need help with res. changeover

litljohn

Well-Known Member
hello bubble heads,i am going to start my first hydro grow and im doing a dwc for my first time.i was wondering whats the best way to drain the res for the res changes.i dont want to harm the roots,i was thinking about one of those pro drainage kits.any advice on the best way to drain with out harming roots
 
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Illegal Smile

Guest
Careful who you are calling a bubblehead, that term has some negative connotations around here :). The best way is to have a drain valve and have the res raised so you just open the valve and drain it out. Otherwise you have to use a pump or kit of some kind. The valve costs maybe $10 and is easy to put on.
 

litljohn

Well-Known Member
Careful who you are calling a bubblehead, that term has some negative connotations around here :). The best way is to have a drain valve and have the res raised so you just open the valve and drain it out. Otherwise you have to use a pump or kit of some kind. The valve costs maybe $10 and is easy to put on.
sorry about that,ive seen that term used alot without negative meaning,i thought that what you guys called each other.yeah,i thought i would go with the valve but thought i would ask the experienced people first.thanks for the help.
 

SlimDigital

Active Member
I got tired of the entire rez change thingamajig so what i did was made my DWC into a fill and drain slash DWC. After having it set up for about a week i noticed a few things and i will adjust this weekend, namley my drain line on the bottom of the rez. its very simple to do but if you decide to do this make sure you put your drain hose on the side of the rez and not the bottom because the roots will clog the drain line, even with a filter over the top. This really comes in hady in both veg and flower. In veg have you noticed that when you drain and replenish the growth spurt that occurs? Well i have my babies on a timer so the rez will drain every 2 hours for 15 minutes. In flower i wanted to scrog but i was like how the hell can i do that if i have to drain and replinish, now i never have to move my babies! I made a stand out of PVC pipes (the inch and a quarter size) a few elbows and a few tees and whala, the rez is on the bottom and the plants in a tray on top with about 6 inches of space. If interested i will post a pic and try to explain more in detail. I will say its not 100% maintenance free but its like 95% better. I call it the recirculating circulator!

I am in 6 weeks of flowering my White Widows! Ima go 77 days with the girles :)
 

joneric1014

Active Member
10 dollar fishtank water pump and 10 feet of 1/2" hose will empty an 18 gallon rubbermaid bucket in about 120 seconds.

If you have a 2nd rubbermaid bucket filled with pre-PH 6.5 water and the appropriate nutes in it, you can drain it back in immediately when its empty.

The whole process, including making water, takes less than 5 minutes.

Necessity, being the mother of all invention, dialed me into that system. Changing out your 18 gallon res can suck- changing out 20 of them sucks 20x as hard and can take hours.
 

Love1Fear

Well-Known Member
Well if your tote is off the floor u can use a tube or hose to siphon the res out or like I do and have a H2O pump in the tote and pump it out.
 

slim diggity

Well-Known Member
lets just say i have an 18 gallon sterilite can i just put stones nutes water in it and put the top with net cups on it and be done or do i need a seperate res? going in a cabinet i kinda cut the shelf that was seperating my flower from my veg so this tote will fit down inside. kinda got a deal with a smaller wall cabinet that came with the big cab so i made it my veg
 
i have two res in my room and two indentical ones with their own airstones.i just make up my nute mix and simply switch out the whole res.no expert but it has been working well plus it lets me clean the ones not in use better.
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
Yes, that works well until you have 4 5 ft plants in the res. Then it takes 2 people and just draining might be easier. All personal preference. I prefer to drain and refill from the start.
 
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