Automated Hydro Setup

I wanted to share my custom setup for an automated hydro tent setup. 4x4 tent with 780w led butterfly light, ph doser with ph up and down, water chiller. I used a 36x36 plastic tub as an immersion reservoir. That way i can regulate all plants to get the same temperature, nutrients and ph. I put 2 airstones in each bucket with a 2” round hole at the bottom of each bucket for water leveling. So far it has been perfect (even though its only been 2 weeks)

Howard Kushman said:

I wanted to share my custom setup for an automated hydro tent setup. 4x4 tent with 780w led butterfly light, ph doser with ph up and down, water chiller. I used a 36x36 plastic tub as an immersion reservoir. That way i can regulate all plants to get the same temperature, nutrients and ph. I put 2 airstones in each bucket with a 2” round hole at the bottom of each bucket for water leveling. So far it has been perfect (even though its only been 2 weeks)

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Let us know how humidity control works out with 2 plants in flower transpiring a gallon a day along with the wading pool in the room.
Most grows start with fighting to retain RH then reduce RH. Hope it works our for ya.

Jimski said:

Let us know how humidity control works out with 2 plants in flower transpiring a gallon a day along with the wading pool in the room.
Most grows start with fighting to retain RH then reduce RH. Hope it works our for ya.

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Yeh, that's going to get a little swampy in there but that can be quickly resolved with a cover. A tarp, perhaps.

"immersion reservoir" - does that contain nutrients or just water? That's a huge thermal buffer so you're working hard to get temps into the 80's which is where you get higher photosynthesis levels.

And it will be a source of RH but your controller is showing 32% and a VPD of 2.3. That's interesting. How are you keeping RH at that level when you've got a pool in the tent?

What's your experience been with that pH controller?

Neat, but I don’t see that working in flower, you’re better off getting some bulkheads, pvc tube and another bucket to do rdwc. The control bucket keeps the other buckets stable by pumping water into the plant buckets and flowing through the return tube back into the control bucket.

Just need to make a lid (or run a pond skimmer, lol), to keep plant and other debris from falling in. Keep the buckets as net pot risers (might as well add more holes around them), so you can keep the solution in the res at the max height, just like it is now. You'll have more total capacity than if you were to set those large netpots down flush in a flat lid..

Even a cheap section of rigid foam insulation would work, because the buckets support all the weight. Cut or melt four bucket sized holes in the panel, and drop them back in. Make an access hatch while you're at it..

Algae growth is gonna be the major problem. Running an oxidizer would help prevent buildup. 2" can easily be clogged with a big plant in flower.

Clear hoses is generally a no no when setting up a new water culture system. You could convert the tub in to a classic Dutch bucket system with a lid. A classic example would be Atami's Wilma system that's been around forever, you could add a chiller to that reservoir.

Yep, too much light exposure to water = algae blooms and other biohazards
You could get some thin insulated pool cover material and cut it out to fit around the buckets.. or you could fill the res with clay balls or some sort or rock base over the water level. Or set up another res under it to drain into and use it as an ebb and flow maybe?

Problem solved. We will see how it goes.