how important is changing the res weekly

[Aurora_Indicas_Dad]

how important is changin the res weekly for the seedling stage?
im gonna be usin the recipe for success kit and the bottles are small that come w/ the kit so i was gonna try to get away with changin the res as little as possible,as long as the plants stay healthy and are growing.
when does the res actually need to start getting changed weekly?
thanks for any help i can get,another member in here was wonderin the same thing so i decided to start a thread on the topic.lets hear what ya got to say on it-Thanks alot my friends-peace

[growdammit]

Remember to cut the dosage in half and those little bottles will go alot farther! I'm with you as you know already on changing the res less frequent for seedling, tiny status! I do want to get changed before stress starts to show like deficiencies in plant health. However I am changing my res today which is like week 4. However that was 4 weeks from a seed.

[Megatron]

AID, I change my hydro res. every week and my areo res. every 2 weeks.. Hope this helps.
Full strength recommendations suck.. I found out my first grow..

[papabeach1]

res? what is RES? sorry if i raise my hand for question of what is RES?

[Runbyhemp]

res? what is RES? sorry if i raise my hand for question of what is RES?
Res = Reservoir ;)

[Aurora_Indicas_Dad]

reservoir is what we hold our water/nutes/additives in when growing in a hydroponic system =)
i've never heard much complaints about usin a nutrient at its full recommended strength.i just know that you have to go from 1/4 to 1/2 to 1/3 to full strength.timmy used the recipe for success at its recommended strengths and he had great results with it,did you see his strawberry cough plant? The girl was a beast. (the cops must have loved the smoke they got off her) anyways,anybody else got any suggestions or $.02 they wanna post?
I'm all eyes (ears) =) -peace

[Aurora_Indicas_Dad]

p.s.
growdammit,do you have a pic of the plants that youve had growin with the same res water?im interested to see how theyre doin.

[Megatron]

Ever seen seemorebuds? They apparently grow without ever changing the water. (after the first room) They just don't mention how they introduce new nuitrents..

[Aurora_Indicas_Dad]

yea,but if your ppms arent right then youre gonna end up running into some serious problems if you dont correct it.malnutrition and stress are two i can think of off hand. you also dont want any harmful organisms creating in your water due to not changing it.i would say that i'd be ok not changin it weekly when theyre still seedlings,but after theyre 4 or 5 inches tall,i'd definitly start changing it every week just to be safe.i talked to timmy about it,and with what he said and what i already knew,this is how i came up with this decision.he said for a person thats not familior with hydroponics or the recipe that stickin to the regular recipe would be a good idea,until of course you get it down pat and are comfortable changin the ppms.

[Growdude]

My 2 mother plants in drip systems have never had the res. changed, but I give them very little nutes and mostly plain water. Been over a year now.

[Tater]

I change my rez every week. But I bet if you had a full time ppm meter in there and watched it you might be able to go 2 weeks at a young age. Thing to remember is that as the plants use water and the water evaporates the solution is going to get stronger and can end up burning your plants. Plus the longer the water sits the higher the risk of disease and algae and a host of other problems. But if you were careful I don't see why you would ever have to change your water it would be a matter of stopping algae growth and disease and monitoring the strength of the solution and adapting the formula as necessary. I think it would be a lot of work.

[growdammit]

I should add to this that when I stretch my nutes on this small plant (I will post a pic later of it) that I keep water topped off to ensure no nutrient burn from evaporative loss of water. I use a double bucket system.
5 gal bucket with plant and 2 6" airstones going
connected to this is a 3.5gal bucket with my pump and 2 6"airstones going in this bucket as well.
The whole thing is lined off to hold 4 gal of nute solution and has a 1"tube connecting both buckets at bottom.
I run airstones 24/7 to keep water agitated and discourage unwanted stagnant growth.
I pump on timers to supply water via drip circle on a 6" rockwool cube resting ontop a large pot of hydroton that is 2"s below surface of water in grow bucket. I pump 6hrs on, 6hrs off, 6hrs on, and 6 off until the plant grows its first sets of blade leaves, then keep increasing time of pump until it too is running full time.
I want to stress that I DO change nute water weekly once a plant is larger and want to remind newbies that following directions is usually your best bet! However, cutting dosage in half as I am finding on technaflora products perfectly fine for the plant, but I cannot comment on any other products. When in doubt read the directions!

