Hey everybody... I got a pm with a bunch of questions in it, and I thought since I was taking the time to answer I would share with all of you. I got the authors permission, I don't want you guys to think I put pm's out there like that. I'm discrete.
- Is your rez in the closet with the girls or dows it sit just outside the closet.
They are IN the rez. My DWC is Not a recycling with an exterior rez. All 28 or so gallons are in the tank the plant are directly on top of. Their roots just hang in the water, with all the airstones giving them oxygen so they don't drown. (some real scuba shit)
- Are your roots submerged all the time, and if so, did you have any color change in the root color over the course of the grow?
I didn't read ahead as you can tell from the answer above. Yes.. they are submerged all the time. I have not been able to see the roots really becuase the plants are all grown into the screen. And stupidly I attached the screen to the walls so nothing can move... and I cannot see into the rez much. From what I can tell the roots are white with the tiniest brown tint to them, but it's really really not much. Just if you sat them next to stark white roots the would look dark. But that is only what I can see from the tiny holes in the lid with a flashlight... (you should see me trying to see in there, it's comical)
- Did you use anything like hydrozyme or floroshield in your rez?
I used this stuff called Zone by Dutch Maters. Here's a link to the product
LINK After re-reading it myself it just sounds like a bunch of sales shit. Who know's what it does, but I like it alot and would recomend it. PLUS it's so fucking cheap... Maybe $20 a liter, but my whole grow with a 25-28 gal tank I only used maybe 200mL... so this will last me forever.
- Did you have problems controlling the temp of your rez? If so, how did you correct them?
I did have a bit of a problem at the beginning of my grow. My water always start at about 55 F, but quickly (an hour or so) rises to about 62... then it starts rising until the day I change it. When I started by about day 5 of the new water temps would get to around 72 or 73... that made me uncomfortable. So I changed the way my intake and exhuast worked and also built a separator for the two sections of my grow space. The intake for the grow space had been coming from a duct that ran up from a hole in the bottom of the door. I had it so the fresh air would be drawn by the exhuast directly into the area below my screen. But I wanted to cool the rez more... so I took off the ducting so that the fresh air would be pulled directly onto the tank, keeping it cool.
I also cut and fitted the wood peices you see in some of my pics. They are fitted tight against the walls and the sides of the lid. This keeps the heat and light from getting to the water at all. Also it makes it so that the fresh intake air is sucked into the reservoir 'chamber' first, and then into the grow space... then over the light, then across the ballasts, and finally spit out the top of the door.
Now my water gets up to 69 F in the 7-8 days that I keep water in there. It also helps that I top off every couple days with a couple gallons of RO that comes out around 50 or so.
I'm not saying they don't work for people, but the idea of actually putting things in the water to help correct issues is not for me. I wouldn't want to have any kind of chillers, or heaters, or ice cubes, or frozen bottles. Everything in my tank is either liquid, organic plant matter, or pvc... plus the ceramic airstones. Frozen bottles are close to those things, but I can not imagine how unhappy roots would be if an ice cube or frozen bottle tucked in next to them.
- If and when you make a second attempt, would you consider growing in soil?
The second attempt is already going. Sticking with DWC (see signature - grow 1.2 - Purple kush clones). Don't know if I will ever try Aero. I might try ebb and flow, but don't know why I would (maybe just boredom). I may use some sort of dripper when I get a mother, or mothers going.
I will however at some point try soil. Never for my primary grow, but maybe just to try it with a plant or two. I would like to try soil indoor with 2 plants in their own chamber. I would also like to try outdoor someday. Don't know when I will get the chance, maybe not for another 20 years or so, but I would like to grow an absolute monster and yeild like 10 pounds or something off 1 plant. That is a little wish I have.
The reason I won't go with soil primarily is that I am dying here waiting for my plants... and they would be even slower in soil. I'm patient (that's why I haven't cut them all)... but my well of patience does not spring eternal... and I think I am at my limit even with the accelerated pace of hydro.
Thanks a lot for the questions and interest. Hope that answers everything. Let me know if there is anything else.
Good luck
.....know what i mean?
--lilmafia
