How do you maintain the res?

Dr.funkenstien

Dr.funkenstien

Active Member
I'm going to be doing a dwc. But I don't quite understand some things. I hear about topping off. But then I hear don't mix nutes in a separate container and add them cause it could cause Nute lock. I think dumping out the res every week would be wasteful. So if someone could clear this up I would highly appreciate it. Thanks
 
Dr.funkenstien

Dr.funkenstien

Active Member
Cx2H said:
Greetings.

#Light
How many can fit under a light is relative to grow style, strain, light coverage area and end goals, could be 1 or 100.
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I'm gonna be Growing blue dream and strawberry sour diesel. Im just using my closet this grow. I would love to fill the closet but I only got one light so I thought I should ask.
 
Dr.funkenstien

Dr.funkenstien

Active Member
nxsov180db said:
I have to top off my reservoirs every day in flower, I keep topping off until about 5-6 days goes by then I let them drink from the res till I should probably add some at which point is about a week and then I dump and start over. You have to dump because your plants don't use everything in the same exact ratio as you are feeding them, so as time goes on and you keep topping off you will eventually get an over abundance of something.. Sometimes if I go to long without dumping the res my PPM will keep skyrocketing or my PH will keep dropping no matter what I do and at the point I know I should have dumped it a few days ago. Sometimes when I top off I add nutes to the res and then add water but lately I've been mixing the nutes for topping off separately in a 5 gallon bucket then add to the res and top off with water also if I didn't have enough water in the 5 gallon bucket. And your question about the light is really dependent on your veg time. You could veg one plant to utilize a 600w hps for about a month or go with maybe 9 plants and veg for a week...
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Good lookin, thanks man. If I was to build a rdwc would I have to drain that whole thing sometimes as well I take it?
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
High Doc

I've gone whole grows in DWC without changing the rez even once and got as good or better results as changing a few times.

I use RO water only so I don't get any mineral buildup in my tubs from what's in tap water. If using tap water you should keep track of how much water you add back to keep topped up then when you have added back as much as your system holds you drain and reload with a fresh batch of nutes. Using tap water raises your ppm each time you top up so it makes it harder to tell how much your plants are actually eating every day.

There is no need to change nutes when your plants are small as they eat very little. I just add small amounts of nutes as the ppm goes down to keep it at the level I want or raise it as the plants get bigger and can handle more. Blindly following the makers schedule wastes a lot of good nutes and sends you back to the store more often to buy more. Would almost think that is what they want you to do. ;)

Here's a good article to read about nute management. Nutrient Sol'n Management and Longevity

Good luck!

:peace:
 
Dr.funkenstien

Dr.funkenstien

Active Member
OldMedUser said:
High Doc

I've gone whole grows in DWC without changing the rez even once and got as good or better results as changing a few times.

I use RO water only so I don't get any mineral buildup in my tubs from what's in tap water. If using tap water you should keep track of how much water you add back to keep topped up then when you have added back as much as your system holds you drain and reload with a fresh batch of nutes. Using tap water raises your ppm each time you top up so it makes it harder to tell how much your plants are actually eating every day.

There is no need to change nutes when your plants are small as they eat very little. I just add small amounts of nutes as the ppm goes down to keep it at the level I want or raise it as the plants get bigger and can handle more. Blindly following the makers schedule wastes a lot of good nutes and sends you back to the store more often to buy more. Would almost think that is what they want you to do. ;)

Here's a good article to read about nute management. Nutrient Sol'n Management and Longevity

Good luck!

:peace:
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Yeah my first grow doing that, man I followed some instructions and I was dumping out my res every week and my nutes were going fast. I'm hoping I do this more conservative this round
 
chemphlegm

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
Dr.funkenstien said:
Oh, and I keep getting conflicting information, how many plants can i fit under a 600w mh/hps
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um, how much does ten pounds of bricks weight? (seedlings, trees?geesh)

get the most of your lights by surrounding them with plants
or get the most your plants by surrounding them with lights


follow nutrient instructions, dump weekly, wash, rinse, repeat
I always gave my girls a little splash of pure water from the top before I dumped weekly.
 
Dr.funkenstien

Dr.funkenstien

Active Member
chemphlegm said:
um, how much does ten pounds of bricks weight? (seedlings, trees?geesh)

get the most of your lights by surrounding them with plants
or get the most your plants by surrounding them with lights


follow nutrient instructions, dump weekly, wash, rinse, repeat
I always gave my girls a little splash of pure water from the top before I dumped weekly.
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Well I got that 600w hps up right now. I got a bunch of cfls. I guess it wouldn't hurt to put those in there as well.
 
bignugdoug

bignugdoug

Well-Known Member
I also neverdump my res, i let my girls drink what they like check ppm's and add back nutes accordingly. I dont like the idea of buying $280 worth of nutrients and flushing them down a drain just doesnt make sense to me.
 
chemphlegm

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
bignugdoug said:
I also neverdump my res, i let my girls drink what they like check ppm's and add back nutes accordingly. I dont like the idea of buying $280 worth of nutrients and flushing them down a drain just doesnt make sense to me.
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would be great if you knew exactly what npk values were remaining in the res before adding more ? seems like guess work to me.
 
Cx2H

Cx2H

Well-Known Member
bignugdoug said:
I also neverdump my res, i let my girls drink what they like check ppm's and add back nutes accordingly. I dont like the idea of buying $280 worth of nutrients and flushing them down a drain just doesnt make sense to me.
Click to expand...
Maxibloom is 12$ a kilo.
 
bignugdoug

bignugdoug

Well-Known Member
Well i use something else so im not gonna just throw it away, plants are gonna use what nutes they want when you add them so i believe knowing npk values is not gonnq help very much.
 
chemphlegm

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
ok, for instance, if at this stage of growth they're not uptaking much nitrogen, yet, because you keep topping it off with more ppms of nitrogen eventually issues could arise right? I been there, saw the issues personally, calculated the losses(which you may not even notice without experience) and found the best results happened when I followed the directions. but you should continue the practice
to notice them yourself, and learn that way. Your weed is worth more than you think
 
CannaBruh

CannaBruh

Well-Known Member
I like smaller isolated/inclusive reservoir, kind of like a bubbler bucket. Change it out once a week, top off throughout the week.

Small reservoirs are harder to control the swings and fluctuations but are much easier to manage with a frequent reset.

I find increasing the frequency of resetting the reservoir decreases opportunities for pyth algea and temperatures to climb too high without needing a chiller or running some kind of sterile res. Some folks get by with no chiller and running biological and recirculating systems, but it's a lot of maintenance vs dumping a bucket and filling it back up.

That last line leads into how I reset, have another of the same type of bucket ready with fresh nutes, swip swap the lids (can get tricky with very large plants)
 
bignugdoug

bignugdoug

Well-Known Member
Ive been growing for about 5 years now i know how to read my plants. Its a matter of preference really, i usually top off with ppm's around 1350 in flower, and i dont add back nutes until ppm's usually decrease to 850-900 over a couple days. If they arent eating the just add back water if they are add back water with nutrients. Pretty simple once you learn to read your girls.
 
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