[growdammit]

Ok, I am back from a short trip and found that my plant has doubled in size again and father in law did not raise the light as he was supposed to and it grew up and around light, (good thing it is only flour gro light). I should probably change the res today, but need to work on my outside plants too and exhausted,,, so I guess I can go for week 7 of no change,,,, will have to fix my light situation tho! I almost feel like Kramer on the Seinfeld episode where he just keeps driving to see how far the car will go until it runs out of gas! I need to check the PPM to see if I am in danger zones.

[Megatron]

I almost feel like Kramer on the Seinfeld episode where he just keeps driving to see how far the car will go until it runs out of gas!

lmao
maaaan that was like 15 years ago! i'm gettin old..

[growdammit]

LOL!!! I guess that does make me older! FYI all... couldnt stand it and finally broke down and changed the nute water last night! Had to move hydro setup while I revamp and build a new gro room so since carrying two buckets full of water and joined by 1" flex hose is tough to do by oneself, I drained and debated putting back in for sake of science, but that little plant looked up at my twisted and leaning to the left since someone didnt move light while I was gone and decided to give it a fresh dose of technaflora! While the plant never did look "bad" so to say, this morning it was a more lush darker shade of green.... plus I moved it from flourescent lighting to 250W MH.
I think what I learned from this little science lab was that from now on I am going to change water monthly for small clones and seedlings. The other thing I am pretty sure about, is that I am sticking with technaflora products. It is a tough decision when you are standing in your local gro shop and see all those more expensive products, cooler looking packages with tigers and genies, or even seeing cheaper products and wonder if I couldnt do it cheaper or conversly if I should be spending more.
Long story short, I am very happy with technaflora and think I will keep using them... judging on my success as of date.:postpicsworthless:

and once I get one of my teenage kids to show me again how to use the camera and put onto cp I promise I will post a pic of my little lab rat!

[Aurora_Indicas_Dad]

sounds good man,good to hear your opinion on the tech. kit.im orderin two of em next week,i hope i have as much luck with them as you are.thanks for keepin us updated-peace

[Tater]

Another concern that raised up in a separate conversation I had with another grower in my area was that different plants at different stages use nutrients at different levels. Some use more N and later in their life use more P and K but how do you know how much they are using. Changing your rez every week allows you to re balance the nutrient solution so to say. PPM's won't tell you if your solution is low on nitrogen ;p just something to think about.

[lyfr]

howdy AID, when i first start my clones i get about 10-14days on the first 2 res's and then have to go weekly. i check my ppm/ph twice a day and when the #'s start bouncin around i feel i can no longer trust it....usually 6-9 days once they root/start growin good. just how i do it and i havent had but a couple res. probs in 5 grows for what it's worth.

[growdammit]

That is a good point tater! I think another variable to consider is how many gallons of water your res holds compared to the number of plants at said stage in development are depleting the nutrients held in the water.

[growdammit]

Another update on my plant, it is super green and growin up like a good girl should... hope its a girl anyway... started from seed

[akirahz]

I havent changed my res at all yet, and im 5 wks into flower haha

[Tater]

I never said you couldn't. I'm saying its not a good idea if you want to dial in your grow.

[BuddyLuv]

I went two weeks when I first put my plants in my system. Now that they are 15 inches they suck up nutes to fast, and I am not sure what is left over in the solution so I will be changing every week now till they are done. My PPM's drop from 800 to 450 over night.

