runnin to waste or recirculating on hydro

Hi can anyone give me some advice i am in two minds what to do shall i run to waste or recirculaing the food

Drain to waste gets my vote. I think the best argument for drain-to-waste is you know exactly what the nutrient make up is (no guessing if the plant absorbed more Magnesium than Nitrogen).

Of course the best argument for recirculating is you save some money by using less nutrients.

thanks mate i thought so what u think the best food is i am useing vitalink

I've only used General Hydroponics Flora and Flora Nova series (with a few other additives). I am happy with the results but have no way of knowing if other nutes would do better or worse. The only way to truly know would be to grow the exact same strain under the exact same conditions with only the nutes being different. That would be evidence - everything else is anecdote and I doubt very much if many growers have actually done this.

So I would be wary of any claims of "use XXX - they are the best dude". My belief is just about any quality nute will do the trick provided it has a Grow and Bloom formula or Base/Grow and Bloom formula.

what is this? like what are you talking about?

In the drain to waste (open bag) system, plants are grown in containers and nutrient solution is supplied to plants by means of a dripper, for up to 12 times per day. The number of irrigation cycles per day depends on temperature and the growth stage of plants. The crops in the drain to waste system grow tall and need to be trained and pruned so that they grow upwards as a single stem.

In the gravel flow system, the nutrient solution is re-circulated and the roots of the plants stand in a thin film of nutrient solution all the time. Gravel or sand is used most often as growth medium.

I only feed mine 8 times a day for 3 mins by drippers u think this is enough!!!!