Should I be topping off my water?

xxedgexx

Active Member
As water evaporates and nutrients condense, should I be topping off my water? I noticed today I'm about 4 gallons down from when I last filled.

thanks
 

xxedgexx

Active Member
Well, it's not that I'm drying up. I'm using an ebb and flow system and there is plenty of water available to fill the grow tray. It's more a matter of nutrient fluctuation. I know if I re-add the evaporated water, this is going to dilute my nutrients and bring my ppm level down. Is the proper response to add more nutrients to bring my PPM level back up to maintain a constant volume of water and a constant ppm level, or should I wait for the next time I change water completely, which I've been doing approx every two weeks.

I'm just concerned with overfeeding. Sounds like maybe I should attempt to maintain a constant water level and ppm. I'm basing my nutrients on a 20 gallon tank.

thanks
 

PlasmaRadio

Well-Known Member
Sounds like you are over thinking it. I suppose you could try and keep it constant, but I doubt you will succeed. A little diluting won't affect your plants.
 

potroast

Uses the Rollitup profile
Actually, you need to top off with plain water, to keep your ppm from getting too high. As the water evaporates, the ppm will increase. As the plant uses more water than nutrients, the ppm will increase. If it increases to toxic levels, your plants will suffer.

When you fill the res with fresh nutes, mark the level. Each day of operation, fill to that line with plain water.

HTH :mrgreen:
 

xxedgexx

Active Member
Thanks. This is what I figured so this is what I did. I replaced about 5 gallons and added additional nutrients based on that. I'm using 15ml of Pure Blend Pro Grow and 1ml of superthrive per gallon. Following this, it brought my PPM up to about 1000 - 1100 range, pH at 5.2. This is for approx. week 3 of growing from clones.

I'm using some jet pack looking RO system for my water. After processing my ppm in the water is about 10 - 20.
 
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