Roseman
Elite Rolling Society
Normally, I do a Drain and Replinish on Saturday, every Saturday after the first ten days to two weeks.
I am really working on THE DELIBERATE STRETCH today and will Drain and Replinish tomorrow.
I am at the stage now where I arrive home daily, and find at least a half gallon of water gone from each reservoir.
Let me go over Feeding and Draining and Replinishing.
The VERY FIRST TIME, at set-up, I put SIX gallons of water in the tank, and adjust the water's PH, in the tank then. I took a black magic marker and marked a line inside the tank at the 6 gallon water line level.
I started the seeds in the cubes or in a wet papertowel.
Then, a day or two later, I pH tested it, and added pH UP or DOWN to a half gallon of water and added that half of gallon of water to the tank. Then I removed a half gallon, leaving 6 gallons.
When my seeds have germinated or sprouted or cracked, or been added to the tank, about a week later, 6 to 7 days, I found my first node of leaves. (a node of leaves is a pair, or one leaf directly across from an other new leaf)
I added 1/4 packet or 1/4 dose of nutes (Grow and Micro nutes) to a gallon of water, pH adjusted that one gallon and added it to the tank.
If you are way over 6 gallons, remove some water. Babies are hungry, but not ready for a full meal deal.
Once a day, every day, you check the water level and pH. It will be 2 to 3 weeks before they start drinking a half gallon a day, that needs to be replaced.
As they grow, about every other day to every 2 or 3 days, you add another 1/4 packet, until you have used a full dose or full packet of nutes.
After 14 days, drain it, and add one gallon at a time, that is pH balanced, adding 5 gallons. In the 6th gallon, add one full packet of GROW and MICRO nutes, shake and stir it good, before adding it.
After 3 weeks, they will start drinking close to one gallon a day. Every 7 to ten days, you DRAIN AND REPLINISH.
FEEDING IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PPM METER.
You will daily add one half to one gallon of pH water TO REPLACE THE ONE GALLON MISSING. If the water in the tank tests a pH of 7.0 (too high for example) and you know you want it lower, make one gallon of 4.5 to 5.0 water, and it will make the tank about 6.0 or in that neighborhood. ALSO, in that one gallon of water added daily, add 1/6 packet or dose of new nutes.
If they drank 1/6 of the tank's water, they ate 1/6 of the nutes, so you need to replace that 1/6 that was consumed.
IF the grow area is VERY HOT, add back a little less than 1/6 nutes, the plant is just drinking and needing lots of water.
If the grow room is cool, or NOT VERY HOT, use the full 1/6 dose.
DRAINING AND REPLINISHING
First two grows I did, I syphoned the water out into a 5 gallon bucket with an Aquarium syphon hose. That was really a chore!
Then I learned to prop the lid open about three or 4 inches, STILL LEAVING THE LID ON THE TANK, BUT PROPPED UP ON ONE END and reach in and take the Irrigation Hub off of the pump, and with a 1/2 inch hose, I use my fist as a coupling, sit my fist on the upward pump tube with the hose half way in my fist, on top of the pump, and let the pump.....pump the water out into a 5 gallon bucket. It works good for me.
You can also use a WET-VAC, or a small pump to drain it.
A drill pump (you attach it to an electric drill) is $10 at Lowes.
Let me add here, that Roots love the AIR BATH they
get during a Drain and Replinish. This is a very important step. The more often you can do it, the faster the plants will grow.
Remember what I am telling you here.
Pot plants sprout with two round leaves, called
cotyledons . Do NOT count those as leaves, they are really the inside of the seed.
AFTER 4 full leaves appear, even tiny ones, use 1/4 dose of nutes.
When you start a new grow, and AFTER the seeds have sprouted, and you have done one full dose feeding, you do a Drain and Replinish at 14 days, then every 7 to 10 days. I do it every Saturday.
AFTER the first week, the water is still fresh, and you may have only added 1/4 packet of nutes or 1/4 dose of nutes, to the tank at the end of the first week IF you saw two full leaves, besides those FIRST two round ones,
During the 2nd week, you probably added 1/4 DOSE OF NUTES 2 more times 3 or 4 days apart to finish the feeding.
