Never Dump Rez???

[tejashidrow]

I have read about peeps changing rez every week or grow...
I'd like to hear fromm those who DON'T.. Who may go 1 or 2 or maybe 3 grows before changeing their rez...
What nutes do you use
and what type of add back??
AAND LONGESt gone without changing rez..
I have a 10 gallon rez useing a ebb and flood, w/ coco. and GH flora nutes..
I am at the end of my first 8 week run, and am thinking about NOT changeing my rez for the next 8 week run...
Any one else do someting like this??? thanks....PAX

 

[Green Force]

full flower crop flora nova some times some kool bloom id deff say change it for the next run tho

 

[mrwags]

I myself change every 14 days or so. IMO our plants shit and eat out of the same food so imo it is viable to change. I know of some who simply top off with new nutes (mixed with the old) every few weeks but I myself can see a difference after a few feedings of new nutes and the like.

This is a very interesting thread and will be looking forward to the opinions.



My Penny
Mr.Wags

 

[stevewinthrop]

I've gone 4 weeks without changing res in flood and drain. Using GH nutrients.

In DWC I've gone 9 weeks without changing res.

In aero, the longest i've gone was 3 weeks, and by that time i had a lot of bacterial residue to clean up.


Before doing AERO, I'd just top off my reservoirs until the plants were affected somehow, or the water formed colonies of visible bacteria. Then I would drain, clean and refill res.

A lot of people won't like this idea... Because you never know which nutrients your plants are using, and when you add in your nutrient mixture, your plant could have been using no nitrogen and tons of phosphorus, and when the top off is added with nutes, there will be a severe imbalance... Much too much nitrogen, locking out P and K.

But I think that a lot of people go without changing res using the lucas formula, i've just never been able to get away with it... DWC was the only method I've used where there was no bacterial growth, and the deficiencies the plants were showing, showed up late and were not severe.

-- steve

 

[Blunt_69]

The Magic trays will allow me to run an entire round without changing nutes 12 + weeks.I dump nutes at the end to flush the entire system.I have noticed plants are quiet consistent on how much they eat. I simply maintain a specific ppm using my nute solution or plain water. The PH will tell me if things are goin wack. ie salt buildup

I run lucus gh bloom & micro, as well as hydrozyme the entire round plus a bloom enhancer in flower.

I monitor ppm and PH constanly using a trimeter (well worth the money)

check my signature for my results growing this way.

 

[RottenDawg]

I myself change every 14 days or so

That's what I recommend...........RD

 

[Jedi]

Hmmm....wanted to ask.....

when u ppl top your DWC........

Do u add fresh water or nutrient water...???

was just thinking that the plant might use more water and and leave some salts behind.
and after a while the solution might become too strong..
don't know...whats the story there.

oh...still have to get a ppm meter

 

[Pseudo]

TRIED-IT-LAST-RUN-YIELDED-A-LOT-LESS

 

[JackKerouac]

I am doing a perpetual in a Megagarden right now. If the plants look light, I top up with nutes, if they look dark, I top up with RO water. If they look like they need cal/mag, I add cal/mag. It works great if you just watch what they need.

 

[Chomas]

hope you dudes arent dumping down the drain

Im going on 9 weeks strong with Lucas Formula ebb&fllow, and I just addback

might dump once to flush

 

[Haps]

Are you in a desert, or just avoiding work.
H

 

[Greyskull]

Are you in a desert, or just avoiding work.
H

No shit! I am dumping and scrubbing my (3) 40g rezies every week...

 

[Blunt_69]

Never had a problem avoiding work lol, they always yeild large!!

the only way to properly do this is to identify patterns that occur over time reading your ph and ppm constatly. If paticular salts buildup to much, your ppm wil gradually creep up to a point of Dump and flush. If PH falls to low and becomes unmanagable, also a dump and flush situation.

