temperanc3
New Member
Hii everyone im starting my first hydro grow.Ive got four plants and theyre in the 3rd week of vegging. Ive been changing it every week. Is that too much or not enough?! And do I add nutes back in every change also?
how often to change water?!
- Thread starter temperanc3
- Start date
Yes you add nutes when you do a res change. Drain it, rinse it, then fill back up with fresh nutes. When I started in January, I changed every week. I got tired of this fast and the cost of the nutes starts to really add up. I just top off now every other day with nutes and do a complete res change every 2 to 3 weeks. I'm still considered a noob most likely, so take my opinion with a grain of salt please. I think if you use a product like Aquashield and have good water temps they don't need to be changed as often. Good luck.
temperanc3
New Member
Ok thanks alot man..also when im changing and cleaning the res is it safe for the plants to be lifted up out of the water? Will it hurt the plants?
Lift away, the roots don't like direct light but a few seconds during res changes doesn't appear to hurt much from my brief experience. I usually just put the plant/netpot into an empty bucket for the 30minutes - 1 hour it takes me to rinse and wipe down everything after draining. I used to try to fill extra 5 gallon buckets with some of the old nutes that I was draining so it wouldn't sit without water/food for more than a few seconds. I got lazy as time went on and stopped this and noticed little difference. I think once res change I had them sitting in just empty buckets for over an hour and started to notice some drooping leaves, but it perked right back up as soon they went back in their homes. Not sure if this is the correct way to it, just saying what worked for me. Had similar questions at first that I had a hard time finding answers to in other journals.
Lemon king
Well-Known Member
what hydro?? if dwc
with less then 3 gallons actual water in res id change every 3 days and i wouldnt bother topping up in between, change every mon - wed - flush with plain tap sunday.
10 + gallon acctaul res every monday with a flush every sunday, topping up with water and correcting ph on weds, if you set ph at 5.5 come wednesday itll be about 6 giving you the full range!!!
nutes aint that expensive, and its cheaper to use a whole bottle of nutes in one grow then to damage a harvest due to problems imo. (depends on how much your nutes cost i suppose!)
just my 2cents if ya just starting out!!
with less then 3 gallons actual water in res id change every 3 days and i wouldnt bother topping up in between, change every mon - wed - flush with plain tap sunday.
10 + gallon acctaul res every monday with a flush every sunday, topping up with water and correcting ph on weds, if you set ph at 5.5 come wednesday itll be about 6 giving you the full range!!!
nutes aint that expensive, and its cheaper to use a whole bottle of nutes in one grow then to damage a harvest due to problems imo. (depends on how much your nutes cost i suppose!)
just my 2cents if ya just starting out!!
SOMEBEECH
Well-Known Member
I Just sit the net pot and roots in another bucket,I always make sure the temps are close to the res temp.
One time,I was ripped and used water from the hose outside in Winter.......Was way too cold and then refilled the res and it turned my damn leaves crisp.LOL
That was over 5 yrs ago!
Beech
Damn good points, I made a dumb assumption it was some sort of rdwc and not just single dwc buckets. I'd change more often too if it were dwc. Sorry for any confusion.
superstoner1
Well-Known Member
I start with 5gal and when the level is down to about 1-1/2 gal i change it. It really is not the best idea to add back nutes, esp in a small res, because there are lots of things in there the plant wont need at times and these items build up giving false ppm readings and plant issues. Nutes are not that expensive if u look at it this way, i use an expensive nute line and full additive line in big res's and from veg to harvest my nute cost is about $1.25 per dry ounce.
Lemon king
Well-Known Member
- nute cost is about $1.25 per dry ounce.
yea boi
temperanc3
New Member
Im using a 4 gallon tub with four plants in it. So its safe to assume once a week res change and nutes?! And thanks alot guys for all the info 
superstoner1
Well-Known Member
General rule of thumb is to have the largest capacity res as possible, it makes a huge difference. And 4 plants in 4 gal is going to cause u tons of work and problems in later stages. 4 plants can empty 4 gal in 1-2 days. Not to mention the huge ph swings u will have.
And yes, $1.25 per(i even included shipping cost into the cost per ounce).
And yes, $1.25 per(i even included shipping cost into the cost per ounce).