Any tips on what to do with plants during rez change/cleanup?

[goingrey]

Doing my first hydro run and I can see LECA dust building up in the channels (I did soak them beforehand), so when it's time to change the water I want to do a proper cleanup of everything at the same time.

How long is it ok to keep the roots in air? Seeing very different opinions from dead in 15 minutes to ok for 24 hours with my searches...

Or alternatively in still water?

Or how does everyone deal with this situation?

Thanks in advance!

 

[stiff]

I used to hurry up..but I didn't stick with hydro for long. Now I do hydro in coco/perlite and I like it much more.
Tried the waterfarm years ago and with the changing of the res I wasn't smart enough then. With a bit of thinking I could have had that easier in that specific system. Besides that thw waterfarm looks pretty solid

 

[goingrey]

Gonna keep them in air and mist with one of these so I don't have to rush.

 

[stiff]

Good idea...maybe having a spare drum where you can put them till the original rez is cleaned up might help too

 

[goingrey]

Oh yeah doubling down on the equipment would be nice for multiple reasons, in case of failures and so on, but comes at a cost and space issues..

 

[DARKSIDER]

Doing my first hydro run and I can see LECA dust building up in the channels (I did soak them beforehand), so when it's time to change the water I want to do a proper cleanup of everything at the same time.

How long is it ok to keep the roots in air? Seeing very different opinions from dead in 15 minutes to ok for 24 hours with my searches...

Or alternatively in still water?

Or how does everyone deal with this situation?

Thanks in advance!

I had the same problems with lecca they need a very Good RINSE, but the dust will go after your first run Mine did, And you will see different opinions as You say, from past searches as too, how long roots in air thats down to the speed of the person cleaning imho, maybes a photo could help with your setup, the spray bottle and stillwater should help depending.. timeframe.. Best of luck..

 

[goingrey]

I had the same problems with lecca they need a very Good RINSE, but the dust will go after your first run Mine did, And you will see different opinions as You say, from past searches as too, how long roots in air thats down to the speed of the person cleaning imho, maybes a photo could help with your setup, the spray bottle and stillwater should help depending.. timeframe.. Best of luck..

This is how it's looking in the channel

 

[DARKSIDER]

This is how it's looking in the channel

View attachment 18981117

Without seeing the bigger picture so to speak i personally would NOT worry about that at all, but if it irritates you, maybes use a sponge to collect the remaining dust in channels its doing no harm

 

[zachrockbadenof]

1st time using this vevor system i bought on line, 8buckets, all the attachments/rocks/etc, i think it was $125 bucks delivered- i am in the 3rd week of 12/12, thought it would be a good idea to change the water, so i bought at homedepot a small pump that u attach your drill to, and it sucks out the water- 5gallons took maybe 2-3 mins... i then had ready a 5gallon bucket of water with nutes/ph'd/etc- turned the hose around and refilled the hydro- the plants were out of water for maybe 5mins... so far don't see any harm to em...

 

[zachrockbadenof]

one further observation about the vevor system... there is no reservoir, which i think is probably better - i have '3' diff plants and it is amazing how they differ in their needs - my runtz muffin drinks a gallon of water a day, while my unknown plant about a quart + a day, and the headbanger can go 3-4 days b4 i top off water and/or nutes...

my bro was running 24waterfarms, and it tops off from the reservoir, but running diff plants , and they all have special needs...

 

[goingrey]

one further observation about the vevor system... there is no reservoir, which i think is probably better - i have '3' diff plants and it is amazing how they differ in their needs - my runtz muffin drinks a gallon of water a day, while my unknown plant about a quart + a day, and the headbanger can go 3-4 days b4 i top off water and/or nutes...

my bro was running 24waterfarms, and it tops off from the reservoir, but running diff plants , and they all have special needs...

Yea you can dial in individual plants much better. But you have to monitor (and change) eight instead of just one..

 

[goingrey]

I spent about an hour cleaning everything up and changing the rez btw. Misted about 5 times. Plants didn't die. This was the first rez change so roots still relatively small.. But now the channels are full of LECA dust again hehe. Next clean at harvest.

 

[zachrockbadenof]

Yea you can dial in individual plants much better. But you have to monitor (and change) eight instead of just one..

very true... but at the moment i only have '3' going.... and they are monsters- taking up all the room in a 5x5ft tent... never had a grow like this in soil... BUT.. the proof will be in the smoking...

 

[zachrockbadenof]

Gonna keep them in air and mist with one of these so I don't have to rush.

View attachment 18980975

i bought on ebay what looks like the exact same sprayer- 1st time out of the box, filled it ,pumped it up, put it down on the table and see that water is dripping from under the handle... and not a little water.... the one i got was JUNK... should have read the reviews on amazon as it appears its a common problem...

 

[goingrey]

i bought on ebay what looks like the exact same sprayer- 1st time out of the box, filled it ,pumped it up, put it down on the table and see that water is dripping from under the handle... and not a little water.... the one i got was JUNK... should have read the reviews on amazon as it appears its a common problem...

Damn, sorry if I led you astray. Should have mentioned I don't have one exactly like it, just a random one from the hardware store.

 

[zachrockbadenof]

Damn, sorry if I led you astray. Should have mentioned I don't have one exactly like it, just a random one from the hardware store.

no.... i bought it some months ago, well b4 i saw it on this thread...

 

[mme_oscar]

Hey, why don't you deal with that when you'll reset at the end of your run? Why does it worry you?
If you're worrying about clogs, maybe you should add a filter on your irrigation line. That's wise no matter the hydrosystem.
I think you'll still get some dust after you cleaned it.
My 0,2

 

[BumSplodgeBrownPants]

When I did buckets, I used to take the lid off with the plant and shove the roots in the toilet while I gave the buckets a bit of a clean and scrub.

They had a flush for luck then popped the roots back int he bucket and away they go.

 

[goingrey]

Hey, why don't you deal with that when you'll reset at the end of your run? Why does it worry you?
If you're worrying about clogs, maybe you should add a filter on your irrigation line. That's wise no matter the hydrosystem.
I think you'll still get some dust after you cleaned it.
My 0,2

A filter could be a good idea maybe. Or just the first place that would clog? And reduce flow..

 

[goingrey]

When I did buckets, I used to take the lid off with the plant and shove the roots in the toilet while I gave the buckets a bit of a clean and scrub.

They had a flush for luck then popped the roots back int he bucket and away they go.

Not sure this is the best idea from the not introducing unwanted microbial life into the system point of view.

Depends on how clean you keep your toilet, I suppose.