why do you need to dump the rez after a flush instead of just adding nutes?

diowk

diowk

Active Member
I think I overfed by poor plants. Im gonna dump the rez and run em on pure distilled ph adjusted water for 2 days and then put them on half strength nutes. But everything I've read says you dump your rez, run pure water for 2 days, dump AGAIN, and then add the nutrient solution.. This isn't really an option for me since I only have enough water to refill the rez one (I live 5 hours away from a dispensary) Why cant I flush em for two days, and then just add half strength nutes to the pure water thats already in the rez? It seems very wasteful to me. And I have a tri-meter so I always know whats going on with TDSs if that matters.
 
MeJuana

MeJuana

Well-Known Member
Hey where are you reading up on this flushing procedure? If it is over nute why are you flushing at all? If I am over nutrients I just dump half my res, no flush, just drop the PPM. But mostly what I do is from bits and pieces of info I picked up during my most extreme problems, just with searches.

One method that really works is the 1 hour flush with just H20 and H202 (water and peroxide 35%) 1 tsp per gallon as outlined by Ashera Jones. She uses high pressure aero, I use aero nft but it works just as well. When I do this I barely put enough water to cover the pump, I will be dumping this in an hour anyway.

Just curious where you got your methods so maybe I can refine mine. Nute burn takes at least a week for me to see improvement.
 
diowk

diowk

Active Member
I've read that procedure everywhere. They say it should take 2 days to see improvement. Ill try to find some resources for ya though bud.
 
diowk

diowk

Active Member
Im actually seeing a bunch of people doing what you describe... Im not sure it actually matters, I think its just whats available to you and what your prefferences are.. and as for the 2 day improvement... that could be complete bullshit. I guess Ill know in two days :) thanks man.. my ppm went from 1100 to 270 after I switched my water. Im gonna let them drink that for a day or two and then add 1/4-1/2 strength nutes to brink it up to about 650?? I dont know, its my first time ever so Im just trying to figure out what works best in my area you know? I really dont know what Im doing... learning a lot as I go ;)
 
B

Blazn

Active Member
Hi i believe the reason you replace the water after the flush is because the plants shit in the water and if you dont replace it you will be feeding them their own shit. This is what local hydroponic dealer told me. hope it helps
 
MeJuana

MeJuana

Well-Known Member
Nope you got it that's what I do when the tips curl down and go brown, I back it off to half nutes. I wait to see leaves move toward lights, or growth. I watch for def or yellowing too! When I see any I know the plant system is working again and I bring it back to the last safe PPM, unless the damage is severe, the roots will need to recover. Best results for me so far is starving them for nutrients a little to get them wanting then inching it back up. Expect delays, my flower system has a few burnt ones in it right now.
 
diowk

diowk

Active Member
MeJuana said:
I back it off to half nutes. I wait to see leaves move toward lights, or growth. I watch for def or yellowing too! When I see any I know the plant system is working again and I bring it back to the last safe PPM.
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bingo! Thanks a lot. That advice is pure gold man. I cant even imagine how different my plants/setup would look if it wasnt for this site. Probably pretty shitty!
 
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bran1981

Well-Known Member
The reason for dumping the rez after a flush is to get a fresh rez of correct nutes. When you flush, it is getting all the unwanted stuff out the pots. Once you have done that you would want to replinish with a fresh rez. If you just dump your nutes into the water that you just flushed with, then you don't know what the hell your mixter really is and then your chancing running into even more problems.
 
sixstring2112

sixstring2112

Well-Known Member
if your problem was roots or growing medium(salt or chem buildup) you need to get ride of your water after you flush. 5 hours away from what? water?
 
diowk

diowk

Active Member
yeah. 5 hours away from a distilled water dispensary and I dont have the hard water nutes that your supposed to use if you use tap water.. Im not sure how much chlorine or anything is in this tap water and I was told not to use tap water unless you let it sit for 3 days so all the harmful stuff can evaporate. I just like using distilled water though (better safe than sorry when your a noob)
 
diowk

diowk

Active Member
bran1981 said:
The reason for dumping the rez after a flush is to get a fresh rez of correct nutes. When you flush, it is getting all the unwanted stuff out the pots. Once you have done that you would want to replinish with a fresh rez. If you just dump your nutes into the water that you just flushed with, then you don't know what the hell your mixter really is and then your chancing running into even more problems.
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thank you. that completely cleared up my confusion on the subject. good answer.
 
fatman7574

fatman7574

New Member
Whoa Dudes. A during grow flush is just done as a preventative against root rot and large levels of bacteria in the system. It can be done with either organic or chemical nutrients however it takes a great deal more chlorine or H2O2 with organic fertilizer than chemical fertilize as the organics are oxidized by the chlorine or H2O2 so use up a lot of the oxidizing/disinfectant potential. Yes it can be done with new water but why bother. The only d advantage to using new nutrient free water is that the lack of organic nutrients will mean less chlorine or H2O2 will be needed. Both are cheap though so why bother.

