Drain to waste and $$$

Hey All,

This is one thing that bugs me about Drain To Waste... The nutes running down that drain cost money. Using Coco and GHE I'll be paying through my teeth...

So how do you guys do it? In the long run it's a LOT of continuous expenses, replacing coco, nutes running away etc. If I look at it from the perspective of perpetual harvesting, it seems a very inefficient way to go.

So I obviously have a lot I DON'T know because a lot of guys are going for it. Can you tell me more about how you keep expenses down, do you go organic and make your own teas, mix your own ferts, or is there just a line of superpowered cheap nutes I don't know of?

Simply super curious here, thanks for your time if you feel like leaving an answer

The hole drain to waste sounds wastefull but its not if done right theres less waste then ebb&flow!

saving?

Being able to reuse medium
less waste then most growing methods
zero ph managment
able to use whatever type of nute/carb/sugars you like

nutes used is same or less than other hydro methods. you run @ 10% to waste. every other hydro method you dump the whole res once a week. also most other hydro methods require a much larger res size.

Yeah rez changes usually end up using or wasting the same. Same shit differnt pile. A lot less headaches with dtw. Prob main reason poeple make the switch. Less to go wrong, makes life a lot better.

Been researching organics and coco and dtw. Seems u can use a coco soil mix, and use less nutrients in the feed and slow release organic feed in the soil.

I am starting my second grow, my first was ok ( soilless ), got me some experience and some very nice smoke to boot . I have read and read and I had no problem going dtw w/coco to minimize my chances for a wrongdoing. From a rookie standpoint it seems one of the easier platforms to get stable so as to progress to more advanced cultivation techniques a bit quicker. My .02

Peace and Great Grows

Asmallvoice

This thread made me figure out what my water used is for coco vs hydro for my little grow.

I use 3.5 gal buckets for my bubble buckets with top offs and the weekly fill x4 it's about 16 gallons a week. This can be more during flower peak.

Using 2 or 3 gallon, neither made a difference, I would use 1 gallon a day to feed 4 plants so 7 gallons a week. This is far less through veg since I veg in 1 gal in coco. I wanted to add, that this round using 2 gal air pots I am watering every other day with no problems so far 21 days into flower and my nutrient use is even lower. Low temps and middle RH

I think its funny I thought I have been wasting nutrients as opposed to when I did hydro. I was throwing money out the window doing hydro.

Use hempy buckets.

Less run-off due to longer duration between waterings
No external rez
No pumps, air-stones, chillers, or timers
Any nute regime will work, (seen problems with organic juices)

Oh yea and it's real easy.

You should look into growing in Rockwool. DTW really doesn't happen. I run slabs and 4" cubes in a single tray set up, each drain into a pail then get mixed back together and used the next day(ph balanced). I then pour it down the drain, so essentially I get two secessions out of a mix, basically cutting my costs almost in half when compared to others who just get rid of it. I truly believe that you could do a third and fourth day as my run off using Rockwool is just as clean as going in. 2 reasons I don't re-use more than once is an imbalance could be happening without your awareness and keeping it air rated properly. The one downfall is PH, Rock has a tendency to raise your ph so there is a need to watch your PH a little more than other mediums. A simple ph pen solves it and with the benefits with the nutrients and having literally no garbage(1 bag a week for 2lbs.)it makes sense to investigate this as a medium if your looking for ways to make you buck go farther. Good Luck

Sir.Ganga said:

DTW really doesn't happen. I then pour it down the drain

Click to expand...

So how is this not DTW? Because you reuse it once? If that's the case then I actually waste nothing because I use my runoff to feed house plants and various garden plants.

KushKrew said:

Hey All,

This is one thing that bugs me about Drain To Waste... The nutes running down that drain cost money. Using Coco and GHE I'll be paying through my teeth...

So how do you guys do it? In the long run it's a LOT of continuous expenses, replacing coco, nutes running away etc. If I look at it from the perspective of perpetual harvesting, it seems a very inefficient way to go.

So I obviously have a lot I DON'T know because a lot of guys are going for it. Can you tell me more about how you keep expenses down, do you go organic and make your own teas, mix your own ferts, or is there just a line of superpowered cheap nutes I don't know of?

Simply super curious here, thanks for your time if you feel like leaving an answer

Click to expand...

I'm using a lot less fertilizer than I did with hydroponics. I was tossing out 50+ gallons a week with it. Im probably throwing out 15 gallons a week between two rooms now.

This is how I justify the cost: https://www.rollitup.org/vertical-growing/668796-haze-harvest-few-pounds-1200w.html





But seriously, run-to-waste doesn't "waste" as much nutrient as you think, because you usually run lower concentrations of nutrients and have only a small amount of runoff each time - which can be recycled by diverting it to your vegetable garden (like I and many others do). I spend an average $10 a week on nutrient for my 1200w coco run-to-waste grow - which is nothing.

Also, as others have said, you waste a similar amount of nutrient in a recirculating hydro set-up when you dump your reservoir every couple of weeks.

