FYI: 10 gal DWC buckets

I was at Home Depot the other day and came across these, 14" dia top, 10.5 gal, black( light proof), should hold 8 gals of solution with a 6" net pot.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sterilite-10-5-gal-Black-Round-Swing-Top-Trash-Can-10869004/100654365

.the overall height is 22" so it's only about 7" taller than a 5 gal bucket.


I bought 14" plant saucers, @ $2.50 each,



cut a 6.5" hole in it, drilled a hole for the air hose..done.

I just took the top off my 5 gal DWC's and dropped it right on top of the plant tray which is the new top, ran my air line..easy.

I needed something to hold more solution so i can go away for a couple days..figured i post it up... I'm slightly curious if the deeper res will make a difference over a square shallow 10 gal tote...finished( fake plant for effect..lol)..

I used 24" Reflextix to insulate, and the 2" i trimmed off went on the new lid, helps keep the res temps down.

Go got any ideas for changing the res with out taking out the plant

Tjblack said:

Go got any ideas for changing the res with out taking out the plant

Click to expand...

I take the plant out,..i have a couple spare 5 gals i put it in when i do changes..the roots love being in air for 15 mins or so. You could always buy a small pump for sucking it out, or put a drain in the side/bottom.

I change out my nutes the same way. Have a spare bucket with water already in it, letting the chlorine and fluoride dissipate as it sits a few days. Mix in the nutes, and swap the lid. This way you can clean out the previous bucket so there isn't any solids left to mess with the ph.

get a cheap sub pump, a pvc 1/2" to gardenhose adapter, and a cheap garden hose. use a bucket in the bathtub to mix solution in, pump out the res, pump in the fresh solution! Screw lugging buckets!