JadedMarxist
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Adderall,doughnuts and coffee have spawned this.
A mature plant with an established root system can take up 3 gallons in 4 or 5 days in a non recirculating 5 gallon bubble bucket. Sometimes less. I use 10" net pots in non recirculating bubble buckets for veg only. Just because the roots, when established, are harder to work with and can easily take up more space than your 3 gallons in 5 gallon buckets. I might get a PH and ppm reading once between feedings. But that's only because of repetition and I journaled my dosing and watched how they responded over time.
I will not add anymore nutrient amended water until an average of 5 days later - because the plants take up water and nutrients at an equal ratio. At this point, the water level is less than a gallon in the buckets. I keep a spare 5 gallon bucket to put the plant into when I'm making a new nutrient water batch. Followed by rinsing out the nute bucket then spraying the inside of bucket with a 50/50 water alcohol solution, wiping the inside out, then rinsing it out again. Next I'll do my water, nute and ph down mix so it can bubble mix/stabilize while I address the plant.
After, I use the garden sprayer on rain setting to flush out the top of the plant in the spare bucket. Doing so pretty liberally insures that whatever grow stone media I'm using is rinsed of any salts or contaminates that have leached from the bubble action in the system. Next, I'll usually cut about a quarter to a third of the bottom of my roots off. Then I'll sit the plant back in its fresh water solution. This is repeated every 5 days. The same ratios are always given. Nothing ever changes. No deficiencies ever.
It may seem like a lot of work but it will take all the guesswork out of feeding, eliminates deficiencies, salt buildup, the need for hydroguard, peroxide or any other amendments that can kill beneficial bacteria in your rhizosphere.
So relative to the effort of daily monitoring and adding or assessing feeding needs/deficiencies of the plant, a complete flush and fresh nutrient change reduces those efforts to a fraction once you develop a feeding recipe relative to the type of growth you want to achieve.
I'm a newblet at this and never heard of pruning the roots in a DWC grow. Is this something you worked out on your own? Do you have any other reference on this approach? Sounds..... interesting......?Next, I'll usually cut about a quarter to a third of the bottom of my roots off. Then I'll sit the plant back in its fresh water solution. This is repeated every 5 days.
For my application, I run a perpetual veg in bubble buckets until flower. So they can stay in veg anywhere from 4 weeks to 3 months while waiting to go to the larger sites for flower. I should have specified this. I'm talking once the plant reaches what would be considered a mature state for a 5 gallon bucket.I'm a newblet at this and never heard of pruning the roots in a DWC grow. Is this something you worked out on your own? Do you have any other reference on this approach? Sounds..... interesting......?
Match check: 5 gal bucket, 3.5 gal water. Over the week I add 2 gal of nutrient mix. Are you saying this leaves 1.5 gal (3.5 - 2) of water that should be 50% changed??So weekly water changes. how much well that depends on your add backs. Take the total volume of your system. Then add up all the water/nutrient solution you have added back to the system over the week. For ease let's say the system has 40gal of water (actual water) you add back 10gal over the week thats 1/4 of the volume of the system so you do a 25% water change. If it's 20gal then change 50%.
There are 2 ways to do this. Either change the 50% of the water once you have added back 50% of the WATER volume.... Or...
Do weekly water changes based on the % of water added back.
I know this is an old thread but since it was replied to I will throw my 2 cents in.
In a live system I only change 50% of the water max. You can do less and sometimes I do I won't get into how I do because it depends on how lazy I am. But here is what I consider good practice and is a one size fits all solution to water changes. You all gonna laugh it's so simple.
So weekly water changes. how much well that depends on your add backs. Take the total volume of your system. Then add up all the water/nutrient solution you have added back to the system over the week. For ease let's say the system has 40gal of water (actual water) you add back 10gal over the week thats 1/4 of the volume of the system so you do a 25% water change. If it's 20gal then change 50%.
There are 2 ways to do this. Either change the 50% of the water once you have added back 50% of the WATER volume.... Or...
Do weekly water changes based on the % of water added back.
This will keep nutrient ratios in balance enough that you should never see a nutrient ratio imbalance throughout your grow.
That's it... Is that simple and can be applied to any system no matter the size.
I would say you need to do water changes more than once a week but could get away with once a week for now prob. 3.5g/2=1.75gal so every time you add back 1.75g of water you change 50%Match check: 5 gal bucket, 3.5 gal water. Over the week I add 2 gal of nutrient mix. Are you saying this leaves 1.5 gal (3.5 - 2) of water that should be 50% changed??
What if I add 3.5 gal of nutrient in a week?
Thanks Aqua Man
Yeah you definitely need to for nutes. But for water changes it will be close enough although doing so would take it a step further. This is a KISS method so don't wanna complicate it to muchDon't forget to allow for the volume occupied by the roots. This will obviously change as your plants grow. It is a lot easier to deal with if you are recirculating vs not! I found myself adding too many nutes over time because i was not taking root volume into consideration. I actually lost half the crop before i figured it out. Actually it was someone on The Farm that happened to ask just the right question, in just the right way; to cause the ole light bulb to light up!
One of the reasons i have a 40 gallon rez for two plants.
Yeah you definitely need to for nutes. But for water changes it will be close enough although doing so would take it a step further. This is a KISS method so don't wanna complicate it to much
Hahaha no bro your absolutely right it is better.My apologies, smoke got in my brain and i fudged the topicKISS is always better!!
I will shut up now and go do another dab!
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