DWC problems

I have a small dwc setup with four plants in a 2 gallon tupper ware container. Now I'm only growing these four to get experience with DWC before I start a larger 6 plant 66 gallon DWC grow as soon as my clones root. Ok here the problem the plants are wilting and turing yellow from the top down. The ph is around 5.8 - 6.0. nutes are the bigfoot a and b grow solution. I started at half strength about two weeks ago and as this problem slowly spreed from plant to plant I tried adding an airstone, h202, reserver change, superthrive, increasing nutes and still no improvement. The lighting a a 400 watt MH. I'll try to post pics here a little later.

Okay I got some pics for everyone; please, if you have any idea what it could be post

The light is too far away.

I wounder how light decreases by that much over a 2 foot distance when the wall surfaces are lined with a 95% reflective material. I moved these plants from my other grow room about a week ago. They had originally been housed under 10 23 watt CFL which were less than 3 inches away and they started to go bad there. I have about 6 other plants that aree in soil and I have been placing in there and they all look quite well. Its got to be something with the hydro.

what is the temp of your res?

I just measured it at 85 degree

wow....


way too hot bro!!! way way way too hot. you are giving a perfect breeding grown for shit to grow in your res. Hot temp promote nasty nasty shit bro!!!

freeze some water bottles and drop them in your res!!!

True...that about sums it up. Do you have a small intake & exhaust pumping in there as yet?

i have the room vented it doesn't seem to that hot.........hmmm any suggestions on a res cooling system for the larger DWC setup? Does everyone agree that the temp is causing my problem?

just because your room doesnt seem that hot doesnt mean the res isnt.

the res is always 6-8 degrees hotter than its atmosphere/surroundings.

im not saying that is most definitely it, but high res temps are never a good sign.


i could direct you to res chillers but they are heavily expensive!!!! anywhere from $250-$600 bucks. You could simply filled up water bottles, freeze them and put them in your res to bring down the temps!!!!!

and earl is right, that light is way too far away. that is the reason your plants looked stretched.... look at the nodes and how far they are away from each other

You should also drain the nutrient solution, clean the res thoroughly with grotek h202 or some other hydroponic cleaning solution & then reset the nutrient solution. This might also help. Your plant is probably not getting sufficient nutrients by way of lock out. Have you checked your ph?

Thank-you for the help LoudBLount.. I am freezing some water now but I'll have to figure something out for the larger tanks i am trying to automate the system, Yah I really don't wanna spend that much on a res cooler I would rather invest the money in a better hydro setup

no problem man!!!

i figured you didnt wanna spend that kind of money, because i dont even wanna spend that kinda money....and i buy shit on impulse!

if you ever need any help and i can help...dont be scared to shoot me a line. i like helping as well as learning because i dont know it all. and i know how it feels to ask questions and people not help.....

High temps allow for less Oxygen saturation in the water. As everyone has stated, the temps need to be much lower.

ok well I add an ice pack in just as a quick fix untill water bottle freeze. How long should it take to see an affect of the cooled reservor. Should I change my res aswelll I changed it three days ago?

If your pH/ppm is good, and your res doesn't smell "off". I'd say you are ok. I'm not sure exactly how long it will take to notice improvements. Depends on the plants. But they will definitely improve with a cooler res.

keep one of them floating thermometer in there and check it at intervals. gauge that on how often you should change out water bottles/ice packs

the temps of your res should never go above 70, IMO.

Salinity is another factor affecting DO.

Salt water cannot hold as much oxygen as fresh water.

When you add nutes,
you are adding salts.

So lower nute loads are very important
if your rez temps are high.

Altitude also affects DO,
If you live in Denver,
then you will need cool nutes.

Waterfalls are a good way to increase DO.

Thanks earl I'll lower my nute concentration as well