when to add more nutrients to hydro tank

[thunderbunny]

Hey everyone:

first post ever here on IC! yaaaay!!!

Have grown outdoors since 1981, and have recently started up indoors by setting up a drip system in the backyard outdoor shed.

My question is this:

I have a 25 gallon reservoir, using Dutch Master nutrients, running at a maximum EC of 2.10 (1st week of flower right now)

As the water level drops the EC goes higher (duh) but when I add more water to bring the level back up to 25 gallons the EC drops (OK another duh)

The EC never matches the original 2.1 figure after adding new water and I am wondering how all of you indoor growers out there handle this problem:

Do I add more Dutch Master to bring the EC back up to 2.10 each and every time I see that the EC drops below 2.10?

Do I wait and add more fertz at certain intervals (say every week) to keep the EC at 2.10?

Or, as I add more water do I just let the EC drop and the nutrients "run out" until it is time to change the entire 25 gallons ( I change the entire reservoir out when I have added another 25 gallons back to it)

Thank you in advance for your help! :smile:

 

[dongle69]

I have a 25 gallon reservoir, using Dutch Master nutrients, running at a maximum EC of 2.10 (1st week of flower right now)

As the water level drops the EC goes higher (duh) but when I add more water to bring the level back up to 25 gallons the EC drops (OK another duh)

That is a hint that your nutrient level is too strong.
I'm not sure why you have picked 2.1 as your target, but since you are just starting flower, I wouldn't suggest that high of an EC

Do I add more Dutch Master to bring the EC back up to 2.10 each and every time I see that the EC drops below 2.10?

Do I wait and add more fertz at certain intervals (say every week) to keep the EC at 2.10?

Or, as I add more water do I just let the EC drop and the nutrients "run out" until it is time to change the entire 25 gallons ( I change the entire reservoir out when I have added another 25 gallons back to it)

When the water level drops enough that you have to add more, fill the res and check the EC.
Add more nutes to bring the EC up to where you want it.
This should also lower the PH, which is good, because PH will usually slowly rise.
Some people change out their res water completely every week or two.
Many have success never changing the water out until harvest.
Small swings of EC and PH are good.
You can just keep topping off and then make EC/PH adjustments weekly.
For me, I use the Lucas method.
No res changes.
Every few days I top off with water, check EC and add nutrients to bring EC back up and PH back down.

 

[Ganjagrower1]

I have read you want to change out your res out every one to two weeks no longer then two weeks. If you change out every week you would not have to worry about add back. I pretty much did the no change out my last grow just kept adding new water with add nutes in it. I dont know but it looks like i might of stressed them out with doing so. i would recommend changing out the water regularly. just a thought.

 

[thunderbunny]

when to add more nutrients to hydro tank

Thanks to all for the quick replies

You guys think that 2.1 EC is too high?

I used the nutrient calculator at the Dutch Masters website using a starting EC of .04 (reverse osmosis water) with nutrient strength of 75% and I received the following nutrient levels:

week 1 = 2.2 EC
week 2 = 2.5
week 3-6 = 3.0
week 7 = 2.2
week 8 = pure water EC = <0.1

When I used the 100% nutrient level on the calculator it spit out the following figures:

week 1 = 2.5
week 2 = 3.0
wk 3-6 = 3.5
week 7 = 2.2
week 8 = < 0.1

The levels at 100% did seem awful high to me and that is why I went back and recalculated at the 75% level

My grow setup is as follows: 2--2 KW horizontal halides 12-18 inches above plants in a 7 ft x 3 ft room (95 watts per sq ft), continuous running drip\DWC system using 8 inch netpots filled with hydroton and 2 air stones bubbling away in the bottom-sucking up about 2 gallons of water per day--room temps kept at constant 70 degrees F with fresh air being pumped in every 15 minutes or so-no CO2 injection as of yet.

plants being grown include the following:

2 - Mango's 1 - G13 x Power Skunk 1 - Arjans Haze 2 x Kalimist

Any experienced growers out there that have used Dutch Master nutes have any advice on what EC levels I should be running?

