# DWC question about rez size



## Mazda323 (Feb 7, 2016)

Hey people, Has been a while..... I couldn't remember my old password for Mazda3234wd so had to make a new account.
Hoping PC duck is still around.

My problem is..... I've just moved to a new location and pretty much every condition here is almost totally opposite to where I used to grow. 
Main thing is RH, I've gone from not being able to ever get it under 70% to now not being able to get it above 50% but plants seem fine.
My problem is and I think its due to the lower RH but my DWC are drinking a lot of water, 6 to 8 L over a 24 hour period. 
My question is... Do I get tricky and somehow make the res bigger which would require hooking up another bucket with water pumps sending back and forth or is it fine to be changing nutes every 36 hours? It's a pain but if you don't think it's a bad thing I'd actually prefer to be doing 36 hour / 48 hour change outs. 
What do you guys think?

Cheers in advance.

Durban Boy


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## Grower13 (Feb 7, 2016)

What's your res size?
How big are your plants?
What is your room temp range?
How high are your ppm's going?

I don't see RH in the 40 to 50 percent range being an issue.
Might try bubbling some water in an open 5 gallon bucket to bring up RH in grow area depending on how big an area it is.


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## kmog (Feb 7, 2016)

Yep, I've run rh at 35% without any problems. You can hook up an outside Rez but I would set up pump in/gravity return. Just have to get you buckets up off the ground a few inches to run water back into the Rez.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Feb 7, 2016)

I live in a very arid place with extremely low RH and my plants do just fine.  High RH is more of a problem than low RH.  

Tell us more about how you are set up.  This will help us answer your questions.  As is without knowing anything about your system, it is impossible to give you an intelligent answer.  I personally prefer not to run water pumps with my DWC as pumps always heat up the solution.


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## Mazda323 (Feb 7, 2016)

I should have written my original message properly.. was very tired last night. 
I only brought up the low RH because I've had plants twice the size as what I have now in exactly the same system and have never seen a plant drink this much. I'm not sure if RH is even the reason.... But anyway. I live on top of a mountain and the air here is dry and there's just no moisture anywhere.. no ****.... it can rain for a week then sun comes out for one day... you'd never guess its just rained for a week.... ground is dry within half a day. but anyway, lets forget about RH, It's not an issue. ( i dont think)
Here is one of my old posts, you can see my bucket system. 

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35082

I'm currently growing Pineapple Chunk and I'm impressed at how well I've got PH and EC dialed in. Example... I do nutes. 40ml into 12L which gives me 1.8EC (tap water is 0.2 EC)  I have my own nutrient that I use, A /B and its honestly the best nute I've still seen to this day. I'm compared it against most other brands.. anyway. 
I PH to 5.8... water temp is 21c. So plant starts feeding on this. I go back in 2 hours later and EC is 1.6 and PH is 5.9 and I clap! I go back in another 4 hours time and PH will be 5.8 and EC will be back upto 1.8. It literally floats around here the whole time,which is only 2 days though, by the end of the 2nd day there is about 500ml left in the bottom lol. it makes me laugh, I've even rubbed my hand around the floor to make sure I don't have a leak lol. 
I can spend the time and do the change every 48 hours but my head tells me this isn't good for the plant. 
my head tells me to do what I've always done which is let it go for a 5 to 7 day period, then change. I'd never let it go for longer. so people, what do you think?
my bucket size is 25L I usually fill 15L max which just comes under the net pot. 
Plant is over 1 meter wide x 1 meter +tall, Will be at least 14OZ if i don't screw this up from here. 
I'm scrolling up making sure I'v answered all the questions.

Room temp is 25.3 while lights are on. 18.6 during night. RH site around 50%

So question is, Do I need to extend my res somehow or do you think its ok doing fresh nute changed every 2 days?

Cheers guys


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## Mazda323 (Feb 7, 2016)

Seriously! I just wrote a massive reply and it didn't upload! CRY!!!! lol I will write back later.. damn it


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## Mazda323 (Feb 7, 2016)

Ok so hello again. 

Not sure why i brought up the RH thing. I was very tired last night when writing that original message. What made me think of it was, I have had plants twice the size of what I have now in the same system and have never had to do nutes this often. I even checked the floor around my bucket to make sure it wasn't leaking hehehe. I do live in the mountains and the air here is just so dry compared to where I used to live but anyway. RH isn't the issue it's actually fine. 
I'll try and explain exactly what happens. Here is a post of one of my old grows. you can see the system, I'm only using 1 bucket atm with 7 air stones in it. 

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35082

So I'll do nutes, ( my own brand) 40 ml into roughly 12L which gives me 1.8EC and I then Ph that to 5.8 and place plant back in and off she goes. I come back in 2 hours and check and PH is 5.9 and EC is 1.6. another 2 hours later is goes back to 5.8 and 1.8 EC which tells me she's just had a big slurp of water. 
from here PH will raise very slowly and EC starts dropping until I end up at around 6.0 PH and 1.2 EC. This is only over a 48 hour period though which is my concern.. there is about 500 ml left and you can hear are the air stones so this is when I'm changing. 
My head tells me this is a BAD thing. I've always let my DWC float for at least 5 days. maybe 4 if massive and right at end of flower.

