Hydro Nutes? I visited a huge Hydro grow op

[ryo]

today. It is all legal( fresh tomatoes and lettuce) but the owner who showed me around was talking and had an interesting point. If I am using a recirculating system, like the waterfarm or any DWC that reuses the nute solution over and over again, how do I judge the nutes that the plants are using and the amount they are using? He said some plants may use one type of nute more than another and another plant may use a different nute in a different amount more than another. So if we only change the solution when the resivour has used all of the starting solution by replacing it with PH balanced water, do you think some of the plants may be suffer from not having what they want? He doesnt reuse his solution water, it just flows from a dripper into waste. That way they always have the correct amount of nutes at each stage. Seems like alot of water to use, but maybe not? I never tried that approach and dont know how much a dripper would put out on a say 12 bucket system. It just seemed an interesting point and I thought someone may have an interesting answer.

ryo Reviewed by ryo on 06-26-2006. Hydro Nutes? I visited a huge Hydro grow op today. It is all legal( fresh tomatoes and lettuce) but the owner who showed me around was talking and had an interesting point. If I am using a recirculating system, like the waterfarm or any DWC that reuses the nute solution over and over again, how do I judge the nutes that the plants are using and the amount they are using? He said some plants may use one type of nute more than another and another plant may use a different nute in a different amount more than another. So if we only change Rating: 5

[plastik]

Some commercial grow ops that can afford it, do this. They want to insure that every single plant gets what it needs when it needs it. For a novelty grower, this is not really the way to go. I would say the waste could be bottle and sold, as a garden additive. These types of systems almost seem rediculous though, because thats ALOT of nutes, and ALOT of water, wasted. I could see changing it out every day or few days, but not just one pass over the roots, then straight to waste. they are probably losing 99% of nutes doing this. But hey in huge systems, it may be the way to go because you could lose whole crops to problems associated with under/over feeding, the toxins that build up, bacteria, root rot, etc etc. You cannot judge specidically what nutes each plant is using, and how much of it, and when. All plants are different, even those of the same species. Also depending on environmental condition, your plant may take up more of something than anything else. I would think that they could do something with the waste...at the very least bottle it and sell it for cheap as pre mixed hydro solution. If they buy nutes in bulk, they may get a deal, and bottling it and reselling it may make them more money than what the nutes/water costs in the first place.

[Zandor]

today. It is all legal( fresh tomatoes and lettuce) but the owner who showed me around was talking and had an interesting point. If I am using a recirculating system, like the waterfarm or any DWC that reuses the nute solution over and over again, how do I judge the nutes that the plants are using and the amount they are using? He said some plants may use one type of nute more than another and another plant may use a different nute in a different amount more than another. So if we only change the solution when the resivour has used all of the starting solution by replacing it with PH balanced water, do you think some of the plants may be suffer from not having what they want? He doesnt reuse his solution water, it just flows from a dripper into waste. That way they always have the correct amount of nutes at each stage. Seems like alot of water to use, but maybe not? I never tried that approach and dont know how much a dripper would put out on a say 12 bucket system. It just seemed an interesting point and I thought someone may have an interesting answer.

That is why you change everything every 5-10 days and you avoid that problem. Another thing is The plant does change it's cycle every 7-14 days so the nutrient requirement should change at the same rate to keep up.

[stjimmy]

i just do addbacks, no rez changes, and let my pH flux from about 5.2-6.4, the plants uptake different nutes better at different pH levels... i never get signs of deficiencies.

would i get some more weight if i did things differently, maybe... but as far as being thrifty you can't beat it. weekly rez changes would freakin kill me, that's alot of water to lug around. my ro tank is only 3 gallons anyway, and not very close to the cabinet. just not very convienient all around, but it's what i've got and i'm not spending any more money on it

would i get more weight doing things differently, probably so... but, i've been getting 250-300grams out of a 400w in a small cabinet pretty consistently with a couple of different strains, it's more than enough to keep me happy.

[plastik]

more yeild is always better

(especially if it is as simple as changing out a res, I change my every 7 days, sometimes I'm lazy and I top it with straight water when the water levels get down low from evaporation)


The only problem I can see with that type of setup is if your water levels go down low, it doesn't mean the nutes are even half used up. So if you keep topping up on the res, and adding more nutes, sooner or later, your ppm will be WAY too high, and probably kill them. That is, if you don't use a ppm meter. I don't. I don't even use a temp guage. All i need is my PH kit, and I'm all good. I could probably do way better with the extra equipment, But I think you can do fairly well without most of it. But PH is a must. You can always under/over feed a bit with not much problems, or none at all. Also it is good to change out the res just to have cleaner water. plants release alot of stuff back into the water too, and bacteria can take hold, along with buildup crusts within your res. just seems dirty to me

[plastik]

also, 3 gallons of water isn't THAT heavy, if you have to, fill up a large cup and make trips..I'm sure it'll pay off

To each his own.

[Zandor]

but as far as being thrifty you can't beat it. weekly rez changes would freakin kill me, that's alot of water to lug around. my ro tank is only 3 gallons anyway, and not very close to the cabinet. just not very convienient all around, but it's what i've got and i'm not spending any more money on it.

If you go cheap you grow cheap

[ryo]

I read some are wondering how they can tell if a plant is lacking in a certain nute? I was also, so I ask him, he said about every couple of months he sends a leaf into some place and they do a tissue sample from it. Somehow they can tell what nutes at what levels are enough and what are lacking. He then adjust his nute solution to the correct level. The tomato plants were amazing, about 16ft long each, well maintain and bearing a bunch of tomatoes.

[Zandor]

I read some are wondering how they can tell if a plant is lacking in a certain nute? I was also, so I ask him, he said about every couple of months he sends a leaf into some place and they do a tissue sample from it. Somehow they can tell what nutes at what levels are enough and what are lacking. He then adjust his nute solution to the correct level. The tomato plants were amazing, about 16ft long each, well maintain and bearing a bunch of tomatoes.

You can tell most problems by viewing the leaf structure and color.

A Brix meter will tell you how well the plant is up taking the nutrients too.

[ryo]

Did I read in another thread that you sell a hydro system?zandor?