Nutrients needed for 55 gallon res

Okay, I will say I'm slightly confused. Doing my hydro setup. Ebb and Flow with a 55 gallon res and 12 5 gallon pots. This will be my first hydro setup. After reading, watching videos, and more reading I have to say I'm still confused on nutrients. I have always done all organic soil grows. Here is my problem. If I'm using a 55 gallon res that gets dumped every week and replenished how many nutes do I need? I have looked at many different brands, but assuming I used advanced nutrients. If my math is correct I'd have to buy a shit load of nutes to last me my whole cycle. Any thoughts/help?

Hey cgl5915..

I use 6 five gal buckets and i have a 55 gal res. And i use gh 3 part with some additives and it takes me 1 gallon of grow one gallon of micro and nearly two gallons of bloom. When my plants get big during bloom they will suck all 55 gallons up in less than a week. just so you know. If i had 12 buckets you will need twice as much.

Of course you'll use a shit load of nutes. You're throwing them down the drain every week. It will naturally cost more to start with (depending on how you go about it though) but it will drop and drop as you know what is adequate.

I am (was) a DWC grower who did not empty out reservoirs. I'd just let them run dry then refill. And it works just great.

But if you insist on dumping it each week and starting fresh, then start keeping an eye on how much they are typically using each week at each level of growth. And then just replenish accordingly so that you're not dumping buckets of nutes and money down the drain each week. If you end up not filling your res quite enough for a set week, then you can always top up without an issue.

Alternatively look into the lucas formula. I've not used it but to the best of my knowledge it is basically a formula for keeping your res full and never having to dump nutes down the drain.

I don't insist on dumping every week but a lot of people are saying you should. Can I keep my res for longer then that? Can I use air stones to help circulate oxygen better therefore keep the water/res cleaner for a longer time.

If you are not going to do it right why bother doing it at all ? Rez should be changed and even flushed once a week for the health of the plants and cleanliness of the system.

I'm not saying I won't do it right. That's why I'm here asking the questions. I've heard and seen a lot of different opinions. If you want to stop with the snive comments and offer some advice that'd be great otherwise go be a negative nancy somewhere else

Follow the conversation. I was replying to all 3 issue's you mentioned in the post above mine.

You: I don't insist on dumping every week but a lot of people are saying you should.
Me: If you are not going to do it right why bother doing it at all ?

You:Can I keep my res for longer then that?/ Can I use air stones to help circulate oxygen better therefore keep the water/res cleaner for a longer time.
Me: Rez should be changed and even flushed once a week for the health of the plants and cleanliness of the system.


Am I missing something here ?

you should probably totally be using airstones in you reservoir just to keep shit groovin. But realistically with airstones and keeping your water temps low in your rez you could probably go 14 days maybe a lil more but at that point (especially later on in plant maturity) it's going to drink it all down before 7 or even 14 days.

cgl5915 said:

Okay, I will say I'm slightly confused. Doing my hydro setup. Ebb and Flow with a 55 gallon res and 12 5 gallon pots. This will be my first hydro setup. After reading, watching videos, and more reading I have to say I'm still confused on nutrients. I have always done all organic soil grows. Here is my problem. If I'm using a 55 gallon res that gets dumped every week and replenished how many nutes do I need? I have looked at many different brands, but assuming I used advanced nutrients. If my math is correct I'd have to buy a shit load of nutes to last me my whole cycle. Any thoughts/help?

Click to expand...

Veg n Bloom works wonders check this shit out
http://www.hydroponic-research.com

joespit said:

you should probably totally be using airstones in you reservoir just to keep shit groovin. But realistically with airstones and keeping your water temps low in your rez you could probably go 14 days maybe a lil more but at that point (especially later on in plant maturity) it's going to drink it all down before 7 or even 14 days.

Click to expand...

I change my 55 gal 2-3 times the whole 14-20 weeks. Depending on your environment and your strain just watch your plants they will tell you when they need something

Deusracing said:

Veg n Bloom works wonders check this shit out
http://www.hydroponic-research.comView attachment 3202870

Click to expand...

whats that other bush you've got in your grow room? ...peppers?

joespit said:

whats that other bush you've got in your grow room? ...peppers?

Click to expand...

Yes they were Thai hybrid peppers

no need to change your res every week... the more water you have the more stable your system and the longer you can go without a res change. it will take a few weeks for the roots and plants to get big anyway.

top up with plain water, keep an eye on ph and ppm and respond as needed... you will figure it out. your plants size/genetics and how much water you run will determine how often you have to change your res... excluding any fuck ups of course.

I run that exact setup, 6 pot oxy pots on a 55 gallon res for veg and flower. I use advanced nutrients part A & B and their Big bud.. but thats about it.. I find the "PH Balance" REALLY helps with reservoirs since with air stones (BTW I use a 4 HP air pump and a 8" fine bubble air disk.. really helps stir the res as well) besides that i use CNS17 for flower and Rhizoblast for veg.. silica blast and a few other small things.. Any ways the most important part is the HYDROGEN PEROXIDE 35%!! don't use the brown bottles they aren't produced reliably (PPM of contaminants) PLUS you only have to use 3 oz. add some if you add water equally.. The H2O2 breaks up salts and for me, when I run a good line (no gunk buildup) I can run a barrel for 2 weeks.. but they only last 3-4 days with how much they drink. Never thought 5 gallon pots could produce the same if not more than 20 gallon.. its all about the feed.

I bought fox farm liquid hydroponic big grow. It's the only thing I use. Plants, aside from bad pH and wrinkled leaves, are beautiful and growing fast. They're 2 and a quarter weeks old and are growing their 4th node.