IE The methodology does not require new water for the flush. Just add Chlorox or H2O2 to the existing nutrient water. Both are disinfectants due to being oxidants. With either only about 2 hours exposure is enough before dumping them and adding new water and nutrients.

As far as tap water. It is fine to use for growing as far as chlorine or chloramine is concerned. The maximum Chlorine or chloroamine you will find in tap water is established by regulations at 2.5 ppm.

The problem with most tap water is it contains flourine. Fluorine accumulates in plant stems and leaves. Fluorine can adversely affect plants at concentrations as low as .1 part per million. In some municipal water supplies, 10 times that amount is added to prevent tooth decay. Luckily a RO filter removes over 99% of the Fluoride in tap water.

Commercial green houses typically run water with 4.5 ppm of chlorine at all times. Most tap water has about 0.5 ppm of residual chlorine. I always keep 0.5 to 1.0 ppm in my nutrient water 24/7. I use chemical nutrients with no organics at all.

Plants can tolerate large amounts of chlorine. They can not tolerate a large amount of chloride. Never use aquarium chlorine neutralizers on your r tap water used for growing plants. The neutralizer turns chlorine into chloride. fish can tolerate a lotof chloride but not chlorine.
 
iivan740

iivan740

Well-Known Member
fatman7574 said:
Whoa Dudes. A during grow flush is just done as a preventative against root rot and large levels of bacteria in the system. It can be done with either organic or chemical nutrients however it takes a great deal more chlorine or H2O2 with organic fertilizer than chemical fertilize as the organics are oxidized by the chlorine or H2O2 so use up a lot of the oxidizing/disinfectant potential.
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+1
fatman is exactly right. If you over nuted the rez just dilute.

Heres how.
1. stir up the rez, get everything suspended in the rez.
2. take a bucket and fill it with rez water, then discard that water.
3. fill the bucket back up with plain water. (whatever you normally use)
4. add the bucket of plain water back to the rez.
5. check the ppm and repeat steps 1-4 as needed.

If you are seeing nute burn lower the ppms by diluting, there is no reason to flush the system. This isn't dirt, you don't have to "flush" the nutes "out".

If all you needed was to dilute the rez then the rest of this post is a tangent....

If you have pythia, protozoa, parasites, or "bad" bacteria you should definitely flush your system.
Heres how.
1. empty the rez and drain all liquid from the system.
2. clean the rez tank, pods, hoses, spray bars, pumps, pots, and anything else that is part of your hydro setup.
3. use something to sanitize the parts of the system that can be completely removed from the plants. I.E. the rez, hoses, pumps, etc... I use bleach, I know that some will have issue with this, It's what I use and it works for me.
4. rinse everything
5. rinse everything again
6. put the system back and fill the rez with plain water. NO nutes.
7. Add H2O2 to the water, the recommended amount is 1 tbs. per gallon. I have used a bit more than recommended at times. I've also seen weird shit happen when using H202. you can use chlorox or some other type of oxidizing disinfectant as long as it is plant safe. As fatman stated.
8. run the system for 30 min. to whatever you feel is necessary. Make your system run on a constant loop. I.E if you use a drip make the drip run constantly for the duration. Or if you use spray bars make the pumps continue pumping for the duration. Or is you use ebb and flow make the pods fill and drain constantly for the duration.
9. Drain the rez.
10. repeat steps 3-6. You may elect to only clean the rez at this point, but I would at the very least clean and sanitize the rez.
11. put the system back together, fill the rez with water, and add your nutes.

If it's protozoa or parasites (fruit fly larva) just use azatrol. It works great, it's derived from nature, and it has a half life of less than three days. It may turn your rez a milky color at first. Don't panic the milky color is normal and should subside over time in my experience.

I can see no good reason to flush hydro systems for an extended period of time. 3 hours would be my max flush for any hydro setup.
Only 2 reasons come to mind.
1.I would for that long would be because the system has a prolonged cycle time. i.e. some ebb systems take a long time to fill the pods and then recycle the water back to the rez.
2. I would flush a system for an extended period of time that was infested to the extreme. In this case I may even flush the system more than once.
 
iivan740

iivan740

Well-Known Member
why do you need to dump the rez after a flush instead of just adding nutes?

You dump the rez after a flush so that you remove the contaminate from the system. Whatever the reason you flushed for in the first place is dead or dying and floating in the flush water. Think about all of those nasty dead bacteria, parasites, or whatever floating in you rez to be recirculated with your newly added nutes back into your system if you don't dump the used rez and start fresh.
 
