Is changing res water in dwc really necessary?

ÒÒlegilizeitÒÒ said:

Lol just being grumpy
Wasn't sure if any of the people he replied to would still be floating around even lol
I've been considering going to a top up plan rather than complete change out.
I'm not sure id want to fill with RO and add nutes to make up EC though, I know a lot of the time those need to be in particular order and that might risk lockout.
I like to mix in my nutes in a separate storage barrel at an elevated hight, then I can dump it into my system all at once with gravity, or I have a float valve it can slowly drip fill my res as the plants drink.

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I first checked if he was still around I didn't check the other user I quoted tho, and he's not... doesn't matter, OldMedUser was the one I actually wanted to learn from.

vorus said:

After getting such a reply from you, lol's at him... but I have to admit his growth looks fantastic
Edit: Oh hold on, that was the soil scrog I've seen... no update on the rdwc growth I guess. But nicely built nonetheless.

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Lol appreciate the complement on my last run.
It was a beauty for sure.
This current cycle is my first hydro run actually, but things are going well and hope for a much taller canopy than my soil scrog

ÒÒlegilizeitÒÒ said:

Lol just being grumpy
Wasn't sure if any of the people he replied to would still be floating around even lol
I've been considering going to a top up plan rather than complete change out.
I'm not sure id want to fill with RO and add nutes to make up EC though, I know a lot of the time those need to be in particular order and that might risk lockout.
I like to mix in my nutes in a separate storage barrel at an elevated hight, then I can dump it into my system all at once with gravity, or I have a float valve it can slowly drip fill my res as the plants drink.

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I've done at least 50 tub DWC grows since 2001 before even Ed Rosenthal thought it was possible and now it's commonplace. I wrote to him when he had his Ask Ed column in Cannabis Culture magazine and he said he didn't think it would work. Calls himself a pot expert. lol I was the Admin at the CC forums when it shut down suddenly two years ago next month. Went by LabRat.

I never saw any problems adding small amounts of concentrated nutes directly to my tubs. I just suck up what I think I need with a syringe and slowly feed it into the tub. I'd add each separately and let the bubbles mix it while I got the next bit. Before the pH perfect nutes I'd drop in 5 or 6 drops of 96% H2SO4, (conc, sulphuric acid) to lower the pH. It would climb to 6.3 and I'd knock it back to 5.5 or so with the acid. Was so regular I'd only check the pH every 3 or 4 top-ups. I don't fret about stuff too much. I grew my first buds back in 1978 then on and off over the years until 20 years ago when I moved to northern Alberta with 6 hash plant clones and have been growing steady ever since.

My thing now is more CBD and indica strains plus getting into breeding more than just pollen chucking. Going to be using STS to make fem seeds and want to have good strain of fem autos for growing outside next year. Too far north for regular photo plants. I'm just using ProMix HP with hydro nutes and lots of pots to experiment and grow lots of smaller plants so I can search for the right phenos to breed with. May get back into DWC down the road.

I checked out your grow journal and pretty sweet! I think rather than chunk out that concrete to get more room I would have framed out a room in the corner there. A few 2x4s and some osb board and Bob's your uncle. My basement grow room is a 7x9x6.5'h cold storage room the previous owner had built. I still plan to add an 8x4 grow space to it and have a spare bedroom upstairs for vegging plants. That and the cheap price for 7.5 acres with a winterized 1990 16x80' mobile home with huge connected, heated and well insulated workshop sold me right away. Middle of nowhere but right on a 2 lane highway with 10 miles to a small town. Got my own mancave with all the toys I'll ever need.

I'm building my own RO system as the store bought don't have what I wanted. Our water comes from a dugout on the property so needed UV and extra filtration. $550 for everything but we buy 5 jugs of RO/week for $18 so it will pay for itself in 5 or 6 months and no more hauling heavy jugs out of the store then into the house.

I laid the things out two different ways to make it fit in the corner where the water distiller is. Going to re&re it and should be able to sell it for the $500 at least. Same modle used from the store goes for $1500 and was $3000 new. Polar Bear distiller with 10USG storage tank. Feed to the kitchen sink too. I'll have a line to the grow room right after the RO filter, a 2nd line after the last carbon filter to get low ppm water for the coffee maker and then it goes thru a calcite filter to add minerals for drinking and cooking water. 150gal/day like yours. Going to use the old brine tank from the softener unit for storage in the grow room. 150L and I'll have an airstone in there so lots of O2 for the plants. Filtered down to 0.5 micron.





Just pigged out on turkey with all the trimmings so time for a bowl and maybe a small micro-dose of 'shrooms.

vorus said:

WOW! What an incredibly detailed and quick reply! Wasn't expecting to cause this much work for you, but thanks a lot... I'll definitely do as you say. The nute budget had me thinking so this suggestion made my day

After getting such a reply from you, lol's at him... but I have to admit his growth looks fantastic
Edit: Oh hold on, that was the soil scrog I've seen... no update on the rdwc growth I guess. But nicely built nonetheless.

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Your more than welcome. It's kinda been my thing for for over a decade to help new growers and I've learned a shitload along the way.
I don't show a lot of my grows as I don't put a lot of effort into them so they're not as pretty as most. The depression has been pretty bad the last few years so it's hard to get shit done. Recently started micro-dosing magic mushrooms and I'm pretty sure it's helping but it takes a month or so to tell for sure. Fun trying anyhow.