There are limits if your within them, lucus works great for this veg to harvest.Ive only had to dump and flush twice in the history of the trays.lol Like i say using lucas the plants seem to maintain proper nute ratios.... it's freaky

 

[Greyskull]

Never had a problem avoiding work lol, they always yeild large!!

You do have a nice gallery.
Crazy shit, that lf action...

 

[BadTicket]

Ten days is max for me. We ran a couple of plants this summer at my pals pad and he changed the water every 5-7 days. Never seen roots that fresh & clean @ harvest.

 

[happyherb]

usually change every one to two weeks in a recirculating system....done DWC a couple of times...last run of DWC did aprox 4 week veg and 9 week flower...didnt do a change ...bad idea i think... when finished the roots sparkled with the salts and when dryed were rock hard lol....depends on nutes used really...i doubt doing 8 weeks without a flush and change would be a great idea....worth a try to learn a lesson thou .HH. =]-~

 

[Jedi]

Hi

Can anybody explain the 100% add back scenario....Pls

my 4 plants use about 1 L of water a day atm and i find myself topping up every 3 days

I,m running a 40L DWC Rubbermaid tub with a small 3L side rez for topping up ,administrating nutes and measure temps/PH

 

[happyherb]

hey jedi.... i dont have any meters ect either.... so can only judge whats needed...if i need to top up say 1 L i add 1 L of water with the nutes added for 1 L....BUT....because the remaining nutes left isnt full strength because the plant has been using them i tend to add a little more each time i add more to top up (stronger dose ) or every few top ups make it a little stronger and watch the plants reaction and judge that for the next top up.

not the best way to do it but all i can do can without proper meters...hope thats sorta what you were after?....HH. =]-~

 

[Jedi]

hey jedi.... i dont have any meters ect either.... so can only judge whats needed...if i need to top up say 1 L i add 1 L of water with the nutes added for 1 L....BUT....because the remaining nutes left isnt full strength because the plant has been using them i tend to add a little more each time i add more to top up (stronger dose ) or every few top ups make it a little stronger and watch the plants reaction and judge that for the next top up.

not the best way to do it but all i can do can without proper meters...hope thats sorta what you were after?....HH. =]-~

Thanx Happy....exactly what i need to know....
and it seems like i,m on not too off the mark

Imust admit , i,m quite happy with my plants growth
Slightly on the light side(been topping-up with fresh water)
and the PH a bit too high..(6.3)...and i,d like to drop it to (5.8)

 

[DangerP]

Every time I see a thread like this (do a search and you'll find a bunch of them) I ask myself "why?" Nutes are pricy, but not that pricy. Not a single large-scale grower I've talked to keeps their nutes more than two weeks. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are a couple that do, but the vast majority don't.

Roots don't just suck up nutes without putting anything into the water. They do a think called ion exchange, which basically means that to take in a nutrient salt they have to swap it for something else. It's similar to the plant taking in CO2 and putting out oxygen. That means the water has an increasing amount of other stuff building up in it. Also, things other than your plant might be growing in there. The fellow above who only changes his out when he starts to see bacterial colonies floating around seems to me to be ignoring the fact that long before you see visible colonies bacteria are multiplying by the millions in the water. You're also likely to end up with a nutrient imbalance: lets say your plant is taking up more nitrogen than it is other salts. That means that you've got increasing amounts of phosphorous and potassium building up and making the water more and more salty.

The whole point of growing the plants hydroponically is to create the best possible environment for the plant. If you've got all kinds of random shit building up and growing in your solution you aren't doing that. At that point you might as well switch to growing in soil. Unless you are so strapped for cash that you can't afford enough nutrients for four changes (one at the beginning, one at two, four, and six weeks, then flush) I just don't see any reason not to do it right.

Edited to add: if you want your PH to go down adding water is the wrong thing to do. Nutes are acidic, and water tends to be either PH 7 (for RO) or slightly basic (for tap). Water's just going to drive your PH up.