AFTER 14 days from germination, you do the first DRAIN AND REPLINISH. Then, again, every 7 to ten days you DRAIN AND REPLINISH. Like I said, I do a complete DRAIN AND REPLINISH every Saturday afternoon. BUT, every Wednesday, half way through the week, I drain the tank into a bucket, pH test the bucket and adjust it, and then, after ten minutes of having an 80% empty tank AND LETTING THE ROOTS GET AN AIR BATH, I add it right back to the tank. That way I did not use ANY extra NUTES OR too many nutes, but I did give the roots an air bath.
You will see a RAPID GROWTH SPURT the very next day.
IF you do not have a ppm meter...........
and you do a DRAIN and REPLINISH........Try to think in term of SIXTHS. You got 6 plants, and 6 gallons of water in the tank. AFTER ABOUT the first two weeks, you are going to come home from work one day and find the plants drank half a gallon of water, and need to add half a gallon of water back. Half a gallon is half a SIXTH, so add back half a sixth of a packet of nutes back and half gallon of pH adjusted water.
Later, AFTER about three or 4 weeks, you will check the plants and they will have drank one whole gallon of water in one day. ONE gallon is 1/6 of the tank's water, and if 1/6 of the water is gone, then 1/6 of the nutes are gone, so add back one gallon of pH adjusted water and 1/6 does of nutes.
AFTER 4 weeks, you might find that they drank two gallons in one day. Then add two gallons of water, (1/3 of the tank's water) so also add 1/3 packet of nutes.
if THE ROOM IS VERY HOT, USE A LITTLE LESS NUTES WHEN REPLINISHNG NUTES.
IF you got the drain plugs, (little black faucets for the tank) make sure you use some plumbers glue or they will leak. The problem with using the DRAIN PLUGS is most of us have to sit our tanks on the floor, making it very difficult to drain the tank that way.
I'm often asked do I drain it out 100%? NO, I don't, I always leave about 1 inch of water or half a gallon. I'm too lazy to get it all, and it doesn't seem to matter.
I'm often ask do I clean the tank when I drain it?
No, I don't let it get dirty to start with. I do not use nutes that color the water or roots, until about the last few weeks, I do use some Liquid Karma. But I still do not let trash or any thing foreign into the tank to clean out.
I am really working on THE DELIBERATE STRETCH today and will Drain and Replinish tomorrow.
I am at the stage now where I arrive home daily, and find at least a half gallon of water gone from each reservoir.
Let me go over Feeding and Draining and Replinishing.
The VERY FIRST TIME, at set-up, I put SIX gallons of water in the tank, and adjust the water's PH, in the tank then. I took a black magic marker and marked a line inside the tank at the 6 gallon water line level.
I started the seeds in the cubes or in a wet papertowel.
Then, a day or two later, I pH tested it, and added pH UP or DOWN to a half gallon of water and added that half of gallon of water to the tank. Then I removed a half gallon, leaving 6 gallons.
When my seeds have germinated or sprouted or cracked, or been added to the tank, about a week later, 6 to 7 days, I found my first node of leaves. (a node of leaves is a pair, or one leaf directly across from an other new leaf)
I added 1/4 packet or 1/4 dose of nutes (Grow and Micro nutes) to a gallon of water, pH adjusted that one gallon and added it to the tank.
If you are way over 6 gallons, remove some water. Babies are hungry, but not ready for a full meal deal.
Once a day, every day, you check the water level and pH. It will be 2 to 3 weeks before they start drinking a half gallon a day, that needs to be replaced.
As they grow, about every other day to every 2 or 3 days, you add another 1/4 packet, until you have used a full dose or full packet of nutes.
After 14 days, drain it, and add one gallon at a time, that is pH balanced, adding 5 gallons. In the 6th gallon, add one full packet of GROW and MICRO nutes, shake and stir it good, before adding it.
After 3 weeks, they will start drinking close to one gallon a day. Every 7 to ten days, you DRAIN AND REPLINISH.
FEEDING IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PPM METER.
You will daily add one half to one gallon of pH water TO REPLACE THE ONE GALLON MISSING. If the water in the tank tests a pH of 7.0 (too high for example) and you know you want it lower, make one gallon of 4.5 to 5.0 water, and it will make the tank about 6.0 or in that neighborhood. ALSO, in that one gallon of water added daily, add 1/6 packet or dose of new nutes.