The plants are lush and green--growing 2-3 inches per day with no nute deficiencies whatsoever at the current 2.1 or so EC levels and are appx. 15 inches under the halides.

Im looking for MAXIMUM yield without burning the crap out of my girls!

Thank you again for any and all advice given


One more thing-on my first post i put 2 photos into an IC album-I can only get 1 to show up (the one in my above post)-no matter what I do the other pic will not show

Here's what I did to get the one pic to work: put the 2 photos into my album-opened the album and right clicked on the first pic-I then clicked "copy shortcut"
I then hit the "insert image" icon at the top of the editor-when that opened I copied the shortcut address of the first pic to the insert image line-hit OK

the shortcut then appeared at the bottom of my post surrounded by brackets-that first photo did show up

I then did the same with the second photo in my album, but I cannot get a second pic to appear no matter what I have tried

for multiple pics do I have to use the shortcut address of the album itself or what-I have tried at least a dozen times now and I am totally frustrated

Is there a tutorial somewhere that you can direct me to? I have looked and I havent found anything that refers to the problem that I am having with pics

Again: thanx in advance for your help

 

[mark1253]

This works for me.......

When posting a reply etc, below the box you are typing in click the 'go advanced'.
Bottom right you will see My Photos.........click insert and your off !!

Lookin forward to see your pics

 

[swampskunk]

i totally agree with everything dongle69 said, and i don't do rez changes during a grow either. 2.1 is about as high as my ec gets, so it might be a little high for the beginning of flower. just watch your plants and they'll let you know. good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I would definitely do some searches on Dutch Master products.

1# Try to find a general, one solution fits most, formula that gets good results for people

2# Try to find other growers that have the same or similar type setup and environment as yourself. Use it as a baseline to make adjustments to the general formula.

3# Pay attention to your plants. Things happen a LOT faster in hydro. Waiting 2-3 days "to be sure" like you would in soil can kill your ladies. Usually difficult to do, but it has happened.

4# Be persistent, safe and meticulous. You'll definitely succeed.

 

[thunderbunny]

when to add more nutrients to hydro tank

outdoor grow shed-two 1kw halides and dwc drip system in hydroton-"room is constructed inside an outdoor garden shed using 1 inch thick styrofoam sheets hung from ceiling with hooks and 10 gauge wire allowing the gardener to simply lift the entire styrofoam wall and hook it to a hanger on the ceiling for easy access to the plants

 

[thunderbunny]

when to add more nutrients to hydro tank

outdoor grow shed-two 1kw halides and dwc drip system in hydroton-"room" is constructed inside an outdoor garden shed using 1 inch thick styrofoam sheets hung from ceiling with hooks and 10 gauge wire allowing the gardener to simply lift the entire styrofoam wall and hook it to a hanger on the ceiling for easy access to the plants-its cold out so heat is provided by a 750/1500 watt space heater + the 2 lights. All self-contained inside the 100 gallon rubbermaid trough

These babies are growing like crazy! I think that I will keep the EC right where it is at 2.1 ~ 2.0

 

[swampskunk]

how hot are those lights, not sure if my sense of scale is off but that seems awful close for 1k bulbs?

as far as your ec goes, look for crispy leaf tips, this will tell you you're getting close to burning them.

 

[BonsaiBud]

And low EC...

And low EC...

I grew a tomato clone in my fishtank and the leaves went light green and died in the middle from lack of nutes. It took a month, but the water was too pure. I now grow plants all my fishtanks. When they don't get that dark-green color anywhere on the leaf: you need to add some nutes. Extra light green does come with some genetics. These usually don't need high EC. imho. I am pretty new to this.

I now grow aquatic plants in all my tanks. They won't die from lack of nute; they just stop growing. They can store nutes for a low-nute season. MJ is more efficient with nutes than most ornamental plants.

