# REcycling runoff



## Genuine (Jun 10, 2011)

if my plant is growing in a coco coir/perlite/worm casting mix with some molded coffee grinds for trichoderma growth, can i mix that run off with the next batch of feed? just a way to conserve on resources a little.


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## burner (Jun 11, 2011)

I grow in a smart pot and just let my girl suck up the runoff, it will do that in any pot though. Why recycle it? You only should be watering enough to have a small amount of runoff, at least that's what I do. Not worth recycling....


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## The Hemp Goddess (Jun 11, 2011)

You have moldy coffee grounds in your medium?


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## Genuine (Jun 11, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> You have moldy coffee grounds in your medium?


i read in mass producers coco hempy buckets thread they are beneficial, but i decided on making a bubbleponic system so i probably wont be using moldy coffee


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## valleyboy (Jun 11, 2011)

To make the most of the run off you would need the water to be metered.  Run off will flush out unused nutrients within the soil and because plants don't use all nutrients at the same rate the ratio's of the run off may be much different than what you put in.  You would need to meter the PPM for each individual nutrient then calculate what you actually need to put back in if you wanted to use the run off accurately.  This would be time consuming and expensive.  

Your best bet for conservation would be to have as little run off as possible.


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## Genuine (Jun 12, 2011)

well im going to be trying out a bubbleponic system which uses a constant stream of water mixed witht he  nutrients. Apparently about once a week you are supposed to change the water and clean out the res and everything. i just feel like it would be such a waste because the wwater would probably still have a small ammount of nutrients in them, plus that water is clean and healthy water. If i checked the ppm+ph of it after draining it and made sure none was too high or too low, isn't it possible that i could reuse that water? If not for the next feed then maybe for a sprout. Since the nutes would probably just be traces, it probably wont harm the sprout and it might actually even aid in its few fays of development until i begin to really start feeding the nutrients to it. Maybe?


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## valleyboy (Jun 12, 2011)

Sure you could reuse it but your nutrient levels may not be in the ideal ranges and ratios.


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## woodydude (Jun 12, 2011)

Your biggest issue with trying to reuse solution from a hydro/aero system is that some nutrients will have been used but not other. EG, all the N gets used before the K or P in veg but if you measure the E, all it tells you is "something" is there but now WHAT is there so you could end up with K toxicity.

I understand what you are wanting to do and the only way is to reuse the solution by filtering it through an RO machine. This would remove everything and give you a blank slate to start again with.

JMO
W


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## Hick (Jun 12, 2011)

Is water really that expensive??.
......the o'lady is always saying TP is expensive, too. She tells me _"ONE sheet"... BOTH sides!"_ ...


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## The Hemp Goddess (Jun 12, 2011)

Genuine said:
			
		

> well im going to be trying out a bubbleponic system which uses a constant stream of water mixed witht he  nutrients. Apparently about once a week you are supposed to change the water and clean out the res and everything. i just feel like it would be such a waste because the wwater would probably still have a small ammount of nutrients in them, plus that water is clean and healthy water. If i checked the ppm+ph of it after draining it and made sure none was too high or too low, isn't it possible that i could reuse that water? If not for the next feed then maybe for a sprout. Since the nutes would probably just be traces, it probably wont harm the sprout and it might actually even aid in its few fays of development until i begin to really start feeding the nutrients to it. Maybe?



No, this is not a good idea.  I use the spent nutes to water my outside flowering plants in the summer.  In the winter, it just gets thrown away.  It is false economy to try and reuse them.  You can get the 3 part GH Flora series nutes for about $35.  Woody is right on as to the reason we regularly change the nutes and don't reuse them.  There are most likely going to be more than trace nutrients left.


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## nova564t (Jun 12, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> No, this is not a good idea. I use the spent nutes to water my outside flowering plants in the summer. In the winter, it just gets thrown away. It is false economy to try and reuse them. You can get the 3 part GH Flora series nutes for about $35. Woody is right on as to the reason we regularly change the nutes and don't reuse them. There are most likely going to be more than trace nutrients left.


Thats what I do with my runoff water, some in the grass some in flower boxes.


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