I'm going to be setting up a hydro grow in the upcomming months. It will consist of 5 18 gallon containers. 4 of the containers will hold 2 plants each and the fifth container will be the resevoir. Right now, I have one air pump that has two outputs. Would it work just dropping two airstones in the res and ignoring putting air in the plants' containers or should I grab another pump so I can put one airstone in each of the 4 containers? I'll have a pump or two in the res feeding water to each plant to keep it all circulating.
I built a manifold so I could put an airstone right under each plant. Also, you might consider getting a chiller and dropping a fogger in each tank.
Right now, going with a chiller and fogger wouldn't really work out for me. Any definitive answer on which route I should go with the setup I have? Two airstones in the res or one airstone in each container?
Each bucket/pot needs an air stone or two but so does the reservoir. Lack of oxygen will allow root rot and fungus to develop and will cause suffocation at the root zone. The roots need lots of oxygen/water/nutrients to be present at all times. Oxygen also helps control organisms desperately seeking to infiltrate your garden. Clean your res out often too. Get a hold of a food grade peroxide (35%) and dilute it down to 3%. Don't use 3% from grocery/drug store. They contain additives you don't want in your medicine. Add your 3% to reservoirs to aid in oxygenation and use as a none toxic cleaning agent. Good luck.
Awesome, thanks a lot. Can the 35% peroxide also be found at grocery/drug stores or would I need to look elsewhere? Or would the local hydro store carry something like that?