I am soo done with hydro! For now.

[seldomBLUE]

It's just too damn hot in Texas. Brown roots, wilting leaves and no way to cool. My bubble buckets boil and my NF system cooks. Fluid temp usually reads at a nice 30.5 deg C. I don't know what that is in F but it was pretty warm so i guess the brown roots continue to cook. I'm able to keep my outdoor flwr room around 88F with lights out during the day and around 81 during 12 on cycle at night. Soil will do a better job for the weather we have here. I'm sure i'll have to keep a closer eye out for bugs with those kind of air temps. I came up with a nice little design for a radiator but the trouble of getting a bag of ice every few days isn't in my plans. The fact that my hydro guy keeps selling me bumb pH meters has alot to do with it too. Four meters in a month and all were defective. To hell with the drops which are OK for a fert recipe, but for daily adjustments it's too sensitive for my taste. One drop too many and you're off the chart.

I'm going back to the soil forums until we get some cooler temps. Looks like i'm out of here til winter.

[tinytoon]

Not to hot just wrong type of Hydro. If you did more of an E&F setup it would withstand the heat allot better IMO.

[seldomBLUE]

I'm pretty new to the whole hydroponics thing. I did my research based on what i could make myself and ease of operation for my space. My flwr room is 4' x 5.5' with 1 x 400w HPS and T8 floros standing in every corner. It's less than 1/4 of my total greenhouse. No AC, just sucks in the outside air through a 6" duct and exhaust with a squirrel cage fan through a 3" duct in the ceiling @ 234cfm. I did discover something rather interesting though. I had decided to let the hydro plants come to their own end. I had been having trouble with defective Eco2 pH meters i had to go back to using the drops. Easy to overdo it when you're not paying attention. Anyway, got me a new Eco2 meter yesterday (Wed) and wanted to see what the hydro plants were doing. I tested them and noticed that only one of them had snow-white roots. This one was on a white dinner plate sitting on top of a concrete block. The water temp was 63deg and the plate was cool. I filled another plate with water and sat it next to the other plate. Tonight the temp of the water on the plate was 62deg. The temp in the white roots was 63. The temp in the brown roots was 82deg

[seldomBLUE]

That's the same thing the guy at the Hydro shop told me when i first looked into leaving soil. Wasn't ready to go that advanced so I created six (1gal) bubble buckets and did'em for all for under $30.00, not counting pumps.

[khyberkitsune]

People doing hydro in hot environments should invest in a nutrient chiller, or slap a few peltier coolers onto their reservoir. Gotta think of more than just your air temp.

[polishpollack]

So you think the dinner plate and block worked to pull heat away? I take it there was only one plant that was set up like this, right?
Your C temp of 30 is over 90 F. If you take a C temp and double it, then add 32 you get a good idea as to what a temp is in F.
If you having good grows with hydro and can get water temp down, don't leave it for soil. Hydro produces better when done properly. One thing however, is your airflow. I doesn't look like your exhausting enough air to get the heat out. I don't know what your outdoor temp is but for indoor grows, air flow is a very important factor but often overlooked.

[khyberkitsune]

"Your C temp of 30 is over 90 F"

C to F = C*1.8+32

30 * 1.8 = 54
54+32 = 86
30C = 86F

30C to f - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?q=30C+to+f&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a)

[seldomBLUE]

"Your C temp of 30 is over 90 F"

C to F = C*1.8+32

30 * 1.8 = 54
54+32 = 86
30C = 86F

30C to f - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?q=30C+to+f&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a)

Then 86F was the temp of my water

[khyberkitsune]

Then 86F was the temp of my water

Sounds like you're not pumping enough air through the nutrient solution. Until you get to around 95F fo your reservoir temps, the only major issue is typically oxygen concentration. Once you hit 95F and higher, you have drastically lowered cellular division.