greyfader
Well-known member
@Absorber, howdy! very ingenious system! they say we stoners are lazy! a lot of thinking went into your design.
@Rocket Soul, the need for a chiller depends on the ratio of roots in the solution to the roots permanently out of the solution. i ran roots in the water hydro for about 13 years and needed to cool the water.
in a hybrid system, there's a point where the amount of roots in the water will require the user to use a chiller, but, i don't know the exact point because i never experimented with it to find out.
in my system almost all of the roots are out of the water so the water, for all intents and purposes, could actually be anaerobic and it wouldn't make any difference because the entire system derives all of it's o2 from ambient air, not the solution.
but, because my system doesn't put any bio-demand for o2 on the solution it never becomes anaerobic because of atmospheric partial pressures.
in a system with substantial roots in the water the need for cooling is critical because water holds free o2 molecules at about 68f or 20c quite well. you don't want to go much below that because very cold water temps can suppress growth. temperature is the second most powerful regulator of plant growth after light.
at temperatures above 20c as you increase temps the number of free o2 molecules drops off and at around 85f or 30c most free o2 molecules have left the solution. add a large bio-demand from the plant and you will develop anaerobic bacteria.
my reservoirs run at 30c all the time and i never get root rot because the roots do not live in the solution.
i have friends who have operated the ppk system outdoors in 100f heat with no chillers and no issues.
this is where recirculating, closed-loop systems diverge. roots in the water or roots out of the water.
@Absorber's system is one of the best thought out roots in the water schemes i've ever seen. it just depends on your needs and goals which way to go.
@Rocket Soul, the need for a chiller depends on the ratio of roots in the solution to the roots permanently out of the solution. i ran roots in the water hydro for about 13 years and needed to cool the water.
in a hybrid system, there's a point where the amount of roots in the water will require the user to use a chiller, but, i don't know the exact point because i never experimented with it to find out.
in my system almost all of the roots are out of the water so the water, for all intents and purposes, could actually be anaerobic and it wouldn't make any difference because the entire system derives all of it's o2 from ambient air, not the solution.
but, because my system doesn't put any bio-demand for o2 on the solution it never becomes anaerobic because of atmospheric partial pressures.
in a system with substantial roots in the water the need for cooling is critical because water holds free o2 molecules at about 68f or 20c quite well. you don't want to go much below that because very cold water temps can suppress growth. temperature is the second most powerful regulator of plant growth after light.
at temperatures above 20c as you increase temps the number of free o2 molecules drops off and at around 85f or 30c most free o2 molecules have left the solution. add a large bio-demand from the plant and you will develop anaerobic bacteria.
my reservoirs run at 30c all the time and i never get root rot because the roots do not live in the solution.
i have friends who have operated the ppk system outdoors in 100f heat with no chillers and no issues.
this is where recirculating, closed-loop systems diverge. roots in the water or roots out of the water.
@Absorber's system is one of the best thought out roots in the water schemes i've ever seen. it just depends on your needs and goals which way to go.