Flushing DWC?

Hey all how often should I flush my DWC and by that I mean I re do the nuits every week, and I'm using fox farm, I think I'm getting salt build up on my roots as they're discolored. If you look ay my grow journal in my signature you'll see the progress.

joespit said:

Hey all how often should I flush my DWC and by that I mean I re do the nuits every week, and I'm using fox farm, I think I'm getting salt build up on my roots as they're discolored. If you look ay my grow journal in my signature you'll see the progress.

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Excellent Q...1st grow and dwc myself...I added the exact amount of nutes according to all bottles and think I over fed. Plus bad ventilation/temps. The beast is somehow pushing through. I have not been flushing...just adding to the bucket and exchanging the water every couple weeks...I know it is wrong but the only way to learn is to actually grow. Good luck @joespit

dwc needs like 1/4 strength. should never get over 500 ppm's. uptake is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy more efficient.

fox farms is hot stuff for dwc too. stick to an easy 3 part synthetic line. 7-14 days. as plants eat, ph goes back up.

if you do not have a chiller, and water gets to the 70's or higher, you might want to consider a sterile res

Velvet Elvis said:

dwc needs like 1/4 strength. should never get over 500 ppm's. uptake is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy more efficient.

fox farms is hot stuff for dwc too. stick to an easy 3 part synthetic line. 7-14 days. as plants eat, ph goes back up.

if you do not have a chiller, and water gets to the 70's or higher, you might want to consider a sterile res

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Really?! never over 500.... well quite interesting and enlightening... as i'm over on all of them lol... whats a good synthetic to use? I was looking at dutch masters but then just started to get confused.. like learning the same phrase in a new language

dutch master gold is an excellent line. no need for all the extras like .27 or penetrator. zone is a root innoculant and makes for sterile rez. copper based i believe with bleach too.

keep it simple, be more interested in smooth tasty smoke than yield, and over time add a lil more. this is how i learned, i grew for taste not to sell.

pure blend pro is excellent too, but not sterile, cant go wrong either way. I should rephrase never go over 500 part.

it is ultra efficient when dissolved oxygen levels are high and root mass is huge. if you have cheap air pump, and only aerate the res, then its not so efficient. but whatever the case DWC should not be too hot. your taste buds will thank me later.

Current culture cultured solutions is super clean and easy too

You don't flush dwc. There is no medium to build up salts in. You can't remove anything from your plant by running water ovee it's roots, this only starves the plant.

Velvet Elvis said:

dwc needs like 1/4 strength. should never get over 500 ppm's. uptake is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy more efficient.

fox farms is hot stuff for dwc too. stick to an easy 3 part synthetic line. 7-14 days. as plants eat, ph goes back up.

if you do not have a chiller, and water gets to the 70's or higher, you might want to consider a sterile res

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Duuude! Thank you! I just had a feeling im providing excess nutes. Thnx for confirmation. Attention new growers!! Less nutrients can be VERY beneficial.

@Velvet Elvis How many gallon reservoir is required to maintain (2) 5 gallon dwc buckets? How often do you change the reservoir?

you can do it with no res, but are more vulnerable to swings and needing to replenish. I would go with at least a 5gal res in your case. bigger the better. if temps stay down, that stuff could last a month or so, that is if you continue to monitor and check PH,PPm etc

Velvet Elvis said:

you can do it with no res, but are more vulnerable to swings and needing to replenish. I would go with at least a 5gal res in your case. bigger the better. if temps stay down, that stuff could last a month or so, that is if you continue to monitor and check PH,PPm etc

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I knew I should have gone res. to begin with....man, ur fucking helpful...thx

@Velvet Elvis thanks brother!! more info in your 5 sentences then in a month reading here on this subject...dwc is tougher than one would think. The good part is that my beast plant survived...will she bud? this is another determination. #go 49ers btw

DarthBlazeAnthony said:

Duuude! Thank you! I just had a feeling im providing excess nutes. Thnx for confirmation. Attention new growers!! Less nutrients can be VERY beneficial.

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DWC can run up to 1500 ppm ish for full size trees in flower.

I start rooted clones at 800ppm, any less and they're starvin.

If your roots are not white then you have pythium (root rot) due to lack of oxygen supply, lack of benificals.

ppm really depends on the strain. Each strain prefers different nutrient levels. Learn your plant, it will tell you if it needs more or less.

As for changing the rez, I try and change out the entire thing every 14 days and no more than 21 days. I have gone whole grows without changing the rez but I just feel better when I change it out. I run one plant in about 20 gallons.

My roots stain pink because the fertilizer is pink. Other stains are likely biological which could be good or bad depending on what's being cultured. Anyway, my understanding is that PPM is somewhat strain resistant and also depends on the type of light used. Using CFL I max out at 600 PPM 8 gallons per plant. Using LED I max out at 1000 PPM 8 gallons per plant. I have a friend growing under HPS maxing out at 1600 PPM 4 gallons per plant. He tops his rez off daily, I don't add any water between changeouts.

So I was at around 800PPM when things look like they started to sour and my pH may have below 6.0 (pool guy PH kit may have been contaminated) pretty sure root rot hasn't been a thing though as my temps are usually low70's-high60's.

Tell me what you think but I think but when I look at the leaves she tells me the pH was off leading to cal/mg not being absorbed properly then it looks like the she was feeling weak and became susceptible to nitrogen toxicity.



As for roots I think the color comes from the worm and bat poop or whatever they use. I'm thinking FF may not be best for hydro and going to try something new for next grow.

It looks like nute burn to me. I use advanced nutrients 3 part micro grow bloom in a dwc setup and my ppm never got over 220 or it would start showing signs of burning. As soon as I see That I flush and reintroduce sutes a little at a time over the next few days till I am back to where she likes to be. I still dont know how it works but if I see my plants taking up 40 ppm per day they look happy which makes me happy and The quality is great. I have no clue why my TDS is so low but its what works for me. I got a bit over 6 oz running 600 watts after dried and cured. This was my first DWC setup all other grows have been soil. It was for sure more work and I'm not sure it was worth it. The yield was about the same it just took a bit longer to get there in soil but muck less worrying to do. Amway thinking about power outages. Its just not worth it unless you have a backup system or dont mind being married to your plants. I'm going back to soil but will be using hydroponics to start clones as the success rate is so much high for me in that area. Here is my latest girl under 600 watts. White widow x crossed with big bud. I topped it this time . I should have scrogged but never did. hopefully fishing line will work fine in the future. I hoping to get better than 6 oz this time since I topped it a couple times and have been LST. These are new methods for me this time around as well. always trying something new it seems.

those roots look icky. if Dissolved oxygen levels are high enough, ppms can stay low.

look burnt and dying roots. I would sterilize unless youre running a live rez.

Thanks.. Yeah I guess everything started to get away from me when the fox farm provided schedule starts to ramp up. So high nutes burn roots and everything else along with it... Now I know, what do yous guys thinks I should do? Run really low ppm nuit water? Just strait water, or cut em down and start a new?