Hey there. So I have been using a 55 gallon barrel most of this year to hold my premixed jacks 3-2-1. I then just can water the plants 9-12 by hand. In flower the drum is usually empty in 2-3 days any longer than that it does not look so good. However in veg I have only been mixing half a barrel. And this run i have smaller not quite 5 gallon pots and having to water less and have a question regarding regarding aeration.
I currently do not have a pump or air stones in my barrel. Should I? I was also wondering about keeping it covered. I have also been just leaving the lid cracked but don’t know if thats even right or should it be sealed up? I am wondering if I have been screwing this up for a year now and feeding my plants shitty water. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you @Covertgrower@Hellraiser
Yes you should have something if storing mixed solution longer than 12 or so hours. Using air stone will probably drive your ph up, I would maybe try wave maker that autopot growers use.
I would, and do. Keeps it well mixed and aerated, more oxygen in the water is a good thing, more oxygen to the roots when you water/feed. I’d go with a couple/few magnetic wave makers over air stones and air pumps which seem to increase ph faster than the wave makers.
I keep my barrels/buckets covered to keep the dogs and cats out of them but with plenty of air flow, not sealed, more like grates (pot elevators).
Perfect thanks for the quick reply @Hellraiser@dbrn32 I ordered one of those magnetic wave makers and hope the magnet is strong enough for the thick sides of my barrel. I bet some of the issues i have run into are related to the water going flat or growing baddies in it. Always a learning process this thing we do.
I am wondering which size of those pumps you have would be the best for my barrel. I ordered the 800gph model. and i guess i should order a backup as well now that i think about it
I use the 800gph models in 5 gal buckets where they work just fine, for a 55 gal barrel I would go for a lot more gph (like 2000gph) or run a couple/few of the 800’s.
You can get a pond aerator air pump for 50 bucks I use this for my 500 gallon tank for my sprayer for the farm a agriculture/farm store would be the best and cheapest because once it’s for weed it’s 200 more lol hope this helps
the impeller unit arrived yesterday. I put it in maybe a 1/4 barrel of what was left of my mix i made yesterday morning thinking i would use that today. Boy was i wrong. I must not have left enough room for air and the barrel/water was good and warm and looked terrible. Needless to say I dumped it. @Hellraiser So from this happening i take it need to allow my barrel to breath correct?
The unit it self moved a good amount of water from what i could tell. KEDSUM 800GPH 3W/1800GPH
One word of caution. It uses magnets to attach. one on the outside and the one on the unit. They are strong. It has no issues attaching to my thick barrel. HOWEVER. The second i got my finger between the two and it clamped down like a vice I instantly remembered reading the review saying don’t get your fingers between the two magnets or you will regret it.
So I have had no success here with this setup. Either my water from the tap through the rv filter is contaminated or I am contaminating the Barrell with what i perceive is a clean watering can. Or outside contaminants are getting into the water as it sits.
I even went as far to buy a new shorter 6ft hose that i cleaned with h202 inside and out before use.
Before filling this last time I also cleaned and scrubbed the barrel with a light bleach solution and rinsed it well.
I am still getting cloudy smelly water at day 3.
Day 1 water is crystal clear. Water this Am was not so murky but the ph had risen on day 2 to 6.5 from 5.8/5.9. however when i checked the rez this evening it was murky and smelled bad with tons of white floaties in it. The room the barrel is in is not very dusty and i actually topped to bottom cleaned it about a week ago. Keep floors moped with h2o2 regularly as well.
Funny thing is, If i do only 25 gallons (27.5)ish the water is fine day 2. If it is a full barrel it turns on me fast. Seriously i just got back from the lake and the water looked better and smelled better than my rez.
At this point I am not sure what to do. I just dumped 25 gallons of water/ nutrients down the drain. Again. Looks like until I can figure this out i will be mixing once again every morning. Which is a huge pain in the ass. @Hellraiser
The wave maker works great,. I can see it moving the water around really well even with a full barrel.
Any Light getting in through the barrel, Translucent White or the Opaque Blue.
For my vegetable garden used to use the Translucent white ones as rain collectors but always got algal blooms until I painted them, the blue ones never an issue.
At this point i am just mixing 27.5 gallons. that gets me through about 2 days the second day not as much run off as i usually give them which is probably too much actually. . water stays nice and clear. It’s so odd that if i do the full 55 by day 3 its shitty. Changed out the filter on the water system and was tempted to do a full load but I have had to dump about 200 gallons this run and well that just sucks. The wifes rose bush doesnt seem to mind however.