[growdammit]

I must agree with Tater on the fact that if you follow a set pattern you are sure that the plant is getting everything it can to promote the best results! But even if you are checking your ppm regularly you will see that a small young hydro plants impact on the nutes is small, so I guess the whole changing nutes weekly question comes down to the amount of nutes absorbed by the plant at a certain stage in growth while still giving your plant everything it needs so abundantly and easy to absorb that all its energy is spent producing huge healthy buds. Makes me wonder how different my expiriment plant would look right now with a regular water change? I should have ran plants side by side for a proper expirament.... DOH" I feel like homer simpson.... ALTHOUGH having done this once or twice before, it is not at all unhealthy or puny. No MJ plants were harmed in this expiriment!
:rolleyes:

[CasualGrower]

I change my res every 2 weeks while in flower.....I grow one plant per 5 gal bucket in a DWC. Use about 4.25 Gallons of water to mix the Nutes....Using a combination of Botanicare Pro blend grow and bloom, Liquid Karma, Hydroguard, Cal-Mag and Fox Farms Big Bloom.... I am still trying to dial in this girl i been growing for a few grows... she is getting better though. I will add water every week though if there is a large amount of usage or evapoation.

For Vegging my clones (usually about 4 weeks, so I can make sure I fill my bloomers in case I have a major Clone failure). I use the same water all the way through... Only Nute it once and just add more water if needed.

[wallace123]

i change every week just to keep it simple clean solution clean plants

[BuddyLuv]

Just found out why I should be changing every week. The plants absorb certain nutrients quicker then others. So if you are topping off you res with more nutes and water it will lead to excess build up of certain nutes, minerals, and salt. This makes complete sense to me so for now on it is every 7 days. This could have lead to some of the deficiencies and nute lockouts I was getting.

[growdammit]

That is a very good point, and even though when I top off my res I use only straight well water with no nutes added so I dont overdo and burn plants I do not want to lock the plant up. But ya' know how it is after growing awhile you get itchy to expiriment every couple grows and I am fairly new to hydro long time dirt farmer... fun to expiriment especially when it benefits my antianxietystressrelievinrelaxtime medicine.

actually, I am worried now that buddylove might be right about nutrient lockout and wonder if I wont see signs in future from my not changing nutes in the past... I do have a few curled leaves but look like nute burn from finally changing the res... I changed at 1/2 dose technaflora recipe for success into 4 gal res????

[growdammit]

Now that I think of it I probably shouldve done 1/4 dose nutes since I deprived the plant for so long... however looks deep green and a true beaut with just a few curled leaves standing @2foot tall or so. I think even 1/2 dose was too much from the watered down mix it was in... Nothin' life threatenin' or nothing but I get fond of my plants especially now that its my "special" plant!

[BuddyLuv]

Yeah I think it is best know to just top off my res after every change with just ph'ed RO water. Even if the PPM in the res drops below what you want that doesn't mean you have none in the root structure or medium. I am flushing my system tonight with distilled water to see what the run of is ppm wise. The distilled had a PPM of 20-22, depending on the jug. I put 14 gallons in and emptied and cleaned res. Lights went out for the first time tonight and I will be starting my bloom nutes tom, so I figured what the hell can't hurt em. I will see what the PPM in the water is like tommorrow. That will give me an idea of what kind of nute, salt and mineral build up I get in my system. Plus I just realized after talking to the guy at advanced that the way I was doing it my plants were getting the equivilent of 1800 ppm a week. Ouch know wonder I was having a few small issues.

[zipflip]

Another concern that raised up in a separate conversation I had with another grower in my area was that different plants at different stages use nutrients at different levels. Some use more N and later in their life use more P and K but how do you know how much they are using. Changing your rez every week allows you to re balance the nutrient solution so to say. PPM's won't tell you if your solution is low on nitrogen ;p just something to think about.

wats this PPm is it a meter that gives u reading on ur nutrient level?
is this needed in doin hydro ?
and where u get one if any? or wats the correct term for it if i go to a hydro store to ask for it

[growdammit]

UPDATE:

I know its been awhile since posting this, but yesterday, I had to destroy this plant... darn thing grew balls on me! So many males this year! Turned out to be a beautiful plant too, complete waste of a good big rockwool cube!


