# tent accident- how bad for plant?



## Surfer Joe (Dec 30, 2020)

I am doing a bubble bucket grow in a tent and the plant is now about 2-3 weeks old and was doing very well.
The setup was steady with the average rez temps around 17-20C and the tent temps around 16-27C with a 600w MH lamp on a 21/3 hour cycle during veg. The humidity was more fluctuating between 30-70%.
This morning I checked and the temps had shot up to 27C in the rez bucket and 37C in the tent because a ducting tube had ripped and the light heat wasn't getting vented out of the tent.
I had last checked the night before around 11pm and all was well, so the most it could have been like that would have been about 8 hours.
I quickly changed the rez bucket for a new one with fresh nutes at 18C and fixed the ducting problem and the system went back to normal.
The plant looked like the main stem had bent a little and a couple of the lowest big leaves got dried out and cracked and had splotches, but the top growth looks ok. The roots seemed ok and had grown since I had last seen them yesterday.
The plant is still small, about 6 inches and has about 4 nodes so far.
Is there anything to worry about because of the incident? Could it lead to hermying later on? 
Can I do anything to help it recover more fully?
Thanks for any advice.


----------



## pute (Dec 30, 2020)

Since it is still in veg everything should be fine.


----------



## Surfer Joe (Jan 1, 2021)

The plant is struggling lately.

Besides the accident, the rez temps keep ranging between about 17- 21 throughout the day with lights on and off because it's an unheated garage and the weather is cold so the intake air can get colder at night and warmer in the day.

I am trying all sorts of ways to keep the temps more stable.

I have a small oil radiator and tube heaters in the tent to keep the air temps between 16 and 27 but the radiator can warm up the rez bucket, so I place a shield around the bucket for lights on and take it off for lights off, but as the outdoor temps fluctuate, it's hard to keep up with them.

Should I be worried about rez temps that stay around 18-20 most of the time but can dip to 16 and up to 21.5 during the daily cycle?

Are such rez variations bad for the roots?

I have a little soil plant in a 1L pot in the same tent and it is not affected by the variations in the tent.

The hydro plant is looking stunted and not growing as fast as expected but the leaf color is good although the leaves look a bit curled over and not alert and vibrant as you might expect as they face the light.


----------



## pute (Jan 1, 2021)

Any hydro growers want to chime in?


----------



## WeedHopper (Jan 2, 2021)

Best water temperature for hydroponics is between 65°F and 75°F. This temperature range provides an ideal setting for healthy roots and optimal nutrient absorption.
If your root system gets too cold it will slow down growth and nutrient uptake.
Too hot and your roots will yellow and start to have problems.


----------



## Surfer Joe (Jan 2, 2021)

Thanks, that's quite a big range. 
Is it ok for the roots if it fluctuates that much daily?
65 is 18C and my temps have tended to dip to 16 but only have gone up to almost 22 at times, and I have been worrying about the higher temp limit, but it seems I should be trying to keep the minimum rez temp above 18 and lower than 24C? I have never let it go that high because I was worried about root disease, but I might be letting it range to low.
Is a temp of 20-22 really low enough for the plants?

Also, can I be giving too many bubbles and damaging the roots?
I have a 30L/min hialea pump that is feeding only one 20L bucket with a big air stone cylinder that is rated at 24L/min. I was planning to use it for more than one plant when I bought it, but it's all going into the single bucket at the moment. 
The bubbling is vigorous and I notice a few root strands floating loose in the water when I check.
I can try to post a video clip of it bubbling later.


----------



## ROSTERMAN (Jan 2, 2021)

Can you build a smaller environment area around your tent and try to heat that area to get it balanced better, the cold swings are no good, 
    I am talking about taking some cheap 2x3's and the foam wall board and reduce a corner of the garage down by framing it out with just enough room for your tent to run and cycle inside of the new structure.


----------



## Surfer Joe (Jan 2, 2021)

No, I can't do that.
I have experimented with putting the oil radiator inside a box outside the tent and attaching the input air duct to it so that any air coming in the tent is already being heated, but that drives the humidity down to the 20s and 30s which seems too little for vegging plants. 
I also placed the radiator in front of the air input vent inside the tent and this allows a little more humid air to enter the tent before it is heated and dried. But on the whole, the tent humidity is low when lights are on, even with a humidifier inside the tent.


