RDWC vs Coco Nutrient Consumption

Hello. Long time member here (I'm talking since Nugbuckets was here and was an unknown in the "pop" cultivation world (RIP TGA)) just been through a few different email addresses and screen names. I have been cultivating since, roughly, 2013 and Have always been in dry mediums. I started in soil, switched to coc and have alternated between coco and DTW rockwool for the past few years now. I am thinking about taking the plunge into hyrdoponics as the next logical step in the gaining entry into the 4 lb club. My best haul ever was 4 GHSC Super Lemon haze under a 1,000W DE CMH with a dry weight of 1,729g from a 4x4 tent. I'm very dialed in with my feeding and reading my plants. I don't just raise girls as I also have my own breeding program just starting out these past two years. My main question to the community who are into RDWC and the likes is this: Is it more efficient on nutes than in Drain to waste applications. I have done up schedules and It's really kindo of inconclusive. Mey reservoirs are 130 gallon hall tanks in three rooms that I am currently plumbing out for the RO systems and refill tanks. Technically, I'm using RO in two rooms and rain water in the third (another comparison and education thing for my notes). I use Advanced Nutrients full sensi line-up in Royal Gold Tupur currently and am feeding as many as 4 times per day in 5 gallon air pots at 10% runoff with plain pH'd water flush at mid day to keep salts at a minimum. I'm using more than my 130 gallons every week on feedings once they're about two weeks into bloom with this set-up but not even that much throughout veg. I thought about a smaller system to veg in with a smaller res (a fourth room, since I do the perpetual thing for monthly cuts), I guess the whole thing is, What do you guys that have been doing the hydro thing think. I'm already pulling good numbers in coco but I'd really like to break that 4 mark and I've been through 20+ different heavy hitters as well as going through the motions with SOG and different training techniques. My environment is dialed and automatically controlled with bottled CO² since it doesn't add heat to my space, just humidity. I apologize if this came off as a rant. I'm just looking for info in the efficiency and also tips in general. The systems I bought are CCH²O Under Current XL16 Double Barrel systems and I'm modifying the system to inject the buckets like the Alien systems. I don't need 13+ gallon modules which would double the nutrient needs so I figured this was the best route to take. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Undercurrent is the way to go! The higher the capacity of solution you can hold in the system the better, and more stabilized it will be. You won’t need to run as high of an EC in DWC hydro compared to DTW with medium, or really change out the res as frequently as most nute companies claim throughout the grow either, unless you go modifying the system and limit the overall amount of solution, or use too many different additives that might cause funky reactions, etc. IME its best to keep it minimal with nute input, and run a sterile res. If you switched over to mixing up dry salts it would cost pennies per gallon. Either way, once you get the learning curve down and all dialed in, and find a good balance of when to change out or top off, you should find it to be way more efficient than draining to waste. A little bit faster growth too, meaning you could expect to use even less nutes in the long run...

It's fairly more efficient. Think about sitting right in the sauce lol! DWC EC levels are very low. I often maxed out at 1.0-1.2 EC in DWC while in coir I may max out at 1.6 EC in flower feeding several times a day.

I agree with @Drop That Sound that the lowest optimal is the best. Less is more!

Hear hear on Under Current. My grow space is very limited so I've got to be content with a 2' x 4' tent but I use a res that holds 26 gallons. pH is very predictable and not needing to change the res but every three weeks or so is great advantage.

I've attached a couple of documents that helped me figure out my res maintenance practices. The Bugbee paper is mainly information to me but the CannaStats document has proven to be a good guide for me. Feedback is on the content is very welcomed, gents.

Thank you so much for your replies. I've already bought the systems but was afraid to pull the trigger running them since I do use the expensive nutes that I catch a lot of flak for. lol. I actually run a dual res system in my DTW room where one is solution and the other is sterile so there are no hiccups in a new mixdown at the end of the 5 day period I go by. I have been in discussions with the people at Success and their dry line that is all dry except their silica. Apparently, they're beginning some reformulating now that they aren't really working with Haupt anymore (so it seems from the emails back and forth but not a hundred percent on that) I'm not quite sure on how I feel on that end of things. I'll be sure to get some posts going in the future now that I figured out how to start new threads. Again Thank you all very much.