Many thanks. Always a work in progress. I am totally a hobbyist grower. I have never figured out how to get uptight about a hobby I love that gets me high as fuck.
meanwhile... I am almost done. Need more bags. Prob finish tomorrow so I can start on my leaky azz roof.
What a mess. I know you'll be glad to see that project done. Anyway do you use a chiller with any of your hydro? Is the temp more about DO and growth or is it all about the bacteria? Some of both probably? I guess my real question is will I see improved performance with a chiller?
Man those girls really stretched it out. Lol What's next, are you going to try and flatten it out or just let them be.
I used ice bottles last few runs. I used good quality bleach bottles and filled them with salt water. One in the freezer, one in the rez, switched every 24 hours. I purchased a fridge for the cause, just have to go grab it when I'm ready to go next time, but really, trying to do these projects... concentration danielson! I will get back to it soon enough. I do really need to clone though, just as soon as that mess it cleared out. I maintain 18-21C last couple runs with good success. Is it for the bennies? Many opportunistic bacteria like warmer heat; in the lab we'd culture at 30C for yeast and 37C for bacteria, but at 4C nearly no growth of bacteria, so 18C is a preventative. Also, I don't think the roots like being too warm; the soil is cooler, but imagine those black pots in the hot... which is probably why the males (outside) are looking great but the females (inside) in the basement look like crap. That and VPD. If you check your plants each day... I used ~5 gallons in the res and the ice swap worked great. I started finding it tedious, so I got a fridge. A chiller could/would work, but managing minimum power consumption is always a nag for me. Ideally, a plastic-lined chest freezer is what I would use, then it would be one unit, but finding a plastic-lined chest unit ... let me know if you find one, I want. If it gets too warm, you will prob get root rot, which will kill your plants in like 24hrs.
@FL430 uses an authentic chiller and @Han-Bolo uses a DIY fridge model, maybe these guys can chime in on the efficiency and some pros/cons for us. The pro for bottles is that its cheap, like dirt cheap as I already use a deep freeze, so freezing bottles not a problem, but the cons include risking a burst bottle, its tedious and its not as accurate. But it worked good enough for me.
here is what I was planning to make: Also, kinda good to store my chems and bennies in too, so its ok if I don't use a chest freezer.
A fuckin chiller in any way is where it’s at..... i pony’ed Up the 325 for an active aqua one, it’s good I like it...... but i do wanna build a deep freeze chiller so I can have two systems
Thanks for the input. How about the air pumps got a recommendation for any? One that can run 2 sites? The quieter the better.
@JXAllen I'm working on switching over to Dwc. I know you've grown under all kinds of conditions. Would you mind telling me your thoughts on the chillers and if you got an air pump that you like. What I'm thinking is 2 buckets with air stones and a 3rd bucket in between as a common reservoir for more water volume and easier access.
I got an email in the middle of the night saying HLGs Diablo boards were back in stock. I was gonna say fuck it and pull the trigger on one. Nope.....by the time I looked this morning they were sold out. Lol,go figure. I need to find something to replace my blackdog eventually, something that's dimmable. I think I'd like to have six 96s in my 5×3,I believe that would crush....running each at 100w.
Let them be I just got some sundae driver from the shop and if it looks how this is I don’t mind a smaller yield not to mention these girls also had pm probably still do
With my 20$ used mini fridge, 15$ in tubing, and a 5$ pump, I am able to keep my water temps consistently 10 degrees below ambient temp. By wrapping all my buckets and res with roll insulation, I am able to get an extra 2 or 3 degrees in cooling. My room is at 82 degrees right now and the water is sitting at 69 degrees. By the end of the day, at its hottest ill be 84 inside and 71 water temp. If you check out my RDWC grow I have linked below you can see the build.
Thank you guys for the responses. I thought best of both worlds for this case. I use an (insulated) cooler for a res, works great btw. Dimming capability is achieved by adding a 100K potentiometer on a B-type driver, its not the light. Sold out the good lights again... I figure I will order in a year or two when the rush dies down.
again, personally, I am kicking myself for having this many plants. I prefer one plant and would have scrogged. Alas, not till the fall.
I was just saying that I want to replace my blackdog with something that has the ability to be dimmed. I'll just get an A type driver,like the ones I use on my 96s.
I actually just remembered that I've got a hlg-240h-c2100a just lying around. I might just get two more 96s and run them off of that. I usually do 6 plants per run,if I had one 96 per plant I think that would work well. I try to stay at 600w or less....usually less. I figure theres no reason I should need more than that for 15sqft.
Speaking of switching it up a bit....I just got my first airpot(3gal). As a homage to you I'll be growing my Chem4 in it. Looks like it might be a tad messy with watering. I'll just have to adjust my auto feed rate for that particular pot. I'll be transplanting into it in 2-3 weeks.
I only run one QB with that. The wiring of a potentiometer is easy, inexpensive, and much better than the A-type adjust. I picked some pots up last couple weeks back for $10 (for 5 of them), better choice imo. See, I don't need to mess with the driver this way, just mount it to the wall and let the driver run down. I actually need to replace the older meiju potentiometer they sent me as it blew up, weird pot, had to plug it in on its own power source, so it will be nice to chuck it in the trash. btw @JoshuaE if you use plain bubblers, you wouldn't need a chiller nor a pump.