If they drank 1/6 of the tank's water, they ate 1/6 of the nutes, so you need to replace that 1/6 that was consumed.
IF the grow area is VERY HOT, add back a little less than 1/6 nutes, the plant is just drinking and needing lots of water.
If the grow room is cool, or NOT VERY HOT, use the full 1/6 dose.
DRAINING AND REPLINISHING
First two grows I did, I syphoned the water out into a 5 gallon bucket with an Aquarium syphon hose. That was really a chore!
Then I learned to prop the lid open about three or 4 inches, STILL LEAVING THE LID ON THE TANK, BUT PROPPED UP ON ONE END and reach in and take the Irrigation Hub off of the pump, and with a 1/2 inch hose, I use my fist as a coupling, sit my fist on the upward pump tube with the hose half way in my fist, on top of the pump, and let the pump.....pump the water out into a 5 gallon bucket. It works good for me.
You can also use a WET-VAC, or a small pump to drain it.
A drill pump (you attach it to an electric drill) is $10 at Lowes.
Let me add here, that Roots love the AIR BATH they
get during a Drain and Replinish. This is a very important step. The more often you can do it, the faster the plants will grow.
Remember what I am telling you here.
Pot plants sprout with two round leaves, called
cotyledons . Do NOT count those as leaves, they are really the inside of the seed.
AFTER 4 full leaves appear, even tiny ones, use 1/4 dose of nutes.
When you start a new grow, and AFTER the seeds have sprouted, and you have done one full dose feeding, you do a Drain and Replinish at 14 days, then every 7 to 10 days. I do it every Saturday.
AFTER the first week, the water is still fresh, and you may have only added 1/4 packet of nutes or 1/4 dose of nutes, to the tank at the end of the first week IF you saw two full leaves, besides those FIRST two round ones,
During the 2nd week, you probably added 1/4 DOSE OF NUTES 2 more times 3 or 4 days apart to finish the feeding.
AFTER 14 days from germination, you do the first DRAIN AND REPLINISH. Then, again, every 7 to ten days you DRAIN AND REPLINISH. Like I said, I do a complete DRAIN AND REPLINISH every Saturday afternoon. BUT, every Wednesday, half way through the week, I drain the tank into a bucket, pH test the bucket and adjust it, and then, after ten minutes of having an 80% empty tank AND LETTING THE ROOTS GET AN AIR BATH, I add it right back to the tank. That way I did not use ANY extra NUTES OR too many nutes, but I did give the roots an air bath.
You will see a RAPID GROWTH SPURT the very next day.
IF you do not have a ppm meter...........
and you do a DRAIN and REPLINISH........Try to think in term of SIXTHS. You got 6 plants, and 6 gallons of water in the tank. AFTER ABOUT the first two weeks, you are going to come home from work one day and find the plants drank half a gallon of water, and need to add half a gallon of water back. Half a gallon is half a SIXTH, so add back half a sixth of a packet of nutes back and half gallon of pH adjusted water.
Later, AFTER about three or 4 weeks, you will check the plants and they will have drank one whole gallon of water in one day. ONE gallon is 1/6 of the tank's water, and if 1/6 of the water is gone, then 1/6 of the nutes are gone, so add back one gallon of pH adjusted water and 1/6 does of nutes.
AFTER 4 weeks, you might find that they drank two gallons in one day. Then add two gallons of water, (1/3 of the tank's water) so also add 1/3 packet of nutes.
if THE ROOM IS VERY HOT, USE A LITTLE LESS NUTES WHEN REPLINISHNG NUTES.
IF you got the drain plugs, (little black faucets for the tank) make sure you use some plumbers glue or they will leak. The problem with using the DRAIN PLUGS is most of us have to sit our tanks on the floor, making it very difficult to drain the tank that way.
I'm often asked do I drain it out 100%? NO, I don't, I always leave about 1 inch of water or half a gallon. I'm too lazy to get it all, and it doesn't seem to matter.
I'm often ask do I clean the tank when I drain it?
No, I don't let it get dirty to start with. I do not use nutes that color the water or roots, until about the last few weeks, I do use some Liquid Karma. But I still do not let trash or any thing foreign into the tank to clean out.
