Minimum DWC Res Temps?

K

karmeron

Active Member
I was just wondering what the minimum you can go with dwc res temps?

It gets to around 57F air-temps in the growroom when lights are off. Havent started the dwc system yet, but will the water be too cold in this air-temp?

Ive heard down to 52F sound be fine, but just want to see what others have to say on it, preferably someone that is/was doing dwc at these low temps and their experiences if possible.

How cold is too cold for res temps? What does lower temps do to roots?
 
Weedler

Weedler

Well-Known Member
Lower temps slow & stunt growth, buy an aquarium heater that is set to turn off when it hits 65F you really want to stay between 62F - 68F
 
K

karmeron

Active Member
Weedler said:
Lower temps slow & stunt growth, buy an aquarium heater that is set to turn off when it hits 65F you really want to stay between 62F - 68F
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i have 6x large containers, so would need 6 heaters, not really an option on price and running costs (electricity). Has anyone run late 50F's in their dwc with any success?
 
newworldicon

newworldicon

Well-Known Member
karmeron said:
i have 6x large containers, so would need 6 heaters, not really an option on price and running costs (electricity). Has anyone run late 50F's in their dwc with any success?
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I freeze water bottles and chuck new ones in every morning. You can rotate them pretty easily although you might need a freezer dedicated for the task in your case.
 
Weedler

Weedler

Well-Known Member
Just add an electric heater that turns on when lights turn off to maintain temps around 70F
 
K

karmeron

Active Member
BRD said:
turn the heat up
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There is no heating in the room

Weedler said:
Just add an electric heater that turns on when lights turn off to maintain temps around 70F
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Definitely wont be able to use an electric heater due to costs of running it. I will probably get a gas heater at some stage, no funds for that at the moment though.


Has anyone tried running a dwc with res temps around 55-57F, I'd rather hear from people that have actually tried it as I have heard it is fine on other forums, but just want to hear from someone that has had experience running that low and how it worked out for them.
 
L

larry stone

Member
I am at 53 amb temp with 60 res temp and my daytime temp is 74 inside the old tron with 300 watts of flouros.

Using somewhat of a CFL Lucas formula slow and steady wins the race.

I have a 100 gph water pump ghetto aero setup running one hour off and one hour one (going to 15min on/15 min off when I get a new timer) that makes heat and keeps the nutes in solution for 10 watts per hour.

Petco makes a water pump ($13) that has an air hose that sucks air from outside the vessel and mixes it with the water. You can turbo charge this with a line from an air pump. If you can keep your air pump in a warm place that will help too. All for cents per hour in electric.

I plan on going down to 45f amb before I turn any heat in the room. You should be able to do the same if your in a tent or confined space.

Getting the vessels off the cold floor and onto some 1" insulated sheating will help too.
 
T

TheStainster

Member
Can you put the air pump in a warmer location and run a long airline to your grow? My backup super luft pump gets pretty hot and would probly add some heat. You could also try to put the air pump in a box so it starts to suck in it's own hot air. Good luck!
 
K

karmeron

Active Member
larry stone said:
I am at 53 amb temp with 60 res temp and my daytime temp is 74 inside the old tron with 300 watts of flouros.

Using somewhat of a CFL Lucas formula slow and steady wins the race.

I have a 100 gph water pump ghetto aero setup running one hour off and one hour one (going to 15min on/15 min off when I get a new timer) that makes heat and keeps the nutes in solution for 10 watts per hour.

Petco makes a water pump ($13) that has an air hose that sucks air from outside the vessel and mixes it with the water. You can turbo charge this with a line from an air pump. If you can keep your air pump in a warm place that will help too. All for cents per hour in electric.

I plan on going down to 45f amb before I turn any heat in the room. You should be able to do the same if your in a tent or confined space.

Getting the vessels off the cold floor and onto some 1" insulated sheating will help too.
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Thanks for the info mate. Do you notice any stunted growth in those temps? I have a 100+w pump, so that may add some heat to the air being pumped into the water.

Do you mean polysterene sheeting when you say insulated sheeting?
 