What do you guys think? Do I need to somehow extend my res size? or do you think its fine doing full changes every 48 hours?

Room temps while lights on are 25.3c
Rooms temps lights off 18.6c
RH around 36 to 50%
Water temp 21c
Plant is huge, over 1 meter wide x 1 meter + tall. expecting 14 + oz
Root ball hasn't yet filled out the bucket which is good.


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## Hushpuppy (Feb 8, 2016)

I personally say the more water, the better. I have a small grow that is only 2-3 plants at a time and I use generally about 35-40gal (can't remember how many liters that is, roughly 137 liters I believe). I am generally adding 5-10 gallons of water back as a top up to my rez every 4-5 days. I live in an area where the Rh goes from 90% one day to 45% the next. and in my grow space, I try to maintain 30%-50% to keep bud rot from taking hold.

I don't see where you have anything going wrong per say, just a new environment that the plants are adjusting too. I would triple the amount of solution you have going there for the one plant. But that's just me


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## The Hemp Goddess (Feb 8, 2016)

Wow, I seriously want to see this plant that is going to yield 14 ozs.

Telling us the ppms doesn't do much if we do not know the N-P-K and micro nutrients of what you are using.  What exactly are you putting in your own mix of hydro nutes?  Do you have any idea at all of the N-P-K?


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## Mazda323 (Feb 8, 2016)

Can I please have a Mod approve my messages. I can't reply


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## Mazda323 (Feb 8, 2016)

Ummm hemp goddess. I'm guessing you can see my messages? 
This is really strange, I can't even see my reply but you must have due to responding to the 14 oz thing. I will post a pic soon as I figure all this out


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## Grower13 (Feb 8, 2016)

Mazda323 said:


> Ummm hemp goddess. I'm guessing you can see my messages?
> This is really strange, I can't even see my reply but you must have due to responding to the 14 oz thing. I will post a pic soon as I figure all this out


 

try resizing your pics to a smaller size...


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## Mazda323 (Feb 11, 2016)

In reply to what the NPK and micro's are I actually don't fully understand that stuff soI will just write out what's written on the bottle. 
The story behind the nutrient is....
There is a laboratory up the road from me and the main thing they do is make chemicals???? or something??? (buggered if i actually know) for the local hospital's pathology department... that's all i know and for some reason a farmer came to them many moons ago and asked if they could make him a nutrient for his tomato crops. ( legit ) I used to work at a IT place who serviced this lab's PC gear and POS equipment so I got to go in there a bit and was mind boggled at what all these machines did so I asked questions and then noticed on the floor there was 1L, 5L and 15L bottles of a & b nutrient and took some home and went from there. Been using it for 17 years now. have never gone back to any of the 8 brands I was using before... I don't know why but this stuff is good. that's all I'll say.
I could make up 20,000 different reasons why I think its good but without knowing NPK and what the hell 250 ppm of Iron as chelate means I would just be talking **** lol.

anyway here is what's on the bottle. This is from bottle B

Hmm you know what, I'll take a pic of it and upload. 

View attachment B.jpg


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## Mazda323 (Feb 11, 2016)

And here's the plant that will get around 12 OZ when she's done. I know it sounds like bullshit, I used to think this too before I tried DWC.
I don't get less than 10 oz per bucket. coco's I grow harvest 2 to 4 OZ per plant. Meh
keep in mind the buckets are  vegged for up to 2 months. 
This pic was taken the day I flicked into flower. 

Sorry about the quality, its bad but all I got is I phone and where I live now I cannot remove the plant from the tent, Once she's done I'll take proper pics when I can other lights out. 

View attachment Pineapple Chunks.jpg


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## yarddog (Feb 11, 2016)

That's a big ole girl!!


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## Hushpuppy (Feb 15, 2016)

NPK values are percentages of total volume. the numbers on that bottle are measures of ppm or parts per million. To switch that to percentages would take more math than I feel like doing. The NPK numbers are less important in of themselves as is the ratio of each number to the other numbers. But from the ratio of the N, P, and K doesn't look like the right proportions for bloom to me. I think the nitrogen and calcium are too high and the Phosphorus and magnesium are too low. However if you have been using that with good results, then stick with whats working for you. But if you are having issues then I would recommend switching to a nute that is specifically formulated for MJ. The Advanced Nutrients lines work quite well. Not sure where you are in the world but I assume you have to get your stuff through Europe so I would also suggest the Hesi line as many of the breeders in Europe use that line with great success.


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## pcduck (Feb 15, 2016)

Keep doing what you been doing. Looks fine to me. I love growing trees

I also do see the rh being much concern. If worried about over nuting check rez, with ppm meter, after making a new batch. Then again when you top off the rez with plain water. Will tell ya if eating or just drinking


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## The Hemp Goddess (Feb 15, 2016)

Beautiful plant!


