Hello all, im a newby.

Ive been reading the grow faq which has raised a question or two.

I think understand this>

The only way around these problems for the average hydroponic grower, is to practice sound reservoir topping off procedures. The most widely accepted maintenance method, involves daily topping off and routine reservoir solution replacement. IE: Topping off the reservoir daily with a nutrient solution which is half of the current new reservoir strength, alternating days by topping off with plain water and finally, changing the entire res solution at least every two weeks.

So if i was to set my e.c at 2.0 and my tap water is 0.4 that means when i come to topping up with half strength it would be , 2.0 - 0.4 tap water = 1.6e.c so 1.6 / 2 = 0.8e.c
So 0.8 + 0.4 tap water = 1.2 e.c topping up sol

But, How can i determine what strength to set my new solution every wk as i change my res every 7 days?

thanks....

No need unless you re running out of water

I sometimes leave mine 4 or 5 days without touching it providing the ec and ph levels are stable

If you do top up, what determines what strength you put in is your ec reading

Owd

Thanks for the reply owd.

So how i work out the new top up solution from the old E.C.

Thanks

Basically keep your PH and EC levels the same constantly - If your plants use more water or some of the water evaporates then the solution will be too strong so you need to add water. If your plants take up more nutrients than water (not sure if this is possible) then add more nutrients. If your happy the readings are the same but you need to add more solution use the same ratio you used the first time. So long as you have an EC meter which it sounds like you have - bob's your uncle!

The last thing you would do is top up with just water

If your ec has risen then you add a weaker strength top up to bring it down

If its rocketed up and your res is full then empty at least half then top up with a weaker strength solution

Owd

thanx for the answer guys.

In the grow guide it suggest alternate top up day, 1 with the nutrient half of the new e.c strength and the next day with water to the water level of the res.

How do i no when my plants need a stronger solution? Will my E.c go down?

Do i determine this by the colour and vigor of the plant?

It will, or your plants will start to pale a tad

Owd

Execellent stuff guys. Thanks very much, i shall now go and apply my new knowledge. Fingers crossed x x x

what i do during bud is... mix and preset in the bucket.. i start with a ph 5.5 and ec of 1... the ph always drifts up.. i let it go up to 6.5 and then add a few drops of ph down.. back to 5.5 all the time maintaining the ec.. within 2 weeks, i expect to be around the 1.8 mark.. thats about the limit too... so as there drinkin the water top it up to desired level.. check the ec, adjust accordinly and finally set the ph.. i alays pull the feed pipe out of the tray or pump so if i tip nutes in the tank.. the pump aint gonna get a a concentrated gob full of chemical.. dont forget to put the pipe back in.. ive done this discovered it the day after tho..gud luck mate

miff.............

if your on ec 1.8 at weeks into bud that might be where you salt build up is coming from

im 4weeks into bud and havent gone above 1.2 yet

jiffa, dont your plants stay a crappy green with such low e.c? My plants are a crappy green with low e.c but look healthy and when i push the e.c up slowly i get tip burn then nute lock out. It seems there is alot of confusion on the healthy keeping of nuit maintainance. Im totally confused and to be honest if my plants look healthy im getting lucky.

the plant in mt avatar is the plant thats 4 weeks old and at 1.2 ec

the thing to rememeber is to let the ec meter tell you what ec they want

this is what happens to me muffin man.. to the letter matey


u mean by trial and error.. i.e. if ur ec is 1.6 when u leave and u come back n its 1.4 would u then reset it to 1.8 coz u know there takin feed???

a wooden headed... miff..

right here goes

on the day i put my clones in , i will set ec 0.8 ph 5.8. usually they will be fine for about 1 week ( ec staying at 0.8 ph will usuall go up

every morning ( easier for me ) i check ec, when ec goes down (usually about 1week later). i will drain the tank and refil with ec1.0 ph5.8

if they drop after a few day just top up with a stronger solution )
so on and so on


as they get bigger , say you refil with 1.2ec then next morning , ec is up and at 1.4

i would then top up with about 0.8ec . topping up with water is bad pratice as all you are doing is diluting , but thats what we want i hear you saying .

in them 24hrs the we dont know what the plant has taken so we top up with a weak solution so your putting abit of everything back into the feed

if ive had to top up twice due to a rising ec , i will dump the res and mix a fresh one

Mifton i think ur right i would start by recording the e.c then topping the tank with water to my res marker then add the feed as you described. (i think anyway)

It depends on the res size as there is a range of ec and pH acceptable to the plants. All we should care about is staying within that range, no benefit at all to keeping ec and pH always the same even if that were possible. If trying to keep it the same is an easy way for you to keep everything in range, that's cool.

I once ran a 700L tubbler with 145L/min air pump, lucas formula and auto top up with ro water. Once a week I'd measure ec and add enough micro and bloom to get back to full strength. Easiest grow I ever did, pH never moved more than 0.3. Getting rid of 700L after the grow was a bit of a bugger though.

There are plenty of growers that top up with tap water in between fortnightly res changes. One grower simply dumps 10% of the res each week instead of res changes.

At weekly changes, your res would have to be small for you not to be able to top with plain water ok. Use ro if you aren't happy using tap water for that.