K

karmeron

Active Member
TheStainster said:
Can you put the air pump in a warmer location and run a long airline to your grow? My backup super luft pump gets pretty hot and would probly add some heat. You could also try to put the air pump in a box so it starts to suck in it's own hot air. Good luck!
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The air pump will be in another room with the same temps during lights off.

The reason I wouldn't put the pump in a sealed unit is that you are supposed to be pumping oxygen into the roots, eventually there will be no oxygen left in the box as soon as the old air is used up, so I couldn't see that being good for the roots.

There basically is no "warmer" room in the place il be using for the grow, so placing the pump anywhere else will be the same.
But from hearing from Larry stone, t shouldn't be too much of an issue running at these temps, I have also heard this elsewhere.

For the seedlings I have a heated propagator, so they wont be damaged by the cold temps at all either.
 
L

larry stone

Member
karmeron said:
Thanks for the info mate. Do you notice any stunted growth in those temps? I have a 100+w pump, so that may add some heat to the air being pumped into the water.

Do you mean polysterene sheeting when you say insulated sheeting?
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There is noticable daily growth. I have 12/12 clones from start to finsh taken from mom at day 14 of flowering so it's like bonsai. Not normal growth to big with.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_15357-23946-78920_4294858106_4294937087_?productId=3014191&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&pl=1&currentURL=/pl_Insulated+Sheathing_4294858106_4294937087_?Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1
 
K

karmeron

Active Member
larry stone said:
There is noticable daily growth. I have 12/12 clones from start to finsh taken from mom at day 14 of flowering so it's like bonsai. Not normal growth to big with.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_15357-23946-78920_4294858106_4294937087_?productId=3014191&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&pl=1&currentURL=/pl_Insulated+Sheathing_4294858106_4294937087_?Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1
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Thanks for the link. I'll try find that in my country.
 
D

DWCicarus

Member
hey,
from what Im reading OP is using a 6 bucket system. It seems that all the buckets are individual and not inter-connected in any way. I may be way off on my assessment of the OPs setup but the implication that he would have to purchase 6 heaters for his 6 buckets leads me to the conclusion they are not interconnected.

This seems to be a perfect opportunity for a recirculating DWC setup. This means that he would only have to heat the water in the controller bucket. Hook up a sub/inline h2o pump to the controller and feed the heated solution to each bucket.

the h2o levels in the controller bucket and plant res's will be the same throughout the system so you can just top off and take samples from the controller to monitor the health of your whole 6 bucket sytem. There are tons of instructions here on RIU on RDWC systems and DIY controller bucket guides.

At this point in your crop it might not be feasible to make the upgrades so maybe its something to consider after your next harvest/cutting time.

They take a little more work to set up but they seem to decrease maintenance on multiple bucket setups in the long run, that and you only have to worry about running one heater instead of 6....besides, you dont want that heater blasting in the tank with the roots.

Let me know if any of this helps and btw I run a DWC system that i have to use a chiller on and i run my temps at 65 and my girls seem to like it. I have heard of great success inetween 57-68 but most published sources will average inbetween 62-67
 
K

karmeron

Active Member
I found a small heater I am going to use to heat the air going into the air pump, just slightly. The pump is in a room that is now 52 degrees, the heater should bring the air to 60 degrees. This should be fine then. An RDWC would be good, but Ive ran out of money for this grow. I'll try it the way it is and then I can improve after a crop or 2.
 
CA MMJ

CA MMJ

Member
karmeron said:
There is no heating in the room



Definitely wont be able to use an electric heater due to costs of running it. I will probably get a gas heater at some stage, no funds for that at the moment though.


Has anyone tried running a dwc with res temps around 55-57F, I'd rather hear from people that have actually tried it as I have heard it is fine on other forums, but just want to hear from someone that has had experience running that low and how it worked out for them.
Click to expand...


I am currently running my first DWC setup, 2 5 gal buckets, and the Ambient air temperature has been around 52f-56f at its lowest. I am currently in my 1st week of flowering, and things are going fine. I can definitely tell that they'd be growing much faster if the temperature was at a more reasonable level, but it hasn't actually harmed them.

Hope this helps answer your question. Cheers!
 
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