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## Stranger (Feb 17, 2016)

By the looks of things it sure looks like you know what you're doing! Plants look great!. If you are in the US the Home Depot carries HDX totes in 17 ($8), 27 ($9) and even 100 gallon (4 for $109), yes they are really inexpensive for how good they are. They are super sturdy and can hold water without the sides bulging and have a strong top as well.  They are great as a res or DWC bucket. Black with a yellow top. Sounds like you ,might be from across the pond though...  

I personally go two weeks between res changes and just top off in between keeping pH and EC in check. If the girls are drinking they are growing, it's a good thing! The bigger the res the easier to keep things in check and to fix any problems too. Looks great, keep up the good work! 





Mazda323 said:


> Hey people, Has been a while..... I couldn't remember my old password for Mazda3234wd so had to make a new account.
> Hoping PC duck is still around.
> 
> My problem is..... I've just moved to a new location and pretty much every condition here is almost totally opposite to where I used to grow.
> ...



View attachment 27galtote.jpg


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## Mazda323 (Feb 22, 2016)

Cheers for the replies people! 
and Hello PC duck!!!! I love what you do! I learnt a lot from you in the early days, good to see you're still around. 
So as an experiment I have decided to keep up these 24 to 48 hour nute changes, It's hard work and I too usually let my buckets go for a 5 to 7 day period before changing, but living on top of this mountain with the low RH i know is having an effect. as I said before I've had plants bigger than this in exactly the same system at 70% RH and they go for over 5 days before needing a change. I'm dealing with 26% to 55% RH and I believe it is making a big difference. I made a time lapse video the other day to show people how crazy this plant really is. I filmed over a 1 hour period and you can see the marker go down over 500 ml.  

I know it sounds simple to just get a bigger container for my DWC but i have tried this in the past and had mixed results. 
The long wide tub that's in the pic is pretty much exactly what I've used before and I just don't get the same results as my own 25L containers which are square and are taller than wider. I have put this down to aeration. I could be wrong but I just find it hard to aerate a wide mass of water and I'm talking 10 air stones and not 2. 
usually I get my veg times right, this pineapple chunk just went crazy on me and I vegged for 2 weeks longer than I should have so hence this drinking issue.
About the nutrient, this is all I know. I've never met another grower that can produce as nicer tasting buds as what this nutrient does. Over all the years I've loved smoking, growing and admiring marijuana I have put my number 1 favorite thing down to taste. It's all about taste to me and SK no 1 and cheese are probably my 2 favorite strains for this and wow phantom cookies is amazing too!
so yea I don't really get the numbers as I say but to me its all in the end result and this is what I go off.

example.

Everyone I know that grows has their 2 part set or 3 part, then they have 4 to 12 other bottles of stuff? this is the part I don't get and please don't get me wrong I'm not being a **** about this, It's just what I've seen with my own 2 eyes and I am trying to understand this

I believe this... ( has feeling this is gunna cause a rukus ) lol

I reckon and understand..... these company's have to have more than 2 products..  I can understand this. I reckon they pull stuff out of the 2 part and create 10 other products from it. anyone not shaking their head yet ? lol

I just want to understand. I spend $10 a litre and use nothing but A B and 10 ml of PK 1314 and get better results than every other grower I've known and to add they are using say 300 bucks worth of product? why why why. 

Don't get me wrong I have grower friends that create amazing product but the taste is just never as clean. the burn is never as clean and I have never known why exactly.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Feb 22, 2016)

I am not a big believer in tons of additives either.  Until General Hydroponics sold out (and I do mean sold out) to Scott's, I always used the Flora 3 part nutrients and only added Cal-Mag during flowering.  However, not all nutrient lines have everything the plant needs in just 2-3 bottles.

Taste and smooth burning have more to do with how the bud is cured than the nutes used to grow it.


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## Keef (May 27, 2016)

Hey guys when I saw my boxes I had to jump in ---The second pic is what's  in my boxes !--- These plants are a couple weeks from the flip !--I have to keep them small but I'll add a support trellis as the get heavy with child !--- I run my nute water up to right below the spray manifold with the micro sprayers! ---About 10-12 gallons !--- No exposed water to affect RH !--- I draw some juice out with a piece of tubing and a big syringe !--- I run a target pH of 5.8 but let it wander between 5.4 to 6.0 -- That is a 396 gph pump with filter which eliminates plugged micro sprayers! --- I was gonna learn to grow hydro but this got in the way !---I got 6 of those boxes and 3 smaller ones in my nursery! ---Anyway I saw my boxes and had to chime in !-- I am no grow master but I get by ! 

View attachment 20160527_183739.jpg


View attachment 20151213_113112.jpg


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## Keef (May 27, 2016)

And I'm not very good at posting  pics right side up !--- Sorry !


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