Doing everything wrong yet having success. So is hydro really so advanced?
ILikeBigBudz87
Member
I thought lock out is with high ph and low ph causes plant to uptake metals as nutrients. Im not a scientist or a pro but thats what ive read from here. Those buds look no where near ready for a flush or even close to harvest... Just my opinion. But opinions are like assholes everybody has one.
Cold$moke
Well-Known Member
JSB99
Well-Known Member
Damn!!!
JSB99
Well-Known Member
Depends on the amount of water in your system. I've got 55-gallons in mine, and I'm still using the same fill from a month ago. I'll go another week, then flush when I flip to flower. My roots are white, there's no odor, and my pH is rock solid.
I doubt i would change it, even if I had a few more weeks.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
I rarely change my rdwc water either. Just keep adding nutrient waterm
JSB99
Well-Known Member
With the amount of nutrients I pour into the water, I hate the thought of tossing it out! I haven't seen any reason to change it. Everything's so healthy and growing at a rapid pace! Stating the obvious here, but I'm sure closely maintaining the res, and keeping everything in check, extends the amount of time between flushes.
southernguy99
Well-Known Member
your right there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing it the way your doing it. but the reason for change is what your comparing your grow style to and the amount of knowledge one has. Hydo can be very simple or very very advanced more advanced then most realize. I've seen it grown exactly they way you stated and I seen it grown with much more advanced techniques. side by side the end results are not even close.
the big part of hydo is all about the control of food, how much of what, when etc. so as far as i'm concerned anyone using bottles nutes from a hydo store will never get beyond the basics anyhow. the basics of advanced hydo is knowing how to mix your own nutes From years and years of lab testing formula's , plant samples etc I can say that optimally the food schedule needs to change on a weekly basis at the most let alone a month, a plant in week one of veg. likes an optimal formula , well that changes for week 2 , for 3 , for 4 etc, really for as long as the plant is in veg. and the difference between week 1 and say 4 is a lot. as the plant grows it requires different stuff at different amounts.think about it , a plant is not only changing externally what people see but internally as well, the key is always keep the formula balanced from week to week as it changes , just because one doesn't see it or the plant doesn't show it doesn't mean the plant is not feeling it . also a plant should also have at least a day of just fresh water once a week.
when flipping to flower the formula changes again , it can be run as a 10 day formula or 2 5 day formulas. it then changes again for each week of flower.there is a finishing formula that can be run as well for the last week before flush. I'm not just talking main nutes I'm talking micro's as well, micro nutes can have a much bigger effect on a plant then one thinks .many of the micro nutes get changes weekly depending on the stage of the plant. so whats the difference, true optimal plant growth , the size , thickness, hairs etc. of the roots , how fast it grows, health wise, size wise in all facets. but you can also very much effect branch spacing , bud sites, the amount of bud sites, bud size, density. the flavors , oils etc. thats the tip of the ice berg. but like I say these to methods side by side everything else equal , there's no comparison
Last edited:
Cold$moke
Well-Known Member
This is why i sized my system to dump every week when the plants are large enough to go to bloom.
True a larger system might be more stable but this way i can change stuff weekly. Without a ton of waste.
Works great so far
Fillup then top off with water throughout the week and dump .
But when im in the early stages of veg ill let that bitch roll for 3-4 weeks and it loves it
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
So just to clarify are you doing weekly testing of the elements in the water? How are you to know what the plant is actually taking up and not, or is it just what you discovered over years of tests. Does this not change from plant to plant, pheno to pheno? If in fact it is based on previous testing does it still not become somewhat of an educated crap shoot?
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
when did you last calibrate your pH pen?
southernguy99
Well-Known Member
no I don't do weekly testing I have need for that anymore, how you know what the plant is uptaking is by doing samples on it, so if you know what exactly your feeding the plant, say for a certain week/period you can do wet or dry samples of the plant and check for each elements stored in the plant (ppm) so then you can compare to what the plant has in it to what your feeding it. a plants cycle is always changing so does its needs for different elements. a plant doesn't uptake all elements in the same, some are very slow and hard for the plant to get, so by knowing when the plant needs some of these specific element and in what cycle/time period,one can up the amount of a certain element to meet the plants needs and decrease it when not needed.this goes for everything the plant needs. this is all verified by doing plant samples. this goes for anything really , pumpkins, tomatoes lettuce etc. even cattle i know beef farmers that do blood work on there cattle to see what there deficient in or have to much of. no it really doesn't change much from plant to plant , pumpkins to tomatoes yes , one variety of tomatoes to another not that much. what changes from plant to plant is how heavy a feeder it is some like a lot some like less some may like a little more of one element or less.this is all easily visible by an experienced grower. but the fundamental feeding for that type of plants is pretty much the same.
JSB99
Well-Known Member
I use ppm more for a reference, not as a determination of where my TDS should be at a certain week. I watch my plants more than my meter. As far as transitioning to flower, that's no big deal. My TDS going into flower was about 550ppm, even though the chart says I should be around the 900ppm range. That was from veg nutes. When I flipped, I just started feeding flower nutes. There should be a transition between the nutes when flipping. I lose 2 1/2 gallons a day. Every two days I add 5-gallons water, a teaspoon or tablespoon (depending on where the grow is at), and 5mil pH up. Over time, the veg nutes will fade out while I'm adding flower nutes.
jk
ANC
Well-Known Member
350is is fine for seedlings and clones with roots.
I don't mind the nutes I am using a the moment, it is a bit heavy on nitrogen at the recommended doses, but it does not seem to be harming the plants.
I am following the nutrient schedule to the letter to first see what it does at recommended levels.
Next round I will reduce the part with the nitrogen maybe 15 to 20 %.
I don't mind the nutes I am using a the moment, it is a bit heavy on nitrogen at the recommended doses, but it does not seem to be harming the plants.
I am following the nutrient schedule to the letter to first see what it does at recommended levels.
Next round I will reduce the part with the nitrogen maybe 15 to 20 %.