New to DWC have some basic questions

94blowncobra

94blowncobra

Active Member
Nutes, once you get your desired ppm, do you maintain that same level as the plant consumes them? Or do you let the nutes get down to a certain level first?

Topping off, Do you just top the bucket off with water or water with nutes? This question is basically part of the nutes question.

Water level, I understand the starting level and once established to keep the level like 2" under the net pot. But how much of the roots need to be in the water to start dropping the level of water under the net pot?

Thanks guys, just trying to get my shit together before i jump into dwc.:joint:
 
wiimb

wiimb

New Member
94blowncobra said:
Nutes, once you get your desired ppm, do you maintain that same level as the plant consumes them? Or do you let the nutes get down to a certain level first?

Topping off, Do you just top the bucket off with water or water with nutes? This question is basically part of the nutes question.

Water level, I understand the starting level and once established to keep the level like 2" under the net pot. But how much of the roots need to be in the water to start dropping the level of water under the net pot?

Thanks guys, just trying to get my shit together before i jump into dwc.:joint:
Click to expand...
=

Hi pal! :)
People normally keep there ppm around a desired reading yes.
this is what i did, hope it helps........ say my plant drank 4 liter and her ppm went up therefore she aint drank nutes just water, i would 2 liter plain water and 2 liter mix (water+nutes)
that way it sort of balanced the readings out. But if say my ppm was 1200 one day and the nect it was 800 and she drank 4ltrs she wud get 4 ltrs mix nutes.
you will adjust to how they drink and what they dont drink, after a while of doing this daily, you can do it easier.
the water level i kept mine constantly just under the net pot all the way threw the grow and then someone pinched them :lol: but thats old news....
:peace:
 
wiimb

wiimb

New Member
VoidObject said:
I'm going to warn you: you're going to get a range of different answers on these questions.
Click to expand...
What he said^^^^^
And you have to take all the answer and jungle about with them and make your own dissension and ways of doing things and then you will be passing your answer to other people just like i am :lol:
But no one answer is ever right for any one else, every one's grow is differnt and the way the grow.
:peace:
 
94blowncobra

94blowncobra

Active Member
wiimb said:
=

Hi pal! :)
People normally keep there ppm around a desired reading yes.
this is what i did, hope it helps........ say my plant drank 4 liter and her ppm went up therefore she aint drank nutes just water, i would 2 liter plain water and 2 liter mix (water+nutes)
that way it sort of balanced the readings out. But if say my ppm was 1200 one day and the nect it was 800 and she drank 4ltrs she wud get 4 ltrs mix nutes.
you will adjust to how they drink and what they dont drink, after a while of doing this daily, you can do it easier.
the water level i kept mine constantly just under the net pot all the way threw the grow and then someone pinched them :lol: but thats old news....
:peace:
Click to expand...
Thanks man, that helps me out a lot.

I will be a little less dangerous now when i start a dwc.:leaf:
 
O

onthedl0008

Well-Known Member
94blowncobra said:
Nutes, once you get your desired ppm, do you maintain that same level as the plant consumes them? Or do you let the nutes get down to a certain level first?

Topping off, Do you just top the bucket off with water or water with nutes? This question is basically part of the nutes question.

Water level, I understand the starting level and once established to keep the level like 2" under the net pot. But how much of the roots need to be in the water to start dropping the level of water under the net pot?

Thanks guys, just trying to get my shit together before i jump into dwc.:joint:
Click to expand...
Hey man just a quick heads up and to add a little to what's already Been discussed.
Adding nutrients to ur toppoff water is completely ok and standard as some synthetics are thick and goopy and require premix. Just make sure u pay attention to what ur adding as concentrations of certain elements will build up and become toxic.
Also very important DO NOT PH UR TOPOFF WATER. This is the main reason I think peeps have so mant issues with ph swings n such.
If u do u will be opening a whole new can of whoopass on ur dwc that u Don't want trust me.
The acids in ur ph Solutions will build up in ur res and continue to lower ur ph over time as ur adding with each topoff.
Only ph ur res check once daily. AFTER FEEDING/TOPOFFS. And make neccesary changes from there.
Do that ur ph should settle and balance all On its own within 3 days to a week tops. If not u have other issues.
Its totally normal for reservoirs to swing in the first week as well as after topoffs and feeding.
Make sure u ph after feeds tho as some nutrients will Raise and Lower and ur ph all on there own.
Peace.
 
panhead

panhead

Well-Known Member
And here comes the different answers.

Topping off the rez with or without nutes isnt a hard nailed question for me,if your running a low ec or ppm then adding nute water most likely isnt going to cause any issues but................yep,there is allways a but.

If your running the nutes at the plants max or even close to the max of what the strain can handel then adding nutes can cause burn & or lock out,i'll explain.

There are roughly 16 macro & micro nutes in our fertilizers,some more some less,the total sum of all these different nutes is what makes up the ec or ppm.

Now lets say your feeding the plant 1,000 ppm in a fresh rez,when you check it 24 hours later the water is down & your ppm is down as well,this obviously means the plant drank water & ate nutrients,you top off the rez & re-check ppm & its at 800 ppm,so now you want to add 200 ppm worth of nutes to bring it back up to the 1,000 ppm starting point.

