Who Doesn't Change Their Reservoir For Entire Grow?

[mrwags]

Our plants eat and poop in the same water so yes I change ever 2 weeks and can see a huge growth spurt after each change. I use buckets with a barrell rez with a Tri-Meter in it and must say I will always spend the little bit extra to give my girls the best that they deserve.


My Penny
Mr.Wags

 

[0'dweeds]

Our plants eat and poop in the same water so yes I change ever 2 weeks

plants poop?

 

[Classyathome]

plants poop?

Yup - check out "2 plants, 1 cup"...

lol

 

[beatster]

i had a bubble grow in storage bins that got too big to change but i like to change often a week or less depending on temp

 

[bong ripped]

did anyone even bring up the salt buildup from a minimum 8 week flowering schedule? Mt tank and pump are covered in salt in under a week. Thats generally a problem when using chem. nutrients, I switch every week these days because i notice faster growth and quicker finishes with harder tops.--no effect on smell or taste-

 

[*mistress*]

I'd like to find somebody's method for not changing nutes.

see post 8 for link...
details in link, but if have q's, can ask there & replys come...

I dont like wasting stuff either, but I need good performance from the nutes. Its too my advantage to save money..

gh flora nova bloom... 15ml(1 tbsp)/gal...
feed-water-feed-water...

Secondly, how do people deal with assorted buildup in their tanks?.. Minerals, deadroots. etc..

h202 & neem oil... & feed-water-feed-water... h202, or neem, in water... 15-60ml/gal, depending...

it is the ph of the solution that seems most important...
maintaining 5.8-6.3 ... also, the cation exchange capacity of the medium...

more inert media (ie, perlite) has less affect on solution not being changed, than a 100% coco media, which physical properties contain lots of salts, & thus effect assimilation & cec.

however, less buffer w/ 100% inert media, so good to have nute regime in order. slight buffer w/ up to 50% coco, etc...

solution can be 1"-6'... as long as ph in range, micronutrients should remain in solution.

humic acid +++! gh fnb contains humic acid & generally maintains a very steady 5.8-6.2 ph - regardless of ppms... this is chelating, & buffering effect.

though, may have to provide more mg & cal @ different stages, which may require adjustment of ph... but this is done in any feed regime, whether dump/never dump run-off/res...

plants use far more water than fertilizers... 95%+ of the solution provided to plants transpires in 24hrs as water vapor thru the leaves... so, >water w/ higher concentration of nutes next day...
ok if solution is buffered & chelated...

w/in week, most evaporates, is assimilated, or have little in basin.
this is when fresh solution added... or, more water, as the plant uses far more water than 'fertilizers'... this is why do feed-water-feed-water...

'salt build up' is term that can be interpreted differently. basically want nutes that are present available to plant. doable w/ water dilution (mini-flushes thru-out season) & ph stability.

from kbs buckets, to dwc, to aeroponics buckets, to soil, to soilles mix, to coco mix, to 100 perlite, etc, etc... feed-water-feed seem workable... full strength... as a base.

when run same cut/nute regime, over/over/over, can then dial further to feed-feed-water, or water-water-feed, depending on maturity/stage, etc...

far more difficult to dial any regime, if multiple cultivars, w/ same res, & cultivars & feed regime changes ea garden season...

here is another link to a gardener that doesnt dump run-off...

passive plant killer

very detailed data & replies from member delta9nxs...

hope this helps. enjoy your garden!

 

[love the smell]

I've been doing e&f for a bit and never change the res until flush, then I change every day for the first week and every other day for the second week. I'm going to start changing my reservoir every week or two despite wasting nutes. I'm thinking of setting a full res, letting the level drop through feeding and evaporation while maintaining ppm and pH, then flush with a mild nute solution before resetting the nute solution. The reservoir can be maintained at lower volumes to reduce nute waste.

 

[CannaCompulsory]

I've been doing e&f for a bit and never change the res until flush...The reservoir can be maintained at lower volumes to reduce nute waste.

going back to ebb and flow myself and after seeing the input on more frequent res changes, I'll give it a shot.
yes, coco is great, using it now, should have clarified the question;recirculating systems, but since this is in the hydro grow area..
It would be cool if I had space and time to do a comparison on res with change and one without; not gonna happen right now, so I will go with the consensus as I dont mind spending a little xtra$ on the plants as well, but more important than wasting nutrients, I dont like dumping valuable(not just $) h20 if not necessary.