I've grown in soil, DWC, recirculating hydro and coco. Run-to-waste coco beats them all, in my opinion, for growth and reliability. With RTW coco you won't lose a crop if your timer or pump fails, because the coco retains moisture and can keep your plants alive for 2-3 days or more until you find and fix the problem. It's also very hard to overfertilise your plants, because you are constantly flushing them, leading to more consistent overall results.

Growing isn't just about yield - it's about consistent yield. And the more reliable your set-up, the more consistent your yield. After you pull your first pound or so from a 600w lamp, you'll soon forget about the cost of nutrient . . .

jiggastafarian said:

So how is this not DTW? Because you reuse it once? If that's the case then I actually waste nothing because I use my runoff to feed house plants and various garden plants.

Click to expand...

I was under the notion that a drain to waste system did not save any product, it was mixed, used and disposed of. What I do would not be considered dtw because of the re-use of the product. Whatever you want to call it, I was showing alternative options.

"Run to waste" or "drain to waste" simply refers to the watering method: watering with fresh nutrients once, as opposed to recirculating the nutrient solution and then dumping it later. What you do with the left-over nutrient solution is up to you, but run-to-waste also uses plain water in the last week or so of flowering, or at any other time when you need to flush (though the build-up of nutrient in RTW is generally much less).

On the subject of rockwool, the main problem is disposing of it afterwards. You can reuse coco in your grows, especially with run-to-waste, as the coco is flushed throughout the cycle and there is less nutrient build-up. I've reused it successfully for about three grows before adding it to my garden as mulch. The only reason I don't continually reuse it is because it breaks down and compacts, and root mass gets added to it over time, which doesn't have the same properties (air and moisture retention) as fresh coco. Also, nutrient can build up over time, so it needs more and more flushing to get it clean enough to reuse.

But all my waste coco is either remixed into other plant/vegetable pots, or used as topsoil/mulch. Nothing goes to waste, as all my trimmings get mulched as well.

I use GH florabloom and micro..ocassionally some epsom salt and PK 13/14. I use a slightly adjust LUCAS formula. gallon of florabloom small bottle of micro and s,all bottle of PK 13/14. costs about 60 bucks and lasts almost two runs in a 1200-1600 watt room. So its not really all that expensive. I only water to run off about once a week to 10 days. Rest of the time i water just enough every day to keep them fed.

I use either perlite or rockwool and hydroton which can be reused. So for 60 in nutes and about 140 in power...20 bucks in water i get 28-32 ounces. Im pretty ok with ounces for about 7.50 a piece...plus manhours of course.

Yeah, funny how some people are prepared to pay up to $400 an ounce for weed, but complain about a few dollars here and there for nutrient! Even if you pull just one ounce per grow, you've pretty much covered the cost of everything, including lights, ballast, nutrient and power.

PetFlora said:

D2W does mean nutes are not reused

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Not exactly. As I said, it's a watering style that simply means watering with runoff where the runoff is either collected or allowed to drain to waste. You can recycle the waste nutrient by using it on your veg patch or indoor/outdoor plants as a nutrient supplement. What you probably mean to say is it's not reused in the same system . . .

As for draining the nutes back into your res, it will certainly increase ppm/EC, but pH depends on what nutrients are being put back. Some nutrients are acidic and will drop pH (nitrogen in the form of ammonium nitrate, for example). Some will have the reverse (silica).

Basically, what you are doing when you dump your runoff back into the res is increasing the concentration of nutrients your plant DOESN'T need, and replacing nutrients it DOES need. Runoff consists of nutrient (salt build-up) that hasn't been used by the plant. And there are a number of reasons why a plant doesn't use a particular nutrient: it either doesn't require it (has enough, depending on stage of growth or bloom) or does not have enough of a complimentary nutrient to uptake it (which is why too much of one nutrient can lock out another).

In either case, you are simply putting the unwanted nutrient back into your reservoir which upsets the NPK and minor nutrient ratios your plant needs for optimum growth. Plants are tolerant and adaptable, so you can get away with this for so long - as in a recirculating system. But sooner or later the nutrients will be out of balance and you have to dump the res and start with a fresh batch. Otherwise, your plant's health will suffer and it may or may not grow or flowering properly.

The beauty of run-to-waste is that it delivers a fresh batch of correct ratio nutrients each and every time you water. Any unused nutrient drains away and prevents a build-up of unwanted salts in your pots. This doesn't stop you recycling the waste in your outdoor garden, because your outdoor plants are generally in soil - which is a good buffer - and aren't confined to pots, so the roots can grow whenever they need, avoiding "hotspots" and seeking out other nutrients they require. The runoff is also usually applied to a wider area and is soon diluted by rain and general watering.

you save money by saying "fuck boutique fertilizers".

a bag of jacks peat lite 20-10-20 will last you forever. $40.

Hi,

your waste is the same as in any hydro set up.
in a hydroi system yu will change weekly your full rez, in dtw yu will waste each time little amount, at the end of the week you have allmost the same waste from both(of course depend on many factor).
It doesn't have to be as waste but rather use it in your garden for tomatoes, flower ...