Can I recirculate using a coco/soil mixture

bud man jay

Well-Known Member
I created a top drip system and I have a few questions. I have a 28 gallon res with a submersible pump connected to a 8 outlet drip manifold that puts out 2gph. I have 8 smart pots filled with a 75% mixture of Promix HPCC and 25%Happy Frog.. Day one I fed one time and I let the drip go for about 30 mins. (The plants loved it) The second day I decided to let it drip every 4 hrs for 30 mins when the lights are on. I had a lot of runoff on the table. I think the Thee times a Day was too much to start off with. But with a system like this can the nutrient solution be drained and recirculated? Have anybody tried this with success?
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
I created a top drip system and I have a few questions. I have a 28 gallon res with a submersible pump connected to a 8 outlet drip manifold that puts out 2gph. I have 8 smart pots filled with a 75% mixture of Promix HPCC and 25%Happy Frog.. Day one I fed one time and I let the drip go for about 30 mins. (The plants loved it) The second day I decided to let it drip every 4 hrs for 30 mins when the lights are on. I had a lot of runoff on the table. I think the Thee times a Day was too much to start off with. But with a system like this can the nutrient solution be drained and recirculated? Have anybody tried this with success?
No, I wouldn't reuse the water. It'll clog your pump, lines, and emitters. You'll end up with a clog fairly quickly.

If you're interested in something that recirculates, you'd want to look at DWC or NFT, which are soilless/coco-less systems, using only water and dissolved nutrients.
 

bud man jay

Well-Known Member
No, I wouldn't reuse the water. It'll clog your pump, lines, and emitters. You'll end up with a clog fairly quickly.

If you're interested in something that recirculates, you'd want to look at DWC or NFT, which are soilless/coco-less systems, using only water and dissolved nutrients.
So I should go drain to waste?
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
If you want to be able to circulate the water, but you're not ready for a dwc, you can use Hydroton for the grow medium instead of coco or soil.
 

TurboTokes

Well-Known Member
To much "waste" in the water with recirc in coco alone Ive found. Add soil to the mix like you have and I dont think the mix would be very good for the plants half way through its "use"

Drain to waste or switch to rockwool/hydroton/nft
 

bud man jay

Well-Known Member
To much "waste" in the water with recirc in coco alone Ive found. Add soil to the mix like you have and I dont think the mix would be very good for the plants half way through its "use"

Drain to waste or switch to rockwool/hydroton/nft

Why you say the mix wouldn’t be good for the plants half way through?
 

Deltagreen

Well-Known Member
Just curious, would it be possible if you were to use fabric grow pots with coco and run a recirculating drip system, would that work? The fabric pots would pretty much act like a filter. I'm torn between which way to go on my grow
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
not all elements are equally mobile in soil. Some will leach with the water and some will accrue. I can not see this being a good solution... For the most part, soil has everything it needs to grow mean plants... Where it may be lacking is in the microbial life to access this bounty.
 
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