 

[thunderbunny]

Im going to try keeping the EC at 2.0 MAXIMUM or so for the rest of the bud cycle-they do seem to be sucking up this Dutch Master and are growing like crazy-at 2.1 I was seeing a very slight burn at the end of some of the leaf tips so I am going a little lower than the massive EC of 3.5!! that Dutch Master recommends

Im glad that I didn't go with 3.0 starting EC like they recommend-I probably would have burned these plants pretty bad.

Swampskunk:
The lights are kept at about 15 inches over the top of the plants-you can't see it but there is a box fan on the floor blowing air up through the bottom of the plant canopy and into the lights.

I keep the fan on high and it pushes the heat from the lights up and away from the leaves-seems to work, I haven't had any of the tips burn or discolor from the heat-those branches that look like they are way up close to the lite are tied off to the side and to the PVC trellis-I have had to constantly tie these things down for the past 2 weeks-every day

Again I'm going for a maximum yield and I want to keep those lites as close as possible to the buds

Bonsai:
My nieghbor raises exotic landscaping fish in a pond in the back of his yard and Im trying to figure out how to get some of the waste water from him to use as an additive during vegetative stage
How to get some of that waste water WITHOUT letting him know that Im growing-Ill wait till spring and tell him its for my tomatoes lol-he does smoke but I dont want to let him know I'm growing due to security concerns (DONT TELL ANYONE THAT YOU GROW-NEVER)Im very security conscious

I have heard and read good things about fishtank water though in legitimate agricultural endeavors-From the pictures I have seen a fishtank or two full of fish can provide all the nutes and micronutes that your plants will ever need or one heck of a good foliar feeding solution.

 

[smokey cigars]

Some times with nutrients, you need to give the plants less to grow more...If you over feed, the plants will stop growing all together...I go with the less is more factor and my plants do great!

 

[Grinchy]

Some times with nutrients, you need to give the plants less to grow more...If you over feed, the plants will stop growing all together...I go with the less is more factor and my plants do great!

Very much Agreed. I responded to slow growth in the past by adding nutes, only to slow growth more, when in fact the slow growth was due to the nutes being too high in the first place.

Common hydro mistake starting out I reckon

 

[thunderbunny]

when to add more nutrients to hydro tank

One More Question: I have what is basically a sealed reservoir drip system, although I do have a couple of small air stones in the fertilizer solution + the drip (3/8 tubing) system is running constantly, adding 02 by running the fert solution 2 inches thru the air, dribbling thru 6 inches of hydroton, and then dripping 3-4 inches down to the top of the solution-Is this enough air exchange or do i have to vent my reservoir by placing a small computer fan or muffin fan blowing fresh air down into the fertilizer chamber??

latest pics from yesterday: EC at 2.15 and holding

It seems as if the G13 x Power Skunk is the most sensitive to the higher EC levels-it is the plant at the front left in the pics-she has a slight browning or burning right at the very tip of the large fan leaves, but the new growing tips do not seem to be affected at all.

The Mangos seem like they could handle a 3.0 +
they are growing like crazy and a lush, dark green color with no deficiencies at all!

Have not tied these down in the past week due to time constraints, but they will be tied down tonite-also gotta take some cuttings off these girls b4 they hit heavy bud initiation.

side view along rear of chamber

side view: Mango on left and G13 x Power Skunk is the thin leaved plant on the right

front view

another front view showing secong fan that has been added to blow air up thru the leaf canopy

straight on shot-compare this one to the picture in my 2nd post from 1 week ago-I LOVE HYDRO!

 

[thunderbunny]

picture test

 

[george j warner]

my flowering ec levels are

week 1 ... 1.7 ph 5.5
week 2 ... 1.8 ph 5.5
week 3 ... 1.8 ph 5.5
week 4 ... 1.9 ph 5.6
week 5 ... 1.8 ph 5.6
week 6 ... 1.7 ph 5.6
week 7 ... 1.6 ph 5.7
week 8 ... 0.8 Flush (5.5 ph plain water)