Question about topping off

New to Hydro so I pondered

I have a DWC Bucket and I flush weekly draining the bucket and disposing of the nutes.
Can I save (recycle) the nutes and increase the ppm or do I have to start with fresh nutes?

The problem with this is you unbalance the nutes. If the plant takes up a lot of one nutrient but less of another and you keep topping it off with more, you could overdose one nutrient that can cause others to be locked out as well. Ultimately it can just lead to problems.

I would top off occasionally with nutes, but keep changing out the batch every 10days or so, just depending on how much they eat.

I change my reservoir every two weeks. Here's how I do mine:

• reservoir change, add fresh H2O & nutes
• top off with water for the next 7 days as needed.
• On Day 7 I add 50 - 75% of the initial nutes back in depending on the TDS & strain

So, essentially add H2O to the reservoir for the 1st week. At the beginning of the 2nd week add in nutes. Top off with H2O for the rest of the 2nd week. At the end of week 2/beginning of week 3, I drain/clean reservoir and then start all over.

You can get away with it certainly. But for peace of mind and minimizing potential issues, i try and start fresh when i can. At present my plant is too large for this to be an option, so once the res get's to 1/4 full, i jut top up with water and nutes on top of what is already in there, it's still doing just fine.

My friend plays with DWC, and he has extra bottoms assembled. So he disconnects the power/air. hand wateres a little PH'd water to rinse the roots as he Pulls off the lid with the basket on it. Plops it down on the new bottom, which already has fresh nutes. Plug in, get out.

Also have seen units with spigots installed for fast changing. Pop the spigot, drain the crap out. Water a little to flush the bottom out. Water in new nutrients. Take care to guard the spigot hole, or roots can invade and cause leaks.

I bought a cheap 16$ pump and clear tubing that i just plop in and pump the water out into a bucket. Works well for me.

If you do not replenish you reservoir with new food like the bottle normally instructs you to do every 1 or 2 weeks
how are these companies supposed to make a huge profit ???
buy more food! then buy some more
change your res daily to be safe!

also buy every new product at the hydro store, your plants may need them!

Well skunk that is my thinking as well. The money I spent on nutes is pricey when they are gone I am sticking with organics. I see why everyone likes hydro the growth is wonderful but not for the price. My growth is not that bad with organics and a whole lot less work.

When finished with my nutes I am going to try hydro with home made organics from my teas.

To everyone one else I did mention I flush weekly so that was never and issue as to how to flush. I just have a tube at the bottom and drain it into a lower bucket. Not high tech but functional.

Thanks