Reservoir Management for RTW Coco

[gonzo`]

hi all, i'm about to take the plunge and try my hand at coco with drippers run to waste. I'm just wondering how you go about managing your reservoir. I'm mainly concerned with firstly, the volume of water you use, i.e. do you fill up enough for a week or do you do a few days at a time and secondly do you make pH adjustments daily or just the first time or do you only adjust to bring it back into a range, i.e. between 5.5 and 6.2? If I leave a tank of nutes the pH will rise over the coming days, I'm just curious if I'm meant to drop it down or what...

I appreciate any advice on this matter, many thanks!

 

[ninjagaiden]

super simple my friend.

I use a small 10 gal res for 6 plants in 2 gal smart pots. I literally just mix up my water, and set it and forget it! As long as my ambient air temps stay stable, low to mid 70's, my EC and PH wont change a bit for a good 6-7 days.

Ive tried this with both the Canna line and 6/9 formula with success.

Your PH shouldnt be drifting too much if your water temps are decent and you are using a full line of synthetic nutes. I started my DTW adventure using General Organics CalMG...that was a BIG mistake. I have tries using airstones to keep the water mixed up and even a second pump to keep the water mixed up but honestly, they never really mattered unless you are running really heavy nutes like bloombastic or powdered nutes.

Best of luck man.

 

[shweki]

for you...

for you...

i had the same question a few years ago so i want to help.
i use 12 liter airopot so my watering is very high, it means that a plant get around 1.5 liter a day but it is not the case for you.
if you want to get the best result in dtw system you want to get 25% of the water out so, start by watering 1 liter and check in the drein at the end of the day how much came out, the 25% is a dayly thing and it brings the best result. if you use regular pots the amount of water would be around 0.5 liters but try to do with the 25%.

 

[stoned40yrs]

Don't use air stones in the res if you want the ph to stay relatively stable. I'm trying Snypes method of cloning and the airstones make the ph go up .4 every 24 hours. Plenty of other people have also stated air stones make the ph rise in a res.

 

[Asslover]

Yeah, no air stone. I set my (55 gal) rez to 5.6 and don't touch it until it's empty, which is 7 days. Ph barely moves. Mind you, i use GH Flora nutrients and tap water...

 

[Buddler]

Asslover ,lol me too same thing dead rez no air stone all synthetics, ive been runnin A N sensi coco tapwater no ph adjustment drops right around 5.8, easy peacey..

 

[mikeee420]

Does anyone not running an airstone in their res experience issues with not enough dissolved oxygen? If so, couldn't a small amount of H202 solve this issue as well as maintain sterility of solution

 

[newtothiscoco]

do you not have a pump to make the water move in the res ? i did buy a pump for my res to keep it circulating

 

[stoned40yrs]

That's the beauty of coco. Even when waterlogged it holds 20% air and the daily watering draws more fresh air into it. No need for airstones or H2O2 or a pump to recirc in the res. A recirc pump won't hurt but forget the H2O2 and airstones.

 

[mikeee420]

Only thing I found with a recirc pump is the heat from it tends to run up res temps.. With airstones and a recirc Ive hit 85f res temp

 

[stoned40yrs]

Only thing I found with a recirc pump is the heat from it tends to run up res temps.. With airstones and a recirc Ive hit 85f res temp

True I won't use a recirc pump either, forgot about the heat, it probably also makes the ph rise like airstones do.

 

[newtothiscoco]

sure sounds like you guys are paranoia about temps of water ^^
just remember this its a weed

 

[Bad Habits]

i had the same question a few years ago so i want to help.
i use 12 liter airopot so my watering is very high, it means that a plant get around 1.5 liter a day but it is not the case for you.
if you want to get the best result in dtw system you want to get 25% of the water out so, start by watering 1 liter and check in the drein at the end of the day how much came out, the 25% is a dayly thing and it brings the best result. if you use regular pots the amount of water would be around 0.5 liters but try to do with the 25%.

Well that's funny, cuz this thread is a few years old!

Hopefully the OP has it figured out by now lol.

Just givin ya shit for bumpin an old thread, but ya it's all good info regardless.

 

[mikeee420]

sure sounds like you guys are paranoia about temps of water ^^
just remember this its a weed

Warm water can damage your plants when used to water, as well as encourage bacterial growth in your reservoir. And anyone thats dealt with a slimey, bacteria-ridden reservoir knows how frustrating that is

 

[RedBeardy5]

I kept a recirculating pump in my reservoirs and had it go off for 30 seconds every hour. You need to only stir your nutes up every once in awhile, this way the pump never came on long enough to generate any heat.