"PERPETUAL" growers - Waterfarm tips?

[Jimson]

To be clear - I am looking for advice on running different strains in a recirculating Waterfarm setup. Specifically, how do you feed 5-6 plants normal bloom nutes while flushing 1-2 plants that are ready for harvest?

I am beginning a shift from soil-type media to all hydro. I have 7 buckets in a tent - 2 buckets for med use - 5 buckets for head-stash and experiments.

I just flushed two plants for 10 days and fed the rest using foliar sprays (3 times) - seemed to work OK but at least one of those (my Motavation clone) is coming in with under-sized buds at 5 weeks.

I have been trying to come up with a system of switches that would allow me to bypass a couple of the buckets when I need to flush. My problem with this kind of thing is there are TOO MANY OPTIONS! This is the kind of thing I bash around in my head - for weeks.

If I had more room, I would use another rez - perhaps it's worth giving up the plant space(?).

I would appreciate input from anyone running 'perpetual' grows in a recirculating setup.

TFL

 

[Rajajaja]

use a bloom nutes that has a lil nitrogen in it so the new ones need a lil n... have a blast waterfarms are fun

 

[altitudefarmer]

separate rez is the best way to flush, if you have others not ready for flush. Hard to give 'em enough nutrients through foliar only (without clogging the stomata and creating vpd issues), in my experience.

 

[midnightrider]

waterfarms are cool to use - i would think if you are going to use an 8 pack waterfarm with different strains your going to have difficulty with canopy , feeding , space --- different strains have different heights , some plants will recieve less light ,,,all plants dont feed the same , some take up more or less npk leaving defecencies for other plants. now if your determined to do this anyway get yourself some small ball valves or some sort of shut off valve and install them on the hoses that connect to each bucket so you can stop the flow and remove the bucket ----- good luck

 

[Jimson]

An update for anyone researching the same issue....

Foliar spraying? I would say a week-10 days maximum. I sprayed my Pineapple Express and local OG plants for 2 weeks. Now, 10 days later, they are going a funky yellow under the canopy where I sprayed top & bottom of the leaves (tried not to touch flowers). The leaves are going brown but don't fall off - the stems are tough - leaves are ...flaky.

Good news - the new growth is normal - looks good.

Not so good: Buds are smaller - in fact, they look about 2-weeks behind normal.

I am going down to 6 actively recirculating buckets with one that will be standalone. I plan to run another bucket standalone - outside the flower tent. The idea will be to test this idea of leaving a plant in the dark for 3 days before harvest.

 

[Electro]

I used to do a waterfarm hydro setup. A few things that made my life easier:
1. Drill larger holes in the bottom of the brown/red containers that hold the medium, that way it functions more like a DWC and will allow your plants to grow much better.
2. Cut the drip ring pipes about 2" shorter, that way the circular drip ring resides BELOW the hydroton, this will avoid algae/mold buildup and will avoid any splashing outside the bucket, which is a problem if you let the drip rings hang above the medium.

Also, wrap black plastic or something around the main reservoir and each 4 gallon bucket, ,this way no light hits the roots. Fill one of the Waterfarm buckets with water and hold it up to the HPS light, you'll see what i mean :)


I ran each bucket separate, and threw out the reservoir because i ran many different strains at different times. its more work but the only way to truly give each plant what it needs. I just have 1 large 30 gallon rez bubbling and add water as needed to each bucket.



Good luck!