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my reservoir is on a concrete floor in my ebb n flow set up. Temps in the reservoir are between 48 - 52 degrees fahrenheit.
have been reading that reservoir temps ideally should be in the 65 - 70 range if I remember correctly.
what kind of danger is there for my plants (currently 2 week old seedlings) with these low reservoir temperatures?
what is the best way to raise reservoir temperatures? (was considering heating pads)
An aquarium heater will do you fine but if the temps IN your rez are that low then the temps above where the plants are must not be much better. Cannabis will not grow well in temps in the 50's ........about 62 is the lowest I let my temps get and I can still see the growth slowing because of the cold. I doubt your plants will last long in that cold an enviroment.
Rez temp much easier to control if you put it on a sheet of foam board in addition Weedhounds advice. If room temps are that low you have to get a heat scource and the space size will determine the best scource. I once saw a guy who did a grow in an un-attatched garage in the winter by hanging a tarp in a circle around the plants, bout 8-9ft diam. All he used was all the above with a small ceramic heater.
OK looks like I made a mistake - res temps are hovering around 60 - 62.5 degrees fahrenheit (my mistake converting Celsius to Fahrenheit) & room temps are between 70 - 72
still think res temps are a little on the cold side and I appreciate suggestions of how to raise temp and intend to use them
have seedlings right now being fed no nutes as of yet, PH between 5.5 - 6.0 (always shooting for 5.8) and a few of them look a little yellow although they still growing
think it could be because of res temps and/or the reservoir water is filtered tap water which is very hard at about 450 ppm. going to get a RO water maker and add some CalMag plus so I know what I'm working with
I see you started off by saying they are about 2 weeks old, the slight yellowing might be the fact that they are looking for some N to really take off. Dont know what kind of medium you are using but on my last grow start when my seedlings were 2 weeks old they had already graduated from 1 1/2in RW to 4in RW and were getting 1/4 to 1/2 strength nutes. Air temp not looking bad but I think it was Loc-nar that pounded it into my head that res temps should be between 62-68f to max oxygenation
heat pads are ridiculously expensive, even on ebay. submersible heaters are many times cheaper if you shop in the right places, and they allow you to adjust temps unlike the pads. pads also usually come with sticky surface which cannot be taken off without causing malfunctions in heat dispersal. my two cents: go with the submersible :)
I had a recirculating system, holding a total of about 7.5 gallons of solution ... a $10 automatic aquarium heater managed that amount just fine, was 'pre-set' to 70-75 F ... :jointsmile:
tinytoon i got a question on your 4 in rock wool cubes feeding 1/4 strength nute how often do you watter them. gennerally? im gonna put my clones on a drip cycle while sitting on claypellets for drainage and i dont imagine they will be there more than 2 weeks before i move them into scrog.
take it off the ground, support it on 2x4s, then it will bounce up to abient room temp.
just insulate it really well from the concrete floor, like everyone is saying a fish tank heater is super cheap. My fish tank can stay at 80 degrees 24/7 in a house that is 70 degrees and my tank is like 60 gallons. I think mine cost me 30 for a really nice one for that size. I am sure they are much cheaper ones for you size of a rez. BTW how much did your E&F setup up cost you? I want to do one myself.
I am envious.
I run my tanks at 63 deg and would run at a lower temp, but I get condensation and puddles off the plumbing (dew point).
I have read that ideal is 60 deg.
Sounds like your good to go.
When you switch to R/O your quality will improve.
Chas I hand dunk them in a bucket once or twice a day until they are ready to go into the E&F setup then they get flooded 4 times a day when light on.
thanks man you might have save me i was planning to flood my tanks 1/day when mine went to flower. i think ill try 3 if your using 4 then work from there
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