 

[GrowerGoneWild]

it is the ph of the solution that seems most important...
maintaining 5.8-6.3 ... also, the cation exchange capacity of the medium...

more inert media (ie, perlite) has less affect on solution not being changed, than a 100% coco media, which physical properties contain lots of salts, & thus effect assimilation & cec.

solution can be 1"-6'... as long as ph in range, micronutrients should remain in solution.

humic acid +++! gh fnb contains humic acid & generally maintains a very steady 5.8-6.2 ph - regardless of ppms... this is chelating, & buffering effect.

though, may have to provide more mg & cal @ different stages, which may require adjustment of ph... but this is done in any feed regime, whether dump/never dump run-off/res...

plants use far more water than fertilizers... 95%+ of the solution provided to plants transpires in 24hrs as water vapor thru the leaves... so, >water w/ higher concentration of nutes next day...
ok if solution is buffered & chelated...

w/in week, most evaporates, is assimilated, or have little in basin.
this is when fresh solution added... or, more water, as the plant uses far more water than 'fertilizers'... this is why do feed-water-feed-water...

'salt build up' is term that can be interpreted differently. basically want nutes that are present available to plant. doable w/ water dilution (mini-flushes thru-out season) & ph stability.

from kbs buckets, to dwc, to aeroponics buckets, to soil, to soilles mix, to coco mix, to 100 perlite, etc, etc... feed-water-feed seem workable... full strength... as a base.

when run same cut/nute regime, over/over/over, can then dial further to feed-feed-water, or water-water-feed, depending on maturity/stage, etc...

far more difficult to dial any regime, if multiple cultivars, w/ same res, & cultivars & feed regime changes ea garden season...

here is another link to a gardener that doesnt dump run-off...

passive plant killer

very detailed data & replies from member delta9nxs...

Feed, water, feed, thats a soil program. How do you propose a feed/water/feed in hydro? Say move nutrients to another container and flush with plain water and replace?

I'm not going to use flora nova at the moment, I'm a big fan but there are a few things about it I dont like. I started a thread on FN alternatives, you were in it.

Perlite or hydrotron presents a problem for me, I see that they both have a tendency to retain nutrients,or minerals so at the very least, the media itself needs to be washed and rinsed to prevent buildup.. etc, even if they are inert. I've done the longest run with an E&F tray for at least 6 weeks for veg and no flush and its been a nightmare.

I think in a veg system, not changing the res works.. in a DWC with literally nothing to hold minerals, or etc.. DWC for long term maintence is my best bet. In fact my mom plant is kept in a DWC bucket, I feel this is the lowest maintence hydro solution.

In a bloom system, from week one, the needs change from week to week. IMHO. Making optimal conditions difficult to maintain if nutes are never changed. I've been looking at RezDog's nute recipe and he calls for huge PK spikes, followed by a dump and a return to a normal bloom solution.

I guess you could make a zero change possible.. Anybody care to detail a formula with pictures?

 

[CannaCompulsory]

Feed, water, feed, thats a soil program. How do you propose a feed/water/feed in hydro?

yea, and more specifically to what mistress is talking about, coco formula and no runoff. I didnt follow those directions either, I feed/feed/feed with runoff in coco and am having fine results.

 

[CannaCompulsory]

I guess you could make a zero change possible.. Anybody care to detail a formula with pictures?

Yea would be great! Even without pictures would be fine.

I still think complete changes are a waste as your replacing more fresh water than thought with top-offs/transevaporation, etc..

 

[CannaCompulsory]

link please

link please

RezDog's nute recipe and he calls for huge PK spikes, followed by a dump and a return to a normal bloom solution.

link for this please? Thanks!

 

[GrowerGoneWild]

link for this please? Thanks!

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=81674

I may have made a mistake.

Rez uses coco, and I'm not very familar with coco, but I still like the NPK profile of 6:9 formula he offers. I did a breakdown of the nute profile and it looks similar to maxigrow.

