development and stress treatment... roots are now plentiful and healthy relative to size, and this stuff's not cheap.

So when you say bleach, I'm assuming that means anything unperfumed from a supermarket? What sort of dosing would you recommend for general maintenance?
 
Wastei

Wastei

Well-Known Member
sven_lordy said:
I'd quite happily switch out Rhizo - main reason I got it was for root development and stress treatment... roots are now plentiful and healthy relative to size, and this stuff's not cheap.

So when you say bleach, I'm assuming that means anything unperfumed from a supermarket? What sort of dosing would you recommend for general maintenance?
Click to expand...
Yes the cheapest brands is usually they way to go. Look for bleach containing only sodium hupochlorite. I run 1-2ppm residual with DWC. Dosing every third day. Here's a chlorine calculator https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/health-topics/environmental-occupational-health/water-quality/chlorine-dilution-calculator
 
Failmore

Failmore

Well-Known Member
Pool shock is powdered. I buy it at Wal-Mart.

.01 grams per gallon.

1kg is 10$ or something. Last years

 
S

sven_lordy

Active Member
Wastei, Failmore, thank you both very much for the advice - appreciated. I'm due a reservoir change at the weekend, so at this point I'll take out the Rhizo and go instead with the Chlorine... can get 1kg on Amazon for £10! MUCH cheaper than any 'specialist' products such as liquid oxygen, especially at the levels you recommend.

I'm also running Fulvic Acid, Silicon Phosphate alongside soft water Flora TriPart (also have CalMag on stand-by, but I don't seem to have needed it yet). I'm running TDS at 700ppm at present... will I need to adjust any of the levels of my other additives, or do I just run everything else as normal?
 
Wastei

Wastei

Well-Known Member
sven_lordy said:
Wastei, Failmore, thank you both very much for the advice - appreciated. I'm due a reservoir change at the weekend, so at this point I'll take out the Rhizo and go instead with the Chlorine... can get 1kg on Amazon for £10! MUCH cheaper than any 'specialist' products such as liquid oxygen, especially at the levels you recommend.

I'm also running Fulvic Acid, Silicon Phosphate alongside soft water Flora TriPart (also have CalMag on stand-by, but I don't seem to have needed it yet). I'm running TDS at 700ppm at present... will I need to adjust any of the levels of my other additives, or do I just run everything else as normal?
Click to expand...
Happy to help! Everything as normal. The small amount of Calcium carbonate in Pool Shock will raise pH negliable. I don't have to adjust pH other than rez change.
 
S

sven_lordy

Active Member
I generally adjust pH down to 5.5 and let it climb back to 6.2 before adjusting back. At the moment I'm having to do that every 4-5 days. If chlorine saves me that ball-ache I'll be a happy man!
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
@sven_lordy only thing i'd recommend if you do buy the shock is to buy a scale accurate to 0.01 grams. this stuff is really concentrate and it's not hard to overdose
 
S

sven_lordy

Active Member
I've got pharma scales accurate to 0.01 (despite the early suggestion about chemistry, that's actually my job! Botany on the other hand... I've only just started learning) :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top