• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

indoor 5 gallon bucket DWC - indoor or outdoor?

dustonj2008

dustonj2008

All, 
I am planning on starting a couple super hots in a 5 gallon bucket DWC setup. I am debating on where they'll make their home. Should I stay indoors to harvest? Should I move them outside after LFD with the hope that they'll make it to harvest before the water gets too warm in the summer? Should I just move them inside once it gets too hot outside? Should I transplant from hydro to soil at that point? What do you guys think?
 
 
I have the same question. I plan to use mostly pots (soil) outside but have a bunch now in DWC's that I was planning to just move outside.
 
You'll have a tough time keeping the water oxygenated enough during the heat of the summer. When I was doing DWC I switched to drip systems when I brought them outside. That is an easier outdoor setup.
 
dustonj2008 said:
 
Should I transplant from hydro to soil at that point?
 
 
Click to expand...
Some people have had s oso luck with this but for me, the plants always seemed to get really shocked by going from hydro to soil and most never really recovered.
 
I'm currently running hydro, but they were originally in soil and i only experience a few days of "lag" while the plants adjusted. Same thing happened when i went from hydro to soil it wasn't bad, but this has all been indoor so i don't know what the situation is like outdoors *yet*
 
This will be my first season trying to grow peppers in 5 gallon DWC, grew some tomatoes last year.  My biggest problem was trying to keep the buckets cool in that hot sun.
 
Indoors, I've gone from hydro to soil with no problems. I took an outdoor plant and put in hydro indoors and not a problem.
 
I am in this thread wondering about going from indoor dwc to outdoor dwc, but sounds like an oxygenation issue?
 
Yea my main concern is with indoor dwc to outdoor dwc and high temperature with nutes. If I can keep the temps under control my hope is I will see a successful harvest without transplanting to soil or moving inside when summer hits.
 
I talked to Pex in the chat room. He mentioned using lighter colored buckets or wrapping the current buckets with mylar blankets to help control the temps.
 
yeah panda film is good stuff.
Another thing i hear people will bury the reservoir to keep it cooler (in dutch bucket recirculating system) but your yard would look like crap with a bunch 12" holes everywhere with dwc's lol.
 
I plan on moving my indoor hydro plants outdoors in march. In Texas we have wicked hot summers so I am going to throw frozen water bottles in the reservoirs. It's going to be a pain doing it every day but the way I see it I'm already checking on them daily as it is. I am quite sure it will get the job done. Also I'm going to buy those solar powered aerators. Those should keep oxygen in the res. You can get them for like 10 or 15 bucks on ebay.
 
Yellowfin2na said:
I plan on moving my indoor hydro plants outdoors in march. In Texas we have wicked hot summers so I am going to throw frozen water bottles in the reservoirs. It's going to be a pain doing it every day but the way I see it I'm already checking on them daily as it is. I am quite sure it will get the job done. Also I'm going to buy those solar powered aerators. Those should keep oxygen in the res. You can get them for like 10 or 15 bucks on ebay.
Click to expand...
 
Please glog that. I've been toying with trying out a hydroponic grow, but I'd want it to be outdoors. There's something about living in one of the sunniest places in the country and paying the electric company for light that I am reluctant to do.
 
Yea I lived in florida for several years and hated that you only have one electric provider to choose from (FPL?). In Texas there are tons of different electric providers and you can shop around. I'm locked in at only 7 cents per kwh. So running my 1000 watt in the garage has done minimal to my bill. And I run it 24/7 so my plants won't freeze. Anyways I haven't done the frozen bottle trick yet I just have been reading about it on here.

Or maybe you could grow in small containers near a window? I have one plant in a coffey can and it's doing great. But it's under a t5 so I don't have experience with the window. I imagine it would work.
 
I have an idea that I'll try out. I have these 50 gallon plastic tubs, I can stick two or three of my 5 gallon DWC's in there and insulate inside with something or nothing. I bet that would help regulate the water temps a bit.
 
Yellowfin2na said:
I plan on moving my indoor hydro plants outdoors in march. In Texas we have wicked hot summers so I am going to throw frozen water bottles in the reservoirs. It's going to be a pain doing it every day but the way I see it I'm already checking on them daily as it is. I am quite sure it will get the job done. Also I'm going to buy those solar powered aerators. Those should keep oxygen in the res. You can get them for like 10 or 15 bucks on ebay.
Click to expand...
 
Please post this setup if you go with it, because with solar I could move my buckets around and not have to worry about being by an outlet for my air pumps.
 
I'm doing outdoor DWC, struggling with keeping the water cool. Actually, I'm not struggling, I flat out cant.   
 
I've wrapped mylar, but when your weather is regularly 35C+ each day...
 
Go for indoors if you can afford the electricity for the lights would be my advice.
 
I also live in Columbus.  Last year i started a habanero and a Lemon Drop inside in 5 gallon DWC at the beginning of April.  Around the 1st of June I moved them both outside.  I didnt do anything special to keep the water cool during the summer.  I changed nutes biweekly and kept the water level up in the meantime.  I had more peppers from those 2 plants then I did ANYTHING else i had planted in the ground or in containers.  I say move them out in the sun as soon as possible and let them rock.  Dont stress about it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top