I am setting up a deep water culture system with 5 gal buckets. I understand the importance of not allowing the nutrient solution to come into contact with light to prevent algae growth. I got some cheap orange buckets from Home Depot and they allow a little bit of light through. Do they need to be 100% opaque? Should I paint the buckets or wrap with duct tape so they allow no light to penetrate? Appreciate any comments.
I wrap it with black duct tape. Thats what i did because you dont want any light getting to your root system 😊
Thanks for the input. I think I'll go with duct tape so I don't have to deal with paint chipping off. Thanks for to link for Reflectix. I've gone the cheap route and used some old space blankets for now.
Great stuff! I wrapped everything in this to stop the light, and it brought my res down 18 degrees too! With a bare bulb close overhead, it really made a difference.
If you are going to tape use foil tape. If you have to use duct tape double layer it. Duct still allows light penetration but it will work if you can't get foil tape.
Lowes has rolls of it too. Nice thing about the Reflectix, and similar, is it helps insulate as well.
Ah yes good point. I may just wrap em up for the insulation and see how much my temps drop. If it's a few degrees it's worth the effort yea?
Yeah, anything that reflects the light energy away is perfect. The wrap just offers some insulation via the air bubbles. Any little bit helps sometimes. If it keeps the chiller from running as often, it's worth it to me.