Topping Off Resevoir while maintaining constant ppm level

[medicalGreenGrower]

I'm doing my first hydro grow and i set up my system with large reservoirs so that i could leave town and be assured my plants would be okay for two to three weeks max. while i was out of town. It's a pain to move around these big tanks (10 to 12 gallons so it may be relative) and this morning my landlord dropped by to tell me the water department called him and apparently i'm using three times the water i've used before. i told him i've got a water filter system that wastes water and he was okay with that, but i might be picking up the excess on the bill. i have been using a 5 gallon bucket to support one tray of plants and that has been going fine but now i have to add water and that throws my ppm numbers off. How do i add water to the reservoir without dropping my ppm numbers below the needed level? Am i supposed to be adding water a little at a time, testing all along? From what i've read through searching, people are just "topping off" with plain water and not nute solution. The obvious fix is to just add nute solution and not plain water but i want to do things "right" and i really don't want to waste expensive nutes.

Thanks.

mG2

 

[pcduck]

I have heard of growers that instead of topping off with just plain ph adjusted water. They would top off one week with micro the following week with bloom thus never having to dump their nutes

 

[hydrochloride]

Put measure marks on your res and then you know exactly how much you are adding and how much you need to premix. That way you can get your ppm exact in the added water, then just add with no wasted water

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Actually, IMO, the obvious fix (added nuted solution) is not the right thing to do. The trouble with doing this is that you do not really know the nutes that your plant is using. Plants do not uptake nutes evenly. The nute solution you have in your reservoirs before top up may be heavy on one nute and low or none on another. This can happen because of the plants needs or because of pH. This is one reason that many people do complete res change outs. Also, I do not know how many plants you have going or how large you let them get, but 10-12 gal of nute solution will not last 2-3 weeks if they are large at all. My girls in late flower can drink up 2 gals a day or more.

 

[pcduck]

:yeahthat: :goodposting: That is what I do, especially in flower b/c of the nute uptake. When real small in veg I may go 14 days in between changes.

 

[medicalGreenGrower]

I've got small plants, so my reservoirs can be small. i'm doing a small scrog in a perpetual system. i'm going to be using 5 gallon buckets now for two reasons. one, the big res. tanks are heavy but, most importantly, i got a call from the water department yesterday and they wanted to know why i was using so much water. Uhhh... They just wanted to make sure there wasn't a leak so i think i'm fine, but i can't fill up 5 20 gallon reservoirs every three weeks anymore. i'm hoping that i can use 5 gallon buckets and just top them off as the time goes by. i need to be able to leave for at least a week without maintenance for work and i'm just going to hope that i don't have to leave for 10 days. I'd like to change water every week but that is too much water. i was using 3 week changes to save water but with 5 gallon buckets i could change ever two weeks and i'll get fresher nutes and still save 20 to 30 gallons of water. that's my new plan at least, hopefully it will be easier to deal with and better for my plants.

mG2

 

[Vespasian]

i got a call from the water department yesterday and they wanted to know why i was using so much water. Uhhh... They just wanted to make sure there wasn't a leak so i think i'm fine

WOW! I've been running an RO unit for ten years. I think about 70% of the water runs to waste. Am I glad when the water-board asked me "Would you like to take part an experiment? We're fitting water meters to some houses in your area". :bolt: YEA RIGHT!!!
Scary that they can be that precise though.:shocked:

 

[TURKEYNECK]

I marked my res at 5 , 10, and 15 gallons, sometimes I'll top off with pre-nuted solution..but no more than 5 out of 15 gallons..because, as THG said, you dont know how much of what your plants are leaving behind.

It kills me to dump all those nutes. But I believe with the high-risk garden, half arse aint good enough

 

[cubby]

I have a 20 gallon res. that I completely change out every week. I take the solution thats being replaced ( amount obviously depends on plant size and uptake) and feed it to my house plants, VIOLA, no waste.