E.C and hydro

A2Michigan said:

Okay so let me get this straight.. if the water level drops and the ec is still the same from the day prior then we are in the sweet zone?
I was under the impression that when the water level drops that the ec would automatically go up because the plants are just drinking the water and not the nutrients.. so basically they are removing the water and then the ec just gets higher because it’s more concentrated.

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Yes, the plant is taking up water and nutrients at the same rate so EC remains constant.

The EC does not automatically rise as the level goes down because the plant is using nutes. Ideally, EC is stable or gradually falling.

Billy the Mountain said:

No assumption, simply trying to maintain the EC at a desired level. Res changes are still done at the same frequency. Any imbalance in uptake will be there will regardless.

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If your changing your res every week, there's really no need to top off daily. Set it and forget it, see ya next week. Adding back without knowing whats been used and what hasnt just creates further imbalance. The OP should consider a drain to waste set up.

Ea system will evaporate different,Ebb and flow would be hard to seal up and the res is probably in the room.I always added a little food every top up but I fed low at 1 EC.

redi jedi said:

If your changing your res every week, there's really no need to top off daily. Set it and forget it, see ya next week. Adding back without knowing whats been used and what hasnt just creates further imbalance. The OP should consider a drain to waste set up.

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My plants drink a ton of water… but I find it strange that ideally the water level should drop and ec should remain constant.. I would think that if the water is dropping that the concentration of nutrients just gets stronger. I can’t go a whole week without adding water

A2Michigan said:

My plants drink a ton of water… but I find it strange that ideally the water level should drop and ec should remain constant.. I would think that if the water is dropping that the concentration of nutrients just gets stronger. I can’t go a whole week without adding water

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You probably lose a lot to evaporation.

A2Michigan said:

My plants drink a ton of water… but I find it strange that ideally the water level should drop and ec should remain constant.. I would think that if the water is dropping that the concentration of nutrients just gets stronger. I can’t go a whole week without adding water

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A larger res would help but its still not ideal. Stop draining back to your res. Each flood cycle drains to waste. Than your res remains stable and you just refill. Shoulnt even need to monitor it like rdwc.

redi jedi said:

A larger res would help but its still not ideal. Stop draining back to your res. Each flood cycle drains to waste. Than your res remains stable and you just refill. Shoulnt even need to monitor it like rdwc.

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Tha would use a ton of nutes,flood and drain doesn't work that way,no medium to hold the water.

myke said:

Tha would use a ton of nutes,flood and drain doesn't work that way,no medium to hold the water.

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You dont need medium to hold water. Just something to hold the plant? Hydroton?

redi jedi said:

A larger res would help but its still not ideal. Stop draining back to your res. Each flood cycle drains to waste. Than your res remains stable and you just refill. Shoulnt even need to monitor it like rdwc.

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I have a 55 gallon drum

A2Michigan said:

My plants drink a ton of water… but I find it strange that ideally the water level should drop and ec should remain constant.. I would think that if the water is dropping that the concentration of nutrients just gets stronger. I can’t go a whole week without adding water

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Stable or slightly dropping EC is the target. If the EC was rising that would indicate your plants are not feeding.

Billy the Mountain said:

Stable or slightly dropping EC is the target. If the EC was rising that would indicate your plants are not feeding.

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When I’m in veg and have tried to feed at .5 ec, my ec seems to slightly go up within 24 hours, water level doesn’t move much ( if any) but my ph kept just shooting up from 5.5 to 6.3 within 24 hours. I noticed I was getting deficiencies and I bumped up the ec to 1.6. And my plants looked a lot healthier. My ph was stable at this point. Whenever I would check the ec that was showing higher before doing a top off

0.5 is for seedlings, you'll certainly get deficiencies trying to veg a plant at such low nute concentration.
If EC is rising, the plant is not eating
Maybe your meter needs calibration?
I've done a lot of DWC and have never witnessed a rising EC, certainly not in a healthy plant.

Billy the Mountain said:

0.5 is for seedlings, you'll certainly get deficiencies trying to veg a plant at such low nute concentration.
If EC is rising, the plant is not eating
Maybe your meter needs calibration?
I've done a lot of DWC and have never witnessed a rising EC, certainly not in a healthy plant.

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Do you think that I’m running into these issues because I’m flooding too often at every 2 hours?

@A2Michigan
There are full length webinars on youtube and other video hosting sites on hydroponics, basic to technical, put out by university horticulture "extensions", botanists, agriculture/big agriculture companies, etc.

I really think you should go look for some that are applicable and watch or at least skim through them looking for relevant starting information, man...

Those Uni extensions are a good source of info.
H. Resh "Hydroponic Food Production" book is another valuable resource.

2com said:

@A2Michigan
There are full length webinars on youtube and other video hosting sites on hydroponics, basic to technical, put out by university horticulture "extensions", botanists, agriculture/big agriculture companies, etc.

I really think you should go look for some that are applicable and watch or at least skim through them looking for relevant starting information, man...

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Can you link any of these? I’m searching and can’t find anything

A2Michigan said:

Can you link any of these? I’m searching and can’t find anything

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I will if I remember later. But there's so much relevant that it's hard to just share one and think it'll have what *you* need in it.

Also, I'd suggest maybe finding an actual grow thread or journal (here or on some other gardening site) where someone is successfully growing in the *same* method as you are and look through, and ask questions if they're ok with giving you some guidance.

But first I'd prepare a list of *every single bit of "data" or "room"/"grow" information you can get together* and share that before you start asking questions.
The lack of that makes it hard to wanna dive in/answer because then people have to ask you so much shit first. (Or they start offering advice, and they don't even know what the temp in the fucking room is... Know what I mean?)

That's my opinion.

What is your system like? Are your roots in water or in clay pebbles? You top feed every 2 hours and drain back to a res?

Sorry if this was already answered.

I do a flood drain with pots filled with clay pebbles. I find my ec is always going up. With seedlings and no nutes. My ec was climbing.

The clay pebbles are hard as fuck to fully clean and they will add some shit into your water.

At the start I turn the pump on every 30 min. Then as the roots get bigger I water less and less. By the end of flower I turn it on every couple hours.

Failmore said:

What is your system like? Are your roots in water or in clay pebbles? You top feed every 2 hours and drain back to a res?

Sorry if this was already answered.

I do a flood drain with pots filled with clay pebbles. I find my ec is always going up. With seedlings and no nutes. My ec was climbing.

The clay pebbles are hard as fuck to fully clean and they will add some shit into your water.

At the start I turn the pump on every 30 min. Then as the roots get bigger I water less and less. By the end of flower I turn it on every couple hours.

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I flood with clay pebbles. Man those things are so fucking hard to clean!!! I feed every 4 hours during veg but then in flower I bump it up to every 2 hours. You flood less with bigger plants?

I assumed your recirculating system was roots in water; e.g. rdwc

@RediJedi13 is right, drain to waste is the usual choice when using a growing medium