10 Gallons per plant: do I really need to swap the res every 7 days?

[Sativa1970]

I appreciate the details. Thanks for taking the time.

That's a amazing as to how long you're going between changing out the res. And 14 vs 14.25 is well within natural variance. Just for G & G, I've attached a picture of a grow that's now in very late flower. Both are Gelato autos, same seed packet, both topped and LST'd. The plant on the right, Jeff, was so big that it crowded out one of the plants. So, 14 oz vs 14.25 - that's a rounding error!

"perpetual grow" - that's a great way to do it. If you're doing perpetual grow, then you're using the same nutes through the grow cycle, right?

Sounds like a very dialed in setup - congrats. That's something that I'm working towards.

That is some sibling rivalry going on there! In veg each plant gets a 2x2 foot area and a 5 gallon bucket. In flower each plant gets its own bay at 4x4 foot with a 30 gallon res. Double the plants and you have half the res and half the light. That's how I manage to go that long without res changes. No sibling competition.

 

[Donnavintripp]

I'm trying to understand why a res should be changed vs when it should be changed.
Two things driving this question - I have a 35 gallon res (28 gallons of nutes) in a 2' x 4' tent so that means 2-3 plants or 14-9 gallons per plant. With all of that nutrient water available to the plants, why would it need to be changed on the same schedule as, say, one plant in a 5 gallon pot?
It's a hassle to deal with 28 gallons of water and 28 gallons of nutes is not cheap, so I'm questioning exactly why do I need to change out the res every 7 days.
I appreciate peoples' thoughts on this.

Another way of looking at it would be - if you don't change your res on a set schedule, how can you tell it's time to change the res?

Usually weekly rez change or was based on not days but I think every 4 nodes or I've done em every 10 days too though its really up to you if want 7-10 days or count the weeks by growth (nodes)

 

[PlanetJ]

<stuff on nute dosage>

These are pumps for 1L sports drinks bottles. They fit right onto General Hydroponics bottles.
You can get empty 1L bottles as well where they fit on. That and a simple dosage cup is gonna save you so much time.

 

[Sativa1970]

<stuff on nute dosage>

These are pumps for 1L sports drinks bottles. They fit right onto General Hydroponics bottles.
You can get empty 1L bottles as well where they fit on. That and a simple dosage cup is gonna save you so much time.

That is a good idea. No fumbling with caps. No more where did I set that cap down. I am sure what I spill pouring out of a new bottle costs more than a pump.

I am still waking up drinking coffee. Tried reading the product description an was wondering if I had a stroke in my sleep because it was taking way too much concentration to read. After the second read I realized why. Going back to coffee now.

 

[PlanetJ]

lo

That is a good idea. No fumbling with caps. No more where did I set that cap down. I am sure what I spill pouring out of a new bottle costs more than a pump.

I am still waking up drinking coffee. Tried reading the product description an was wondering if I had a stroke in my sleep because it was taking way too much concentration to read. After the second read I realized why. Going back to coffee now.

LOL, yah, sorry for that, should have gone to english version first

 

[spab1311]

I broke a cardinal rule and skipped through too much of this thread, so this has probably already been said. But since we don’t know what they eat for dinner, we have to guess. pH adjustments chase PPMs so we all drive ourselves crazy. I gave up. When they are young and drinking little i stretch farther between changeouts. Maybe 10 days, maybe 2 weeks. I let the plants behaviors decide. When more mature and thirsty, I just bite the bullet and do weekly changeouts. I’m on a 40 gallon now, so it hurts more than my 13 gallon, less than a 100 gallon would. But this keeps my reservoir stable, I very rarely have failures, what’s root rot lol, and yields are great. I might waste a little, but isn’t it ultimately cheaper THAN THE ALTERNATIVE Lol?

 

[spab1311]

was you using hydroguard or H202 ??? as what ive picked up so for is your plant gives you tell tale signs of what its needs are, we just need to watch an observe our girls, and adjust an adapt accordingly, as this will be approach Im going off what Ive been able to learn, (FROM YOU NICE PEEPS) so for me this next part will be to watch my plant grow take pics for ref, if plant not looking fresh, its about reading your plant figuring out what she wants and adapting to her needs, an now I can I only do that by growing, so I think its nearly time just need those seeds to get here, but thanks peeps Ive been able to pick up so much good stuff on here and dont worry when those babies get here I will let you all know

 

[LKABudMan]

If you are doing DWC @spab1311 make sure you have decent pH and TDS meters. They will tell you what your plants need.

 

[spab1311]

If you are doing DWC @spab1311 make sure you have decent pH and TDS meters. They will tell you what your plants need.

yeah going to invest in a quality 1 like the blue lab, but for now just got 1 each of those cheapies on amazon, but i will order another set just to compare and keep aside if I need to double check, as someone pointed out how important this was, an its far better to be safe then sorry, as this my 1st run its been done on the cheap side to start with, just so I can get used to knowing what Im doing, before I expand things just making sure I cover all bases and make it a success, then I know I can ramp things up a notch on my next run, as I will have some basic data to go on, just been picking up bits off all you guys, then its time to try find what works for me an my set up,

 

[ReservoirDog]

Haha yeah man i have a tendency to ramble a little. I'll have to check that out. Would love to learn the secret to not dumping so much water. If such a secret in fact exists

Don't sweat it, was the most useful and interesting post on the thread. Keep it coming. Best regards,
Fellow Rambler.

 

[LKABudMan]

yeah going to invest in a quality 1 like the blue lab, but for now just got 1 each of those cheapies on amazon, but i will order another set just to compare and keep aside if I need to double check, as someone pointed out how important this was, an its far better to be safe then sorry, as this my 1st run its been done on the cheap side to start with, just so I can get used to knowing what Im doing, before I expand things just making sure I cover all bases and make it a success, then I know I can ramp things up a notch on my next run, as I will have some basic data to go on, just been picking up bits off all you guys, then its time to try find what works for me an my set up,

I started out on my first DWC grow with the cheap meters as well. They take longer to read and they drift quicker. Calibrate every week and give them 30-60 seconds for the true reading and they do OK.

On my first grow I changed the buckets every week and tested every day. It's good to know what's going on and how your system works. On my current DWC grow I went six weeks with the same buckets in veg, adding nutes and bennies (hydroguard, voodoo juice, pirahna) as they went along. I'm not saying that you should try this, but I found it worked for my temps/system/etc. BTW, I recommend hydroguard over h202, I think the bennies help the roots more.

You can always tag me if you have any questions. Have fun finding out what works for you