Newbie Reservoir Question... Nutes Sitting Overnight?

[Bad Habits]

Alright probably a dumb question, but...

Can you mix up a batch of nutes, stick it in a rez - without pumps or air stones - and use it say 1-2 days later? Right now I'm working on my buildout and haven't gotten the pumps/airstones and stuff yet. So I got some girls in 5 gal pots, and I'll say mix up a 5 gallon batch of nutes... if I don't use it all - can it sit 24-48 hours and still be good to use, or do things fall out of suspension and mess it up?

I've noticed earlier sometimes I would mix up a gallon of feed, then the next day the PH would be like .1-.2 higher and the PPM would be higher...

Just wanna know what the deal is.

Thanks guys

 

[rives]

I would imagine that there is some variability between different nutrients, but I use Veg + Bloom and sitting for long periods is simply not an issue. I use blumats as the delivery system, and while my flowering setup has a minimal amount of recirculation from kicking the lift and stir pumps on a couple of times a day, my mom cabinet does not. The reservoirs get topped off once a week or so, and I don't use any airstones or anything else to increase the entrained air. YMMV.

 

[VolcanicDirt88]

i will be starting a DWC with 35 gallon resevoir with 7 5 gallon pots with 8 inch net pots one will be my control pot.. i am so new to growing dwc that im not sure how much nutes i will need ?

do i need to put the amount neccesary to mix 35 gallons
plus all the wáter in the pots
i plan to use 7 grams of maxibloom for each gallon of wáter

im so confused

 

[VolcanicDirt88]

7 grams of maxibloom x 35 gallons of water equals 245 grams i would dump into my resevoir everyday is that correct?

 

[rives]

I've never used DWC, but for any system that I have been involved with, you would go by the total volume of water in the system. You might consider picking up a BlueLab EC pen for checking your nutrient strength, and get one of BlueLab's cleaning/calibration kit for it at the same time. Going by weight of the inbound nutrient works well for the initial fill, but it doesn't tell you what is taking place on a day-to-day basis.

You might want to create your own thread, I don't think that you are going to attract too many answers tagged onto the end of this one.

Good luck.

 

[rives]

Whoa! I just saw your second post. No, I don't believe that you would do that every day, just when you swap out your reservoir. That is why I recommended an EC pen so that you can see the progression with your nutrients. I believe that there are two schools of thought - change the rez weekly or add back a lighter mix on a weekly basis to keep your EC up.

 

[m3shach]

I may be new here but I agree with rives.
You certainly will need some sort of EC meter.
Also, just out of my curiosity.. Do you already have a PH meter ?

 

[VolcanicDirt88]

rives thanks for answering no one seems to want to help me out

i think i understand a tad bit better what your saying everytime i clean the rez or when i add a couple gallons i would use the 7 grams pe gallon

i am buying this GroChek pH/EC/TDS/Temp. Combo meter

i am jumpin head first into dwc 1600 watt vertical grow donut style

how much wáter do you think would the whole system would have ? 35 gallons in the garbage can plus all the wáter in the pots ?

 

[VolcanicDirt88]

not 245 grams of maxi bloom per day

 

[rives]

If I remember correctly, you do not want to do your add-backs at full strength because there is still likely to be some residual nutrient left over from the water that was used. Unless you exactly nail the plant's needs, they will use more water than nutrient, and if you add back full strength the mix gets stronger and stronger.

It sounds to me like you would have nearly 70 gallons in the whole system if you have 7 x 5 gallon pots + a 35 gallon reservoir. You probably wouldn't have the 5 gallon pots full, but perhaps 4 gallons each or so, so that would put you at 63 gallons.

 

[rives]

Here is some pretty good information about nutrient maintenance -

http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/fourtwenty/articles/nutrientsolutionmgmt.htm

 

[VolcanicDirt88]

thanks rives! haha apart from being so high i really feel somewhat dumb because i can read a million pages about it but not till im hands on will i know what im doing

63 gallons seems about right i am sure about one thing though and not confused at all ,,,is that if the wáter goes past 70 bad news so i am going to get a chiller i cant imagine freezing bottles all the time is it even a good idea can you keep that big amount of wáter in that temp for that for long periods of time

 

[VolcanicDirt88]

i am Reading that page and all i can say is wow amazing

this made me think alot

Proactive Approach (see Control Track for predicting changes)

Formulating a starting solution mix in concert with the unique properties of your source water, while at the same time anticipating changes in the solution, can allow you to run a nutrient solution without making any secondary pH/TDS correction adjustments during the entire life of that solution, thus limiting your maintenance to only the unavoidable plain water add backs. For example, an alkaline source water will tend to produce an alkaline solution as more and more of it is added back to the reservoir over time. You can avoid correcting unacceptably high pH levels that occur later during a solutions' life by adjusting its starting pH a bit lower to compensate. Similarly, to keep the ending TDS of a solution from falling below the nominal threshold for a given crop, you can adjust the starting TDS a bit higher to compensate. The advantages of making all corrections at one sitting are obvious, and speaks strongly to the gardeners' economy of labor. It's not all that different from making the kids pee before they get in the car for that long drive!

Some things to consider about a water uptake based strategy and proactive management.....

 

[VolcanicDirt88]

i should get everything on tuesday i will be sure to thank you one day rives i am just starting to spread my wings

 

[Soulrebel239]

If using a 2 gallon bubbler system, do you have to change the work every week? I want my system very low maintenance.