Not changing the reserviour

sheapdog420

Active Member
We all know the need for res changes. But I read a post from another site that said he's never changed his reserviour, and the poster said to use House & Garden's Drip Clean. He said something about the ionic properties of the product make it virtually impossible for salts to build up in a system. My initial reaction was B.S. especially when the word virtually was brought up, but I seem to remember something in chemistry class about when chemicals have a superior bond its extremely hard to break the bond without a reaction such as electolysis, fire, etc. What are you thoughts?
 

Mike Young

Well-Known Member
My plants are uptaking so fast now, that I just let them drink everything up, and replenish every couple of days. I add about 5 gallons every 2-3 days for two plants. They have massive root structures. I'm not saying this will work for everyone, but it's working great for me at the moment. Time will tell.
 

zem

Well-Known Member
my thoughts are that one can go without changing res, and if he's experienced with the strain and has a good variety of ferts and additives, he will get good results but i doubt that it will be the best. weed is a very valuable crop, cost of ferts negligible,i don't think it's a good idea to go to great lengths just to save ferts. i usually go 15-20 days with a res but i keep topping and adjusting and whenever i think i have to dump i instantly do even if it was in 1 day from the last change
 

bowlfullofbliss

Well-Known Member
I use the house and garden line, and change out my res every two weeks. I top off daily, and at the end of the first week I add back 30-40% of the that weeks nutes on the schedules. I do change out whenever the schedule changes up.....such as going from veg to flower, adding the multi-zen, than I change out prior to Bud XL, but keep that res (topped off of water and nutes), and hit it with the top booster. After that I change that out, and keep the res pretty much till the end, throwing those packs of shooting powder in as recommended.

Love that stuff.
 

BeaverHuntr

Well-Known Member
I use the house and garden line, and change out my res every two weeks. I top off daily, and at the end of the first week I add back 30-40% of the that weeks nutes on the schedules. I do change out whenever the schedule changes up.....such as going from veg to flower, adding the multi-zen, than I change out prior to Bud XL, but keep that res (topped off of water and nutes), and hit it with the top booster. After that I change that out, and keep the res pretty much till the end, throwing those packs of shooting powder in as recommended.

Love that stuff.

I'm definitely going with House and Garden next grow from what I have read and being that its cheaper than Advanced Nutrients .
 

hellraizer30

Rebel From The North
everytime I do a res change my plants show signs positive one and not changing to me wouldnt be advisable.
I like frest in the every other week
 

Serapis

Well-Known Member
Here is the problem with skipping reservoir changes......

We all monitor ppm levels, yet how many of us know how many of those ppm are N, P, K, or micro-nutrients and in what levels? If your reservoir has insufficient phosphorous, but your ppms are up to 1600 and the res is full, what are you going to do? You won't even know you have a problem until it begins to manifest itself on the plant's leaves. You can probably go 4 weeks easily enough between changes, but I wouldn't skip it for the entire life of the plant.

I use Drip Clean and it does a great job of keeping the drip lines clear. Some also use it as a flushing additive, but be careful adding it to your reservoir in the middle of a grow. It is known to release all the bound salts and your plant ends up digesting all of that salt if you don't flush after introducing it within 24 hours.
 

GringoLoco

Well-Known Member
It really is up to each grower and his/her environment. I run Aero units for flowering, with the CES (Cutting Edge Solutions) line-up + additives; I start with a 1/4 schedule feed (transition), top off with H2O every 3-5 days, and add nutrients every 2 weeks. Should an issue arise, I would quickly change out the rez, but that has yet to happen. Plants stay green, grow strong (most times stems nearly fill the 2" neoprenes), bud plentifully, and deliver some of the tastiest, potent medicine this toker has had the pleasure of ingesting!

Prior to CES I ran many of the popular commercial line-ups and consistently encountered issues that required flushing and rinsing long before 2 weeks. I was also constantly adjusting pH and ppm with those pesky meters, which, since switching to CES, I've neglected, there is no need, plants are always happy and thriving!

DISCLAIMER: I don't recommend that everyone just throw out their meters and forget about replacing reservoir contents, IMO each gardener must test any changes one step at a time and record/measure the effects of said changes, but know it can be done, and done successfully.
 

Mike Young

Well-Known Member
It really is up to each grower and his/her environment. I run Aero units for flowering, with the CES (Cutting Edge Solutions) line-up + additives; I start with a 1/4 schedule feed (transition), top off with H2O every 3-5 days, and add nutrients every 2 weeks. Should an issue arise, I would quickly change out the rez, but that has yet to happen. Plants stay green, grow strong (most times stems nearly fill the 2" neoprenes), bud plentifully, and deliver some of the tastiest, potent medicine this toker has had the pleasure of ingesting!

Prior to CES I ran many of the popular commercial line-ups and consistently encountered issues that required flushing and rinsing long before 2 weeks. I was also constantly adjusting pH and ppm with those pesky meters, which, since switching to CES, I've neglected, there is no need, plants are always happy and thriving!

DISCLAIMER: I don't recommend that everyone just throw out their meters and forget about replacing reservoir contents, IMO each gardener must test any changes one step at a time and record/measure the effects of said changes, but know it can be done, and done successfully.
That's good advice. Case & point. Act cautiously. But don't let anybody fool you into thinking there is only one way to do things. I've been proving that shit wrong since I was a kid. Experiment!
 

tafbang

Well-Known Member
I don't even know what a reservoir is... I just think of Condom tips. somebody educate me
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
Since switching from a Walmart air pump with 2 @ 12" stones, to an Elite 802 air pump with twin Sunleaves 4"air stones my rez stays super fresh. I never need H2O2 which kills beneficial microbes that live on the roots.

My grow method is HPA (high pressure aero) which doesn't use much in the way of nutes. During veg I recycle, but after week 2-3 of flower I begin to D2W.

hth
 

Serapis

Well-Known Member
H2o2 and air stones provide two very different things.... air stones won't kill off bacteria and pathogens, H2o2 will.... I don;t add it to oxygenate my water, like I said, I use it to keep the water clean. Air stones don't keep your water clean, they provide turbulence in the form of bubbles interacting wit the water's surface, causing aeration. Depending on how often you run your sprayers, you may not even require an air stone, as the water is aerated when sprayed as a mist.

My 3G rez has twin Sunleaves 4"air stones blasted via an Elite 802 air pump to keep nutes fresh. I never need H2O2.

My grow method is HPA (high pressure aero) which doesn't use much in the way of nutes. During veg I recycle, but after week 2-3 of flower I begin to D2W.

hth
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
H2O2 is water with an extra oxygen molecule. Air pumped into a rez amps up the oxygen, thus keeping the nutes from stagnating. Stagnation is a breeding ground for bad bacteria.
hth
 

highonbud

Active Member
I've always changed my water, I went once without changing it for a month ... plant still grew but I believe water changes keep bad things away. if you have a cup of water when you go to sleep your not gonna drink it when you wake up... same thing with your plants except they don't have a choice not to drink it. it may not make sense but im high as a kite
 

Mike Young

Well-Known Member
if you have a cup of water when you go to sleep your not gonna drink it when you wake up...
I'm sorry, but why wouldn't you drink the water when you woke up? That may be one of the most retarded things I've ever heard. Thanks! You realize that the water on your nightstand is as old as the universe?
 

highonbud

Active Member
it was a metaphor, water is also Alien. retarded as it may be but I don't know what could have ended up in the water. it goes hand and hand with changing plant water as you do not want your plants drinking water that could be contaminated.
 
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