I am about to start a 3 bucket dwc grow an it gets real cold out here we usally have snow by x-mas. My question is will the grage floor be too cold for the buckets? I was thinking about using some fiberglass insulation under the bottom of the grow tent will this help or is it needed.
Well man, if it's gonna freeze the water than its gonna freeze everything! Thats the issue. Cold water is extremely healthy for plants though because it holds more dissolved oxygen.
Go down to lowes or home depot and pick up some insulation board Shop styrofoam at Lowes.com or something similar and line the bottom of your tent with it...probably keep the roots a lil warmer depending on how cold your garage gets....or you could just open the door to your garage and heat it as well (if its connected to your house)..or just a small space heater with a thermostat on it would be very cheap and effective.. peace
I just picked up a space heater for mine. My back room is not heated and is working good. Also have some insulation board which helps a ton.
Cold water is not good for plants unless you have higher then optimum temperatures in your environment.. Im not arguing the fact that it holds more DO because that is a definite benefit but cold water is NOT good for the root zone under normal conditions. Roots thrive at 72 degrees F...now thats with an accompanied environmental temperature of 72 degrees F. Meaning that if your environment is at 72 degrees F your root zone temperature will thrive best also at 72 degrees F. But if say you have issues fighting high temps then your root zone would do best at a lower temperature then 72 to compensate for the higher then optimum heat. And vice versa with your potentially cold days/nights you would do best with getting water heater with temperature control and your garage floors wouldn't be an issue. My $.02
great first post. and id have to agree with everything he says. 60degrees water and below can cause major problem to a root zone. do all you can to keep it above that point. even set the buckets on a folded towel or something. just an extra layer between the bucket and cold floor
thanks for the info guys i made a platform out of pvc pipe an I placed cardboard on top of that with 2 layers of left over panda paper. I think i will be going to lowes an getting some of that insulation board an with all this plus the heat from the light hopefully that will work .
Thanks, I started indoor growin a couple years ago now and ive been with following gathering all the info I could but never registered... Without my resources I wouldn't have had all successful grows with obvious ups and downs but never lost a crop and my yields have been acceptable. I've figured its about time I pay my dues back and contribute to help others out -.-
Perfect. At least to get a layer+ between your buckets and the floor and that should help control the temps for sure. Good luck!
get an aquarium heater if the shit gets too cold. make sure you get one that has an adjustable dial. Really cold water slows down growth. Really warm water creates pythium (root rot). keep it between 60-72 degrees.
Man unless you're talking about the water getting way, way cold, I don't think you'll have a problem. Most people try and cool the water not the other way around. If your water is too cold, don't buy insulation, but a bigger light and heat that shit up!
Im in Michigan and if I leave my buckets directly on the concrete in my basement in the winter time my bucket water will get doen near 50. Way too cold, slows growth and will comprimise the whole grow.