----------



## Wannabe_Biker (Jan 2, 2021)

If you are seeing bits of roots in the reservoir then you may have too much bubbling happening.
I take it that your pump is not adjustable. Could you put a tee in the air line and feed a second 
air stone but leave the second one out of the reservoir?


----------



## Wannabe_Biker (Jan 2, 2021)

I grow hydroponically  in a tent with a 310 watt LED panel in a heated cool basement. In the winter when the furnace
runs a fair amount the temp in the tent varies between 19 and 28 degrees. I have never checked the
reservoir temperature but putting my hands in it I would say it gets dangerously warm. My water has chloramine
in it so maybe that is helping. During the warmer months when the furnace does not run often my basement
stays cooler. The temperature in the tent is 16 to 22 degrees. The reservoir temperature is probably where it should be.
I have had an ongoing grow of grown five different feminized strains in the past three years and
have never had a problem. Some strains and being feminized or autos could be more susceptible
to temperature swings. The humidity in my tent stays around 30% to 35%.


----------



## WeedHopper (Jan 2, 2021)

Never seen a bubbler damage roots. They love the oxygen. As for temps,,i was giving you something to shoot for. I see no reason once you dial that in for that kinda of fluctuations. All Im saying if you can put it somewhere in the middle and leave it alone your plant will be fine.


----------



## Surfer Joe (Jan 2, 2021)

This is how the bubbles are in the bubble bucket. It's a 20L bucket but I am switching to a 33L bucket in the next few days




Your browser is not able to display this video.


----------



## WeedHopper (Jan 2, 2021)

Looks good to me. Thats how mine were.
Looks like its ready to drop battered chicken in to fry.


----------



## Surfer Joe (Jan 4, 2021)

I've raised the bucket thermometer a tiny bit and the rez is now between 19-22 rather than 17-20C and the plant is responding and looking more alert and it continues to grow. The tent is 17-27C and ranges 30-70% humidity.
I am a bit worried about the higher rez temp range, though, and don't want to promote root rot.
Is 22-23C too high for hydro in a bubble bucket?
The roots look healthy so far, although I cut off a little strand that had some darkening on it even though it wasn't slimy or smelled odd.
Is it ok to mist spray them with 3% hydrogen peroxide or should I add it to the rez water instead?
Here's a pic of the roots after about 20 days since the seed sprouted.


----------



## WeedHopper (Jan 5, 2021)

Anything below 75 degrees and no lower the 65 should be fine but i would try and keep it closer to 68 degrees.


----------



## Surfer Joe (Jan 5, 2021)

Thanks. 65 is 18C and my rez has been lower than that too much. The plant was stunting and curled in on itself and the leaves felt harder.
Now it's around 19-22C and the plant is more active, but I worry that the higher temps will promote root rot.
Do you do anything regularly to the rez to reduce the chances of root rot?
Spray mist the roots with h2o2 or put something in the rez?
What I am doing is completely changing the nute bucket for a fresh one every week or so, rotating two buckets, and cleaning the used bucket out before preparing it for the next change. 
I rinse off any nute slime off the air stones, heater and thermometer sensors in the old bucket and move them to the new bucket each change. 
Now that it has sufficient roots, I keep the water level about 1 inch under the net pot and keep topping it up, but at the moment, it's not using a lot of liquid.


----------



## WeedHopper (Jan 6, 2021)

Never had slime on my roots in DWC unless i let the solution get to warm. Which happened to me when i lived in Florida. I used frozen water bottles dropped in my rez to cure that problem. Also light leaks getting to your roots can cause problems too.


----------



## FutbolGuy024 (Feb 20, 2021)

My temps also swing on the high side, see my chart for avg Wrapping buckets in towels, put them in tray of water, add frozen half gallons every 12 hours and temp of water will stabilize in optimal range.


----------



## Surfer Joe (Feb 21, 2021)

FutbolGuy024 said:


> My temps also swing on the high side, see my chart for avg Wrapping buckets in towels, put them in tray of water, add frozen half gallons every 12 hours and temp of water will stabilize in optimal range.  View attachment 269136


How do you keep light from entering your buckets and hitting the roots through all that open space at the top of your mesh pots?


----------



## FutbolGuy024 (Feb 21, 2021)

Surfer Joe said:


> How do you keep light from entering your buckets and hitting the roots through all that open space at the top of your mesh pots?


I’ve read that this could be issue, but for me no issues w/roots.  I’m almost to harvest


----------

