goldenbrown1 Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Hi I’m a newbie to RDWC have been a coco grower for decades but did do a few DWC bubbler very successful grows in the past. I decided to go the RDWC route for less mess and ease of use. The only problem I’m having is the header pot (not the 260 litre camo tank) has an extremely high ec reading of 3.2! I never go more than 1.6 in the main camo tank and keep the ph around 5.8. Do I really need to do complete system drainage every few weeks to stop this? I figured this was the point of RDWC so as not to do changes. I have lowered my main tank ec level to 0.8 now. It’s a 15 pot system and would be a huge ball ache and pain to have to drain every week. The plants have suffered especially the ones closer to the header pot. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu914 Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Hi bud, Nearest I've done is DWC so can't advise but these two will be able to put you right ... @badbillybob @zen-ken... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron von greenback Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Your water butt ec should be the same as your header tank not sure why its so diffrent i growing in a iws system all i do is empty my water butt every 12 to 14 days were you mixing nutes in water butt or header tank mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doobie01 Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 imho its a water change every week / 10 days what i think is happening in simple terms (as i am no good at explaining things technically lol) with the plants only taking what they want from a solution of nutes the plants are taking more water up in the system and leaving parts of the nutes behind, your then topping up from the camo tank with fresh nute solution your increasing the strength overall each time as the unused part is still in the tanks mixing with the fresh . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbillybob Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 (edited) your ec is way too high to begin with. probably going up if you have a) root issues or b) no chiller. what brand of nutrient are you using and what all are you putting in there? i also wouldnt be putting nutrients in your water butt and like said earlier, you need to change it out every 7-10 days or you will run into issues like this. Edited March 22, 2022 by badbillybob 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenbrown1 Posted March 22, 2022 Author Share Posted March 22, 2022 1 minute ago, badbillybob said: your ec is way too high to begin with. probably going up if you have a) root issues or b) no chiller. what brand of nutrient are you using and what all are you putting in there? i also wouldnt be putting nutrients in your water butt and like said earlier, you need to change it out every 7-10 days or you will run into issues like this. Using the water tank is how the system works. Nutes go in there and ph set and it’s emptied into the system. Then the tank is refilled and is used as the levels go down. I’m pretty sure the build up is because of the plants taking more water. I will have to start refreshing the system every 10 days/2 weeks and resetting the nutes. Thanks for reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen-ken Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 (edited) Completely drain the system of as much water as you can each time.......This must be done a minimum of every 7-10 days. imo Im a bit lost...help me to understand...Do you have it set up Aero/Rain style or RDWC/chiller/top up ? Edited March 22, 2022 by zen-ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbillybob Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, goldenbrown1 said: Using the water tank is how the system works. Nutes go in there and ph set and it’s emptied into the system. Then the tank is refilled and is used as the levels go down. I’m pretty sure the build up is because of the plants taking more water. I will have to start refreshing the system every 10 days/2 weeks and resetting the nutes. Thanks for reply i know how the system runs, i ran one for a couple of years. the build up is because you are over feeding them, or root issues, probably from the grim ones nearest the header. let see a pic of the roots? Are you using a chiller? whats the room temps like Edited March 22, 2022 by badbillybob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenbrown1 Posted March 22, 2022 Author Share Posted March 22, 2022 (edited) 27 minutes ago, badbillybob said: i know how the system runs, i ran one for a couple of years. the build up is because you are over feeding them, or root issues, probably from the grim ones nearest the header. let see a pic of the roots? Are you using a chiller? whats the room temps like Yeh roots are white and using a chiller. What kind of ec level do you recommend? Should I be keeping the tap closed from the main camo tank and only open when the levels in the system are low? Edited March 22, 2022 by goldenbrown1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbillybob Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 (edited) Just now, goldenbrown1 said: Yeh roots are white and using a chiller. What kind of ec level do you recommend? what stage are they at? any chance of posting a picture of them, to see if maybe theres something obvious? Edited March 22, 2022 by badbillybob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenbrown1 Posted March 22, 2022 Author Share Posted March 22, 2022 Just now, badbillybob said: what stage are they at? 6 weeks into flower but had problems similar last time, high ec in header pot. Even after a good flush and 1 month cure still tasted feedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenbrown1 Posted March 22, 2022 Author Share Posted March 22, 2022 Just now, badbillybob said: what stage are they at? any chance of posting a picture of them, to see if maybe theres something obvious? I’m not there . They look ok tbf but my coco ones are far better. Am I meant to keep the main camo tanks tap off until the systems water levels are low as I just leave it open ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbillybob Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 ok, well they will be on the rundown, unless they are some mad long flowering sativas. id stick with your 0.8 ec . id change out the res tho, because you will have had a long standing build up of salts. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbillybob Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 i dont normally feed any more than 1.2 ec and thats normally only weeks 3-6 of bloom 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenbrown1 Posted March 23, 2022 Author Share Posted March 23, 2022 Just now, badbillybob said: what stage are they at? any chance of posting a picture of them, to see if maybe theres something Just now, badbillybob said: i dont normally feed any more than 1.2 ec and thats normally only weeks 3-6 of bloom Ok mate cheers for that, il stick to the low ec in future. How often do you do a res change , if there’s build up or just on a regular time frame? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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