1 plant 250 hps in a locker, 4 gal res dwc.... Let me first say this is my 3rd grow ever and I finally have everything running almost perfect. Its my 23rd day of flower doing reserva privada purple wreck fem and I'm starting to notice salt build up in the res. I'm currently at about 40% nutes using general hydroponics. Should I flush just to get rid of the salt build up before it might turn into a problem ?? Like I said though so far I would rate this grow an 95/100. I don't have one discolored leave, everything green, not dropy, nothing. So far perfect.
Should I flush or not ??
- Thread starter Meast21
- Start date
I mean just run tap water with ph of about 6.0 for a couple hours just to break up salts... Im at about 24 day of 12/12
With what ??? Water and paper towel ??
waterdawg
Well-Known Member
I would not run plain water but I run a 100L res so changing is a bit of a hassle. I just dump and refill every 7-8 days and never had an issue. Cleaning the res is impossible for me every flush but I guess if u can and have the time why not but where the heck do you put the plant while your doing this, and does it not hurt the roots. I'm confused I guess lol.
drgreentm
Well-Known Member
Hmmm are you encinuating that growing is rocket science? Seems to me you have a real lack of experience with hydro, you my friend need to work smarter not harder. If you are asking "where the heck do you put the plants during cleaning" then you have a poorly designed system, the op is growing in a superlocker with a simple DWC tub inside, it's easier than you think, simply build yourself a simple table frame from wood and set the lid of the system on top with roots hanging for 5 mins while cleaning the res (that wasn't so hard was it). I change out close to 100gal of water in my grow weekly and it takes roughly 15-20mins every Sunday of the week, I wish I only had 100l to do a week.
guerrilla medic
Well-Known Member
meast in my experience you really do not need to flush for salt buildup in dwc. thats more of a dtw thing. just give em fresh changeouts at the corresponding strength relative to what week of flower you're in and let the good times roll.
Duckweed Dan
Member
First, let me state the obvious that water never hurts your plants. If you are in doubt go ahead and flush the plants, give them a couple of days for the flush to work its way through. I would give it about 3 or 4 days and you should see some improvement. Then continue on with your regular feedings. If you try to do a half-ass fix on this and it doesn't work then you are really F'd. There are a lot of opinions of what to do but you have to go with what makes sense to you. I like to keep things simple cause most of the time the solution is just that simple.
guerrilla medic
Well-Known Member
so duckweed, you're saying in your opinion you'd take plants that are doing very well 23days into bloom and throw em in pure water for 3-4 days....in dwc....to flush em out?
joe macclennan
Well-Known Member
AL B. FUCT says do Not flush it messes up the ionic balance of the root systems or some shit like that. I used to flush becuz I have a lot of iron and calcium in my water creating salts but have since stopped flushing after reading Als advice.
waterdawg
Well-Known Member
Jee thanks for that! And yes I do lack experience, sorry I should have stated that! And yes at times being a newb it does seem like rocket science, and I can only hope to someday aquire your obviuos vast experience, and I'm sure cleaning your res is not a bad thing, just wondering how you did it is all. I'm only on my third grow in hydro! And yes thats a great ideal about moving the whole lid, if I understand that is what your doing, unfortunatly moving my lid would be a huge deal due to the massive growth lol, but thanks for sharing! I dont have running water in my grow area, just a 400L storage container so water is at a premium. I am here to learn and ask question as Im sure we all are. I did build the system and yes it does have flaws but seems to work ok. I am planning on tweeking it in warm weather, perhaps I'll build a frame! I thank you for your quick response to my question.
Duckweed Dan
Member
I'm saying, why not? The problem that started this thread was a noticeable salt build up in the res and I am saying that it is early on in the grow and a flush would not hurt anything and would help to slow or stop the problem from increasing while he gets it under control. I am not saying put them in deep water anything. However the plants are being grown just give them a clean, filtered water flush and then evaluate the plants after that. Heck, the build up may be calcium and not salt.
Alexander Supertramp
Well-Known Member
A paper towel dipped in lemon juice usually does a fine job of removing buildup. And no worries about any residue it may leave behind. For tougher build some CLR does the trick. You just need to be sure to rinse things good before refilling...
guerrilla medic
Well-Known Member
23 days into flower is peak feeding time, not exactly early in the grow imo. if you left dwc plants in pure water for 3-4 days they would be STARVING. there is no need to flush plants in the middle of a grow for salt buildup in water culture. have you ever grown in dwc?
waterdawg
Well-Known Member
I get a buildup on my res that is I assume is salts but I have not had an issue with the grow. At the end I do clean everything with soap and water. Then rinse with 29% hydrogen peroxide. I would think if the plants are good and PPM ok then you could wait until closer to end to flush, if you do, not saying you should or shouldnt lol. Please everyone know that I'm a newb so if I'm wrong be gentle lol. FYI I did have a pump get plugged and I did use hose to rinse crap out of top and bottom res when refilling but did not flush, just kept goin.