Someone I know is doing a Deep Water Culture hydroponics setup and they are wondering if it is better to use a bigger container? For example: Sterilite 35gallon 132L container http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sterilite-35-gal-Latch-Tote-19451004/202097355 What do you think? I was suggesting that it might result in needing more nutrients which would ultimately end up being costly. Can you clones or 2-week old seedlings into a container this big from the get-go?
Some other questions I had but have not been able to find satisfactory answers to: What difference does the shape of and air stone make (flat puck vs cylinder vs long rectangular bar)? How much air should be pumped for a plant in DWC? I have heard 20LPM, is this reasonable?
I still on my first grow, but I've learned a lot, I have the same set up as you are suggesting. The more air you can get in there the better really. More important if you have several plants in the same res. long air stones have more surface area, there for more air bubbles. I have 3 plants in a 100L res, which is about half full. You theory of a bigger res costing more is not true because the plant will use the same amount of nutes wether it's in a big or small res, bigger res means less changing of the water. To a point because to big and by the time you do a clean out of the water you are wasting it if there is a lot of nutes left. Try to find a container that fits your space, mine are longer and wider, also think about height. If you restricted by height then flatter containers would be better..... That's what I have learned along the way, and from the many great people on here.... Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes. Oscar Wilde
is it better to use a bigger container? For example: Sterilite 35gallon 132L container Generally yes, in my opinion most people use reservoirs that are too small. A 132 litre is a good size in my opinion. I was suggesting that it might result in needing more nutrients which would ultimately end up being costly. Although filling it will use more nutrients, you won't need to refresh the res as often. The plants will use whatever they want to use. Nutes cost hardly anything compared to other parts of the grow anyway so I wouldn't worry. Can you clones or 2-week old seedlings into a container this big from the get-go? Yes you can, but I believe it's important to test to see what strength of nutrient solution the plant is taking up so you can match it. This involves measuring the fluctuations of nutrient strength, and with such a large res the fluctuations will be less obvious. As long as your not way off to begin with it shouldn't be a problem though so if it's easier to start them in the big res go ahead. What difference does the shape of and air stone make (flat puck vs cylinder vs long rectangular bar)? Nothing, just make sure the stone is big enough to handle the output of the line How much air should be pumped for a plant in DWC? I have heard 20LPM, is this reasonable? I recommend 1 litre per minute of air for every 2 litres of nutrient solution
2 watts of pumping power per gallon of liquid in res. I prefer my 5 gallon res. Over my 10 gallon. The 5 gallon empties quicker during flower which is very nice for me because i like to have ppms like 1000 when start flower then she drink water down i top off brings ppms to like 800 let it sit there for like 2-3 weeks by this time like week 5 so time to bloom boost bump ppms to 1200 then just flush with fresh water til finished. http://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?/topic/1234402-Budget-DWC-CFL
The amount of watts of electricity the pump uses means nothing. There are many different designs of pumps, and some are more energy efficient than others. 1 litre of air per minute for every 2 litres of nutrient solution is a good rule to follow, or at least get near. If you use a 5 gallon over a 10 gallon, you may only have half the water to move but you have to do it twice as often so I don't understand your logic at all. My plants drink 2 gallons per day so if I had a 5 gallon res I would have to top up every day. I use a 14 gallon res so I only have to top up twice a week. Plus it's only 7" tall so I don't have to worry about the roots drying out if the waterline drops to half full. You are better having the ppm tailored to what the plant prefers instead of what you prefer. You measure what the plant prefers by testing the ppm twice spaced 24 hours apart. You will then know if the plant is taking up a ratio of nutes:water that is stronger or weaker than what you have in the res.
going from 5 gallon buckets to larger 30 gal(?lol). bins has massively increased yields and growth rate monstergardens dot com (pretty sure) has some vids comparing airflow between stone design/sizes and pump styles. the bigger the roots the more growth possible.....and the bigger the plant the bigger the nugs. just be sure the bins you get have sidewalls thick enough to hold the weight of the water....if too thin they will bow way out and wont work/fit the system well i upgraded an 18 unit site to large rectangular bins and never looked back also....seal the f$#k outta your system on the initial build....it takes a lot of time to drain dry seal / fix and refill to only have to do it several more times. also keep in mind a design that you can clean properly between runs without major deconstruciton
You replied to my post with that, so I just explained myself that's all. If you don't want to explain yourself that's up to you, but it has nothing to do with snobbery, do you even know what that word means?
i know how you are not my first time with u. I know you got it on lockdown but doesn't mean you hafta stomp on someone. My logic small container less fluid easier flush and control. For me that is. Im not growing trees though just shrubs lol. http://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?/topic/1234402-Budget-DWC-CFL
You are right, a smaller container will allow for more control. It will be easier to manipulate the ratio of nutes/water if you have smaller values for water volume. This wasn't really communicated in your earlier post though. Gold is absolutely right as well, watts is a terrible metric to use because it has too high of a variance. LPM/Watt changes drastically as you increase watts so it is far more accurate to use LPM. On the main issue, reservoir size, you guys just disagree but neither person is wrong. Gold seems to prefer the larger res because it will be lower maintenance but since you have a larger volume of water it will be harder to manipulate EC values. If you have a large res and your plant is using up a lot of nutrients it will not as noticeable a difference in EC as if your plant was using up the same amount in a much smaller res so it seems that being experienced with hydro growing/nutrient schedules will lend itself to larger res sizes. You seem to prefer the smaller res because although it is higher maintenance you can readjust nutrient levels every time you readjust the water which will be frequently. All in all, your guys' argument has been very informative for me and I learned a lot about differences in reservoir sizes, thanks!
The way I see it your roots are going to need around 5 gallons per plant for 3-4 foot plants, so if you have enough space vertically id suggest even more.
I agree with everything except when you said "a larger volume of water will be harder to manipulate EC values". What do you mean by this? When I want to raise the EC I just glug in some nutes and its done, and add water to lower it. Maybe I have misunderstood something
It will be harder in the sense that it will take more nutes to see the same result. Each mL of nutrient solution won't have as much of an effect because of the larger total volume of water. Nutrients aren't free, after all, so it is worthwhile to take this tidbit into consideration.
It doesn't matter if you glug in 50ml or 100ml, it requires the same effort. And nutrients cost the same whatever size res you have. You put twice as much in and you refresh half as often. The amount of nutes that gets used up is the same. But even if there was a difference I probably use about £3 worth of nutes for every pound of bud I grow. That's not a cost that I care about. I can't buy a pint of beer for £3 and a pound of bud is worth £3000