Here's the fucked part,you know the plant ate 200 ppm worth of nutes but EXACTLY WHAT NUTRIENTS DID THE PLANT EAT ? Lets say the plant ate mostly nitrogen & no P or K or any micro nutes,those levels stayed the same & the missing 200 ppm was nitrogen only.

Now when you top off with nutes in the water you brought the ppm up & increased levels of nutrients that the plant is not feeding on or using very little of,now another 24 hours later you see the same thing where water level is down & ppm is at 800 again.

Once again exactly what nutes make up the missing ppm,now you top off a 2nd time with nute water & what happens if the plant is still only eating nitrogen from the total npk & no other nutes ?

Once again those levels rise,this question or dilema im talking about is the exact reason so many newbs cant figure out whats wrong with the grow,they check the ppm & everybody tells them the low ppm the plants get in a fresh rez wont burn plants so it cant be nute burn or lockout.

Adding nutes to top off water is the fastest way for a new hydro grower to get into all kinds of problems because many of the nutrients end up at seriously over loaded levels & locks everything up & cooks the plant.

I would reccomend on your 1st grow to just use plain water & change your rez more often,if you dump & refill the rez once a week its the safest way to provide the plants with everything they need.

When you get a few grows under your belt & know exactly what the plants are supposed to look like at all stages of growth then start adding nutes,until then play it safe,topping off with plain water will not deprive the plant from anything it needs to be healthy,on the other hand topping off with nute water puts you at serious risk of nute burn or lock out,or both.
 
O

onthedl0008

Well-Known Member
Yea man very good points PanHead. I try and stick rite too those Guidelines. Honestly I've never really seen more than a 100ppm swing ever and that could be more chalked up to a pen calibration if anything and maybe even nutrints gettin stuck in the clay... Totally agree get ur plants started properly eating a niice healthy diet of dark green keep them dialed in till harvest time shouldn't have to Worry about much in between that's real talk.
 
K

kushnotbush

Well-Known Member
Great advice all around in this thread, I think Panhead has a good point. When you start out you really have to scientifically go down a list and make sure your always doing the right thing, so keeping it simple worked when I started out. Having the right tools such as a good calibrated Ph meter is really important too and if I did not have an EC/PPm meter I would not even try topping up a res. Starting a fresh res every week or so also helps to keep slime and other bacteria at bay for new growers especially if your not sure about your reservoirs yet. I wish I had access to all the info here when I started because as I began reading here I found out I had been doing all kinds of stuff "wrong" and I been at it for a good while. I think once you understand how water functions chemically DWC becomes pretty simple. The hard part is keeping your environment in check constantly
 
94blowncobra

94blowncobra

Active Member
panhead said:
And here comes the different answers.

Topping off the rez with or without nutes isnt a hard nailed question for me,if your running a low ec or ppm then adding nute water most likely isnt going to cause any issues but................yep,there is allways a but.

If your running the nutes at the plants max or even close to the max of what the strain can handel then adding nutes can cause burn & or lock out,i'll explain.

There are roughly 16 macro & micro nutes in our fertilizers,some more some less,the total sum of all these different nutes is what makes up the ec or ppm.

Now lets say your feeding the plant 1,000 ppm in a fresh rez,when you check it 24 hours later the water is down & your ppm is down as well,this obviously means the plant drank water & ate nutrients,you top off the rez & re-check ppm & its at 800 ppm,so now you want to add 200 ppm worth of nutes to bring it back up to the 1,000 ppm starting point.

Here's the fucked part,you know the plant ate 200 ppm worth of nutes but EXACTLY WHAT NUTRIENTS DID THE PLANT EAT ? Lets say the plant ate mostly nitrogen & no P or K or any micro nutes,those levels stayed the same & the missing 200 ppm was nitrogen only.

Now when you top off with nutes in the water you brought the ppm up & increased levels of nutrients that the plant is not feeding on or using very little of,now another 24 hours later you see the same thing where water level is down & ppm is at 800 again.

Once again exactly what nutes make up the missing ppm,now you top off a 2nd time with nute water & what happens if the plant is still only eating nitrogen from the total npk & no other nutes ?

Once again those levels rise,this question or dilema im talking about is the exact reason so many newbs cant figure out whats wrong with the grow,they check the ppm & everybody tells them the low ppm the plants get in a fresh rez wont burn plants so it cant be nute burn or lockout.

Adding nutes to top off water is the fastest way for a new hydro grower to get into all kinds of problems because many of the nutrients end up at seriously over loaded levels & locks everything up & cooks the plant.

I would reccomend on your 1st grow to just use plain water & change your rez more often,if you dump & refill the rez once a week its the safest way to provide the plants with everything they need.

When you get a few grows under your belt & know exactly what the plants are supposed to look like at all stages of growth then start adding nutes,until then play it safe,topping off with plain water will not deprive the plant from anything it needs to be healthy,on the other hand topping off with nute water puts you at serious risk of nute burn or lock out,or both.
Click to expand...
Thats really good info man. Your reply should be a sticky on maintaining res nutes! +rep bro. Thanks man...
 
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