DWC really that easy?

Agreed, so we can talk about “this factor” or “that factor” being unimportant or super important but in the end, ANYTHING that helps water to be “aerobic” is helpful and healthy. :wink:

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Agree. We are just talking the science of why the temp can be important. A DWC is not a closed sterile environment. The roots will retain whatever microbes that are growing in the system. The battle is to maintain the healthy and get rid of or prevent the unhealthy. It’s not the temp in and of itself. This is just one of the reasons microbe additions work. You are supplementing new and healthy aerobes to fight off the nasties.

But of course my brother :wink:

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Just another reason I like the 5gal buckets. Easier to clean and refresh. Just couldn’t imagine dealing with a huge tub.

My understanding is that the bacteria that causes root rot can’t live in water that has a lot of dissolved oxygen under 70 degrees so keeping your water below that temp will prevent root rot @WickedAle there for cleaning would not be necessary weekly

Agree. Only if you feel a lot of slime (biofilm) on the walls of your container.

I have grown plants where it was not possible to look in the bucket until I harvested the plant 11 weeks just for flower longer with veg time it would not have been possible without maintaining my water temp

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There isn’t that much of a difference of O2 solubility with temp.
It’s the microbe replication rate with temperature that is much more important.

image dissolved o with temperature chart - Bing

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That is correct if they can’t reproduce in water below 70 you don’t have to worry about them causing root rot when your water is below 70 but if you are above 70 by a little bit you better have as much o2 as you can in your water and maybe amp up your good bacteria with a product like hydro guard or you are leaving your plants susceptible to root rot

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This is just an example growth curve. Every bacteria/algae/mold will be different with different conditions.
image http://extension.wsu.edu/chelan-douglas/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2014/05/fbBacterialGrowthValue.jpg?x98470

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Again you are correct but the specific bacteria which causes root rot doesn’t increase below 70 degrees but look at 85 degrees on that chart

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68-76F looks to be a good temp range to keep bad bacteria :microbe: to a minimum.

Generally above RT (77F). Is bad for microbe growth. In the lab that’s why they use incubators to raise the temp above RT to analye bacteria. I wouldn’t put a lower temp. Instead other plant metabolism effects would kick in.

I have been told by nurseries to plant perennials in the fall so they can throw roots through the fall/winter/spring, Ihave found this to be true with hosta transplanting. So cold temps are not necesarily bad for plant root growth, but may effect vegetative growth.

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In dwc we are growing roots the better and more roots the more bud we will end up with as long as they have the right nutriet available as far as hostas you can dig them out and toss them in a pile in your lawn and they will grow I bring more plants home from work than I know what to do with

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This snowballed into a very interesting thread with some great info. Thanks all!

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Totally agree! Cleared some things up for me as well.

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@WickedAle and @TDubWilly probably know more about this than I, but I will offer this from my experience, and they can translate.

I know in septic systems, you have anaerobic or aerobic system. The aerobic system has an air pump that pumps air into the tank, and does a much better job of breaking down the waste. As a matter of fact, I believe that in 7 States it is legal, if you have an aerobic system, and you install a chlorinator, you can use the water for watering your lawn

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Unlike most other hydro growers, I don’t bother trying to control water temps. In most cases my buckets/totes sit on the floor of my grow tent, which is directly on a concrete basement floor. In the dog days of August, my water temps get up to the 24C range. In winter they have generally been too cold (as low as 54F). Last winter I did use aquarium heaters to get my water temps up. I feel like that really helped me out when I got to flower in my deep winter grow last year. This year I am using a much bigger reservoir and I have a radiant heater right next to it, so my water temps have been around 18-19C.

I have grown plants in 3 gallon and 5 gallon buckets and 8, 14, and 17 gallon totes. I got root rot in the 8 gallon totes (similar to those Under Current style buckets). In that particular case I had a single 2" air stone (being supplied air from a 935gph air pump with a six size manifold on it). Once I doubled up the air stones (after a thorough cleaning and pruning away of infected roots) I solved that problem.

In general if I’m somewhere between 60-75F I don’t sweat it at all and haven’t had any real serious problems. I would only bother tackling water temp issues as a last resort (personally), unless you have a couple hundred extra bucks to spend on a chiller.

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@Grandaddy013 there are “bad” aerobic bacteria, but just a lot less of them. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an example. I personally would not water my lawn with human waste water, but it is done quite frequently. Many municipalities are moving to using grey/black water for non-potable usages such as watering lawns and landscapes.

Many municipalities use treated waste water. My question is, how much do you treat waste before you drink it? I think not enough