Also..

He makes no mention of flush, just a PK spike, with Kool Bloom powder.

But I assume its feed-water-feed water with coco, and the PK spike is followed with plain water and the feed-water.. etc..

But these questions should be asked of Rez and not me because I did not formulate the feed schedule.

 

[Macster2]

great, will be interesting to find out. I assume your doing changes now?[/QUOTE

Yah the problem I have though is I've changed the strain I'm using from Chronic to Critical Mass so my control sucks but they're both similar yielders

 

[Macster2]

Yea would be great! Even without pictures would be fine.

I still think complete changes are a waste as your replacing more fresh water than thought with top-offs/transevaporation, etc..

I thought the same thing (I was just making the nut co. rich) but it was pointed out to me that plants use nutes at different rates and even if your meter is telling you your ec levels are good the nutes may not be there in the correct proportions.


I got better yields off bogglegum with the same lighting (I replaced the bulbs thinking this might be a factor) then I am off these high yielding strains the only difference being the frequency of changing the rez.

 

[311]

Yoooo Canna! Alright here goes. I really can't vote here bro. Here are my reasons. Well for starters, u gave 3 options for the polls, and what I do is NOT 1 of ur options. Second I am doing my first soilless soil grow right now, and still don't understand how to flush in soil......... My 5 last grows before that, were hydro, in DWC bubbler buckets. With that being said, here's my opinion on flushing.

Some nutes can go well for a while w/o change of res, or so it seems by wat people, on these forums, say. I use the whole Dutch Master Gold line(along with some other stuff), and personally had to change my res out WEEKLY! I FLUSHED my media of build up salts every other week, and only maybe a hand full of times did I NOT flush every other week(I did the 3rd week).

Now with DM Gold, the company says for u to change res out weekly, and yes some may say "Of course they'll tell u 2 change res out weekly, more money for them." But the 2 or 3 times that I let my res go for like 10 days w/o changing, I saw symptoms on my girls, lacking of something. I found as long as I changed my res weekly, my girls would show NO signs of "unhappiness/def."

SO needless to say, a frequent res is good in my book, and an occasional media flush, I would say at least 1 time a month u should flush(if ur tryingto be lazy), and 1 every 2 weeks if u really wanna clear that salt build up. Not to mention that even if ur TDS meter says ur PPMs are right, doesn't mean ur have the right % of ur N-P-K, Micros, and so forth. By u changing ur res weekly, ur ensuring ur plants are gettin the freshest "food" for them, not some plate, that been sitting at the bottom of the fridge for a week. It can cause an imbalance with ur plants, sening them to a hunger strike!

I know people get away with not flushing........ but Evil Knievel jumps canyons and shyte, and he makes it! Is that to say that if I cranked up the scooter, and built a ramp, put on a cape, I would become Superman??????????? I know that's off topic, but what I'm getting at is, what works for one person, is a nightmare for another. So I recommend doing wat's best for u. If u don't mind going thru nutes, carrying all that water back and forth(I know it's a pain in the ass w/ me), and keeping ur plants well fed, than change ur res weekly. What I would do if I were u(like I did do) is test it out urself. Let it go for an extra 4 days to a week w/o changing nutes, and see how ur plants react. If it seems production slowed down, and ur seeing Def. signs, then just go back to frequent flushing. That's the best way for u to figure out wat's best for ur pockets. Hope I could be of a help, and sorry I typed soooooooooooooo long. U can thank Arjan's Haze #1 for this post! Peace!

 

[Macster2]

Of course you're free to do what you want But IMHO if you want big fat colas on you bitches it makes sense to change the rez every 1-2 weeks.I'm a convert.

 

[Macster2]

Just did a res change today

 

[zero.kewl]

I change the water when the plant asks me to. Once or twice in a 20 week grow.

yea what he said.

 

[libby]

Did my first ebb flow 2yrs ago, lost the whole 6 plants, monitered PH,, E.c, food content was low, res temps 78, 600hd, but i did something wrong, i put it down to no res change.

Iv'e been very wary of going back, huh? and i thought i could garden.