All in all it was a fun expiriment, I do think since I am starting a new batch of seeds that I will do a two week water change on seedlings through a foot tall plant in the future, I know that I can stretch that now from this little test but I worry about any stress that could possibly effect the health of future buds (or in this case balls). Nutrient lockout and fluctuating PH are another concern for stretching nutes. Since in essence with hydroponics you are giving the plant EVERYTHING it needs and allowing the plant to be a super lazy couch potato and just suck up nutes and grow while manipulating the light it receives both in intensity, color spectrum and time... what more do we really need for a lab expiriment!

Cheers All

[growdammit]

wats this PPm is it a meter that gives u reading on ur nutrient level?
is this needed in doin hydro ?
and where u get one if any? or wats the correct term for it if i go to a hydro store to ask for it

With hydro number one test IMHO would be PH so you need and probably already know and are doing so.:) To test the PPM (parts per million) it is a reading of the dissolved organic and inorganic matter suspended in the water. If you use plain tap water there are already present organics dissolved in the water even if your plant will not use any of it. If you use RO water you start with a stripped water and a neutral base PH. Any nutrients you add will add to the water a reading of dissolved solids present in the water (This is correct right guys? Many users way more advanced than me in this stuff!). A TDS (total dissolved solids) meter will measure the amount of like it says total dissolved solids. However you can also measure EC (electric conductivity) since nutes are made up of salts and tell you like TDS when to add nutes or dilute. You can get many models at your local gro shop or even at stores like Lowes I have seen them.

Best of luck
The more you know, the more ya grow!

:smoke1:

[Puffin Afatty]

:watchplant: I did several generations of SnowWhite and NEVER never CHANGED THE RES, I did add nutes and water to keep ppm and ph the same thruout. worked fine for about 18 months and then I messed up the ratios and had to dump res and reconfigure :farm:

[calimeds]

I change my rez every week. But I bet if you had a full time ppm meter in there and watched it you might be able to go 2 weeks at a young age. Thing to remember is that as the plants use water and the water evaporates the solution is going to get stronger and can end up burning your plants. Plus the longer the water sits the higher the risk of disease and algae and a host of other problems. But if you were careful I don't see why you would ever have to change your water it would be a matter of stopping algae growth and disease and monitoring the strength of the solution and adapting the formula as necessary. I think it would be a lot of work.[/quote]
It can be a lot of work to change your res every week, I know of an easy way to do it though...and it keeps you from ever having to scrub your res or ever having a build up problem. www.GARDENARMOR.com

[NorCalHal]

I change my nuit mix every 7-9 daze thoughout the entire life of the plant.
IMHO, nuits are cheaper then any kind of plant problem due to nuits.

[bigweedo]

How often would you change the nutrient solution in a 35 gallon res with 4 plants in 5.5 pots? What level would you have the solution at? 10 gallons maybe?

[calimeds]

it would depend on if you were flooding on using drip

[Tater]

Number one if you are going to use my posts please quote me.
Number two when I said it would be a lot of work I was referring to trying to control algae and disease in your tub, not changing the water and keeping it clean.

[andy52]

i just started dwc in 5 gal buckets and i check my ph and tds daily.there is a definite drift between strains and plant health.i started all out on 1/8 dose using the lucas formula.grow and micro.GH products. and i adjust my res on each plant almost daily.either ph will start drifting,usually higher due to the need of more nutes.it surely differs with the strain of the plant.
i have not changed my res on the young ones for 3 weeks.i just keep a close watch on them.the gh does have a tendency for salt build-up.

[BuddyLuv]

get use to andy. It is a battle you will never win in Hydro but the end resolve makes it worth it.

[grotime]

I change my flower res every 2 weeks. I measure my ppms regularly, and they have never dropped more then 100. I do notice that the res starts to smell every once in a while after 9 or 10 days, so I just put a bit of h2o2 into the res, and this takes care of everything.

My mother res gets changed every couple of months. I actually change it when my moms start turning a bit yellow.

Nutes aren't too expensive, but I see no need wasting money when it is not needed.