I'm overwhelmed. Questions about Reservoir-/Nutrient-Management and how Plants take up Nutrients.

Boatguy

Well-Known Member
So that's what you recommend to keep the good bacteria killing the bad bacteria? I think I've read hydroguard in a store already so seems to be available too!
My only complaint about it is that is more expensive than a quart of my nutes. Only requires half as much though so i guess it evens out
 

RookieMuffin

Well-Known Member
I'll post this in both of my threads because I got good advice in both of them!

Thanks to you guys I'm a lot calmer now! I give my plants more time to respond to my changes instead of hoping for a quick fix!

It's time for a reservoir change and I wanted to hear your opinions. The last change was about 10 days ago.

I've watched the plants every day and checked their deficiencies and since my last Cal/Mag dosage upgrade the deficiencies didn't stop BUT they don't progress as fast as before. The leaves don't die as fast and they don't loose their color as fast BUT it's still progressing. I was checking the new growth daily but even there it shows signs of deficiencies after some time so that makes me think it's not over yet but since it's progressing much slower AND the plants are growing I'm almost there (except for the one that was deficient first she is growing very slow still and almost yellow I think she might be VERY magnesium hungry).

I really think it's a magnesium deficiency so I want to upgrade the dose! What do you guys think? Is this a good idea or still keep an eye on it? It's been about 10 days with a lot of new growth but the new leaves still show signs of deficiency. Not a lot but theres still signs so that makes me want to up the dosage a little bit and I think it will stop then! Even the petioles are purple/red now.

My PH is on point all the time at about 5.8-6.3 so I'm almost sure it can't be a PH problem (ph meter is calibrated). In my eyes the only thing I can do now is to up the magnesium dosage a little so the plants stop being deficient. No other signs of deficiency other than magnesium and as I said they are growing well just the slow progress of magnesium deficiency otherwise they grow faster than before!

Remember I use distilled water that's why I'm adding extra Cal/Mag.

And again: Thanks for helping me earlier and calming me down and all the other tips I got from you!

Deficiency progressing slowly now (also on new growth)
deficiency.JPG

About 10 days ago
 
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MidnightSun72

Well-Known Member
You have to swap your rea out weekly basically to refresh the ratio. But you can never know what the plant is up taking. It's just part of that system. Have you considered trying coco? It's the same rapid growth little easier Ph to 6.0 and life is easy
 

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
You have to swap your rea out weekly basically to refresh the ratio. But you can never know what the plant is up taking. It's just part of that system. Have you considered trying coco? It's the same rapid growth little easier Ph to 6.0 and life is easy
You can get ion specific ppm meters to let you know what nutes are being taken up, but they aren't cheap.
 

RookieMuffin

Well-Known Member
hobeskty ideal would be NOK calcium and magnesium. But a lot of calcium oroblems are really other problems. So in theory you should never need it. But would be great to trouble shoot deficiency or excess.
Right.

Would love to get a lab report if deficiencies occur lol
 

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
I use jacks tap. I refuse to do RO cuz I'll have to do a. Water softener too. And the water waste sickens me.
The water waste seems minimal compared to how much water my teenage daughter wastes in the shower. I use RO for my plants, and also for drinking water, except that I add an Eco-Spring remineralization filter on at the end. I tried tap in the past, and it worked ok, but too many fluctuations from tap water, and I like the "blank canvas" aspect of RO water. Switching to RO really helped to stabilize things for me. I think if I has to do tap, I wouldn't grow hydro or coco, just peat based soil mixes.
 

MidnightSun72

Well-Known Member
I use 600L of water DTW a week when in full swing. It's too much for me to accept pouring down the drain 2-3x the amount used. I know all about permeate pumps etc too.
 

pezmaz

Active Member
I grow exclusively in dwc and from what I've read , I reckon you are just overthinking it dude.

If my water drops , ec increases , I just add water ( I use rain water ) and then adjust pH need be and if ec is dropping , I'll generally add abit more then when I top off the res. I do use a fair bit of calmag, but if you are using too much she will definitely let you know.


As for beneficial bacteria, do your self a favour and google hiesenberg tea. I've had no root rot ever since introducing that, dosnt even cross my mind now days.

I'm getting roughly a pound off a 6 week veg doing rdwc
 
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