ÒÒlegilizeitÒÒ said:

Lol you just replied to 3 year old posts

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Because his problems are no longer relavent or because the guy might not be in the forums? I dont get the attack on old posts new forum users learn from old posts weed growing is still weed growing. And when a guy hits new posts it dont matter the guy who originally posted is active so who cares? Im sure thats how he arrived here to start with googled it seems logical to just answer him not belittle him. But im sure u were joking so no harm done it just happened to be you who said it lol.

Airwalker16 said:

Only time I do it is going from veg to flower. you're correct in saying they drink so freaking much that you need to replace so often there's almost No reason to switch.

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Yea man. Sorry to hack your conversation but I totally agree with you.. I only change between cycles. always have.. But occasionally if I have a suspected problem when I have pushed the ppms up to see what the plants will take would I consider a half change and then full re feed.. I would typically see 10litres of water being taken every 1 to 2 days.. Out of a 40 litre grow tank... So in effect I am changing the water by a quarter every 2 days.. So where is the sense? ... I usually go on a guide of TDS.. If it stops altering when I top up or stays the same..or the plants stop drinking.. Then I might consider a full or half change...just to eliminate that as being a potential problem... But that is the only time.. But in opinion.. . If its not broken. Why fix it?. Your plants and readings will tell you soon enough and alot of this comes down to growing strains you know for your set up... I really don't think it's a hard and fast rule for everyone who grows on water... Its just a guide or rule of thumb to be on the safe side I suppose... Cheers.

chasingwaterfalls said:

In my albeit limited number of dwc grows (4 now..), I've had different experiences - I think as long as you're checking the water regularly and change the res before any problem gets out of hand, you don't really need to follow a strict schedule

I've been using Lucas with GH in dwc- first with the flora series (micro+bloom) and now I'm trying the flora nova bloom for the first time.

With the flora series, I was starting to see issues with what looked like nute lockout about 2-3 weeks in. This couldve been my fault, too, from just not dialing it in - but I think I did.

With the flora nova bloom, I haven't changed out the res fully once- all I've done is a half change. My plan was to go all the way to harvest without changing the res if it can make it

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Sorry to add mate.. But yes I do the same.. If think you have a problem just a half change is good.. If your topping up or feeding anyway take a little more out to make it 50 percent and refill with water and full feed if due.. Works fine.. Imo..

L

Kdoggy said:

Because his problems are no longer relavent or because the guy might not be in the forums? I dont get the attack on old posts new forum users learn from old posts weed growing is still weed growing. And when a guy hits new posts it dont matter the guy who originally posted is active so who cares? Im sure thats how he arrived here to start with googled it seems logical to just answer him not belittle him. But im sure u were joking so no harm done it just happened to be you who said it lol.

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Lol. Sorry man.. It wasn't an attack.. Didn't check the dates... I was browsing and it came up.. Lol... The guys probably drawing his pension now.. Lol.. Sorry

BadlyDrawnBoy said:

Theoretically, if you're keeping the water clean and roots healthy, couldn't you just keep adding fresh water to the res? ...along with nutes and (hydroguard) ... maintaining desired ph and ppm.

For how much the plants drink later in their lifespan, it seems to me the water would be completely, newly cycled every week or multiple times a week anyway, just by adding so much fresh water to top off the res.

This is my first grow, and I'm just theorizing and planning for the best and easiest path. The plants seem so happy in the water they're in, and the water has no smell and the roots look fantastic. Seems I could just keep topping off and adding nutes to maintain the ppm range I'm going for.

Has anyone had success doing it this way?

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I have experimented with this and I have done multiple grows without changing my water even once. I haven’t had a problem yet.

BadlyDrawnBoy said:

Theoretically, if you're keeping the water clean and roots healthy, couldn't you just keep adding fresh water to the res? ...along with nutes and (hydroguard) ... maintaining desired ph and ppm.

For how much the plants drink later in their lifespan, it seems to me the water would be completely, newly cycled every week or multiple times a week anyway, just by adding so much fresh water to top off the res.

This is my first grow, and I'm just theorizing and planning for the best and easiest path. The plants seem so happy in the water they're in, and the water has no smell and the roots look fantastic. Seems I could just keep topping off and adding nutes to maintain the ppm range I'm going for.

Has anyone had success doing it this way?

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You can just at the middle od the flower your plant will eat little bit of n lots of p... And then you put in new nutes that are lots of all and you can get overfeeding.
I did last 2 grows with just one change but it really wasnt necessery i just wanted to refresh my nutes magnesium was super low and rest was good.

I used bacteria to fight algea and anything that could cause root rot
I allsoo did dwc in a 10L bucket and the plant there drank 2L a day there i think i had to do a res change around middle of flower problems started didnt know what it was soo changed the whole thing

Billy Liar said:

It is possible to maintain a nutrient solution for the life of the plant, but it needs a carefully balanced nutrient profile for the top off water.

Bruce Bugbee from Utah University has developed it for growing tomatoes in recirculating hydroponics..

Peace
BL

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Do you have any links or resources on bugby's formula?