Res change required? dwc

ClymbRunFly

Active Member
If ph/ppm are in check, growth looks good, using beneficials in the reservoir... what's the res change for...? Fresh water is added whenever its topped off
 

Alienwidow

Well-Known Member
Sludge build up, algae growth removal, sediment, cleaning. Rootzone health without adding bennies. Dont get me wrong, you can do it, ive done it in a six site tote sog style and only changed it once a week before chop, but in larger plants theres a lot of residue that can build up and that should be cleaned.
 

Alienwidow

Well-Known Member
What i was taught is change the rez once the plants have consumed the whole volume of it, or youve added five gallons of fresh water to your five gallon rez....or two weeks if thats your bag baby yeah!
 

slinkysaurus

Well-Known Member
Personally, aside from a res change from veg/flower feed, I only ever flush if I've fucked up. Why waste more feed when things are going fine and you have your root promotion and break down in the tank?
Apart from that just a flush a few weeks before chop with straight tap water... makes your smoke less chlorophyl-y.

After chop things get wiped down and sanitised and we start again!

I've known a few folk to never flush and continue to just top up, but as Alien insinuated- it's generally good practice to keep things clean at least once throughout the cycle
 

Spanky84

Active Member
If ph/ppm are in check, growth looks good, using beneficials in the reservoir... what's the res change for...? Fresh water is added whenever its topped off
Keeping PPM in check does not mean you are keeping the amount of different ions that make up that PPM in check. For example, If your plant for some reason uses all the phosphorus you add and only half the amount of nitrogen, it's just a matter of time before your nitrogen levels reach toxic levels.

Also, roots break off and die, bennies die, some external microorganisms always manage to reproduce, and with time you get more and more organic waste acumulating in your res (ok, you might not, bennies could be fully breaking down everything but I wouldn't bet on it).

Changing res means starting fresh, both in a context of nutrient levels and potentialy problematic organic matter acumulation. I don't doubt you could go without it for a long time, but I think it's a good practice that can prevent a lot of problems along the way..
 

adower

Well-Known Member
I've only known one person who can do DWC/ebb and flow with no res change. Everyone else I've known always changes the res.
 

ClymbRunFly

Active Member
Hey everyone just wanted to reply to this thread, sorry it's coming a day late. Some real good information here, seems like changing the res on a regular basis is good practice at least.

Keeping PPM in check does not mean you are keeping the amount of different ions that make up that PPM in check. For example, If your plant for some reason uses all the phosphorus you add and only half the amount of nitrogen, it's just a matter of time before your nitrogen levels reach toxic levels.

Also, roots break off and die, bennies die, some external microorganisms always manage to reproduce, and with time you get more and more organic waste acumulating in your res (ok, you might not, bennies could be fully breaking down everything but I wouldn't bet on it).

Changing res means starting fresh, both in a context of nutrient levels and potentialy problematic organic matter acumulation. I don't doubt you could go without it for a long time, but I think it's a good practice that can prevent a lot of problems along the way..
This is kind of what I needed here not necessarily a should/shouldn't change the res but a "why" people do change their res.

Our minds all work in different ways right?!

Thanks again fellows :hump:
 

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
I see alot of tomato/pepper growers who never change their res, just keep adding/topping off and they seem to do fine, I've wondered if the change out interval is just spread by the nute manufacturers to sell product. I know there are people on this forum who claim to either go for longer change out periods, I've see 2-3 weeks and some who just do top offs for the whole grow, maybe doing a flush between veg and flower.

Spanky84 makes a good point about nutrient concentration, that's the main reason i could see for doing regular change outs, just to keep a steady known level of nutrients.
 
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