as far as not getting water everywhere my best attempts at that (still got some water on the floor but not much) was done by temporarily elevating my pots with some 2x4s just enough to get all the water to run back to the control bucket, then using one of these bad boys to suck it out of the control and spit into a 5gal bucket to be dumped outside.
Ph not oh
Hey if ur gonna post those pics I'd be interested, I check my floats functionality everyday wipe them down make sure they aren't sticking make sure they do what they are supposed to. But def looking for a diff set up. Wanna do the oxygen pot style. Any opinions, failed miserably at building a rdwc, gonna try again tho.
the bubble pot / oxygen pot system is simple and great for winter time or if you have a way to keep your water temps down like a chiller or a good climate controlled space. I wouldnt recommend it otherwise because your roots sit in water and as the water temps rise much over 75f degrees, water cannot hold enough O2 for the roots and that warm of water also invites a lot of trouble, disease, algae etc.
yeah I’ve never had an issue with the float systems As I do a clean / sanitize in between grow cycles but I could see that for sure with a larger more commercial operation with heavy salt build up or sticky organic foam gumming it up a bit. If that became a issue and wasn’t a feasible way the remedy the situation I would defiantly be aggravated and build a more dependable controller bucket for sure. I think for what it is, the simplicity, the price point, it’s a good introduction into hydroponics and a good solid option for the small scale hobby growers. Which is the majority of growers. With a few cycles under your belt you can modify what you have or take a trip to the hardware store and design a badass system. Now that you have a understanding of how ebb and grow bucket systems work.
I am in a basement so temps are easy to remedy always about 65 in there, my res is obviously outside my actual room. In my room ambient temp is 78 degrees with 60% rh and night time stays anywhere between 65 and 78 in the room with my girls, about 45%rh is the lowest humidity has gotten. My tap water comes out the tap about 170ppm and about 50 degrees year round, also out the tap pH is 7.0. so I have other issues gonna invest in a 500 gallon vat of ph down if any one is interested in a group buy. Haha
My tap water is 60ppm and a ph of 5.6..i live under a aquifer.. really good water.
local hydro shop is where I get mine. Bitch to ship something that big
Yeah they will..and I will tell you what works . Copper...cooper fittings, copper pipes, a find mesh copper over fittings..there's even a coper product you can buy, or make yourself that you paint on the fittings and inside of bucket to discourage root growth. There will be some people that will argue against using copper but they probably don't have the issue and certainty don't have any better advice to use other then copper. The only other tool you got is to lift the plants up every couple weeks and check for problems..if you use a trellis net, that will be impossible most likely. Anyways good luck.
I too am using the Active Aqua Gro & Flo, and I put a copper screen over my drain. I am in the third week of flower and have had no issues with root clogging. I will post some pics tomorrow.
Here are a few pics of my screen.