fatman7574

fatman7574

New Member
iivan740 said:
+1

If you have pythia, protozoa, parasites, or "bad" bacteria you should definitely flush your system.
Heres how.
1. empty the rez and drain all liquid from the system.
2. clean the rez tank, pods, hoses, spray bars, pumps, pots, and anything else that is part of your hydro setup.
3. use something to sanitize the parts of the system that can be completely removed from the plants. I.E. the rez, hoses, pumps, etc... I use bleach, I know that some will have issue with this, It's what I use and it works for me.
4. rinse everything
5. rinse everything again
6. put the system back and fill the rez with plain water. NO nutes.
7. Add H2O2 to the water, the recommended amount is 1 tbs. per gallon. I have used a bit more than recommended at times. I've also seen weird shit happen when using H202. you can use chlorox or some other type of oxidizing disinfectant as long as it is plant safe. As fatman stated.
8. run the system for 30 min. to whatever you feel is necessary. Make your system run on a constant loop. I.E if you use a drip make the drip run constantly for the duration. Or if you use spray bars make the pumps continue pumping for the duration. Or is you use ebb and flow make the pods fill and drain constantly for the duration.
9. Drain the rez.
10. repeat steps 3-6. You may elect to only clean the rez at this point, but I would at the very least clean and sanitize the rez.
11. put the system back together, fill the rez with water, and add your nutes.


Back up a bit Ivan. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DRAIN THE RESERVOIR AND ADD FRESH WATER WITH CHLORINE IN ORDER TO DISINFECT YOUR SYSTEM OR TO KILL PATHOGENS. Just add the chlorine to a concentration of around 2.5 ppm to your already in use nutrient water. Run it for a few hours and drain. Wipe out the reservoir well with a 1 to 10 (chlorox to water) solution of chlorox. Fill reservoir with new water and mix as usual and pH balance and restart system. Add enough chlorox to obtain a 0.5 ppm concentration.


As a matter of fact if it was not for needing to remove all the dead partially decomposed organic matter and the bacterial biomass that would just later feed other bacteria there wouldn't even be a need to drain the reservoir and the chlorox.

After you do dump your reservoir and wipe it outs and replace the water and nutrients you should continue with maintaining a low level of chlorine, 0.5 ppm, in the water untill you get the root rot in check or until a few days before harvesting the plants. This means if your reservoir is aerated or your growing using sprayers etc then add a dose of chlorine day at an amount equal to adding 0.5 ppm per day.

If the systems is already badly caught up in root rot then when you change your reservoir out after the first dose of chlorox again to dose to 2.0 ppm instead of just 0.5 ppm. From there continue with 0.5 ppm per day.


If it's protozoa or parasites (fruit fly larva) just use azatrol. It works great, it's derived from nature, and it has a half life of less than three days. It may turn your rez a milky color at first. Don't panic the milky color is normal and should subside over time in my experience.
Burning Buhach works real well fir mtyes, flys etc. It is a pwder that you light with a match and it just smolders andproduces a smaoke. The smoke gets into every nook and cranny. Some do not like the smell but it is harmless. It is used for mosquito control in rural homes through out the U.S. It is a must in Alaska where some call the mosquito the state bird.

I can see no good reason to flush hydro systems for an extended period of time. 3 hours would be my max flush for any hydro setup.
Only 2 reasons come to mind.
1.I would for that long would be because the system has a prolonged cycle time. i.e. some ebb systems take a long time to fill the pods and then recycle the water back to the rez.
2. I would flush a system for an extended period of time that was infested to the extreme. In this case I may even flush the system more than once.
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Ba da, ba da, boom.
 
MeJuana

MeJuana

Well-Known Member
You see I come on to help someone and I end up getting helped. Very nice guys thank you very much, adding some rep too even though I am not the op

Edit: It won't let me give fatman anymore experience for weeks now because I have giving him so much in the past. That is lame, I give rep when I am helped only, I don't sit her just clicking away.
 
iivan740

iivan740

Well-Known Member
fatman7574 said:
Back up a bit Ivan. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DRAIN THE RESERVOIR AND ADD FRESH WATER WITH CHLORINE IN ORDER TO DISINFECT YOUR SYSTEM OR TO KILL PATHOGENS. Just add the chlorine to a concentration of around 2.5 ppm to your already in use nutrient water. Run it for a few hours and drain. Wipe out the reservoir well with a 1 to 10 (chlorox to water) solution of chlorox. Fill reservoir with new water and mix as usual and pH balance and restart system.
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This is absolutely correct.

I can be a bit A.D.D. sometimes, and usually clean everything up first so that I can remove as much filth as possible before I flush. Since I clean the system out first I have to use fresh water on the flush. This is not required to do a good flush, just something I do.
fatman7574 said:
Add enough chlorox to obtain a 0.5 ppm concentration.
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Again absolutely correct.
fatman7574 said:
As a matter of fact if it was not for needing to remove all the dead partially decomposed organic matter and the bacterial biomass that would just later feed other bacteria there wouldn't even be a need to drain the reservoir and the chlorox.
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Again this is correct.

Personally if there is a reason for me to go through the trouble of flushing I want to remove as much of the offending matter as is possible. Even if it is dead.
fatman7574 said:
After you do dump your reservoir and wipe it outs and replace the water and nutrients you should continue with maintaining a low level of chlorine, 0.5 ppm, in the water untill you get the root rot in check or until a few days before harvesting the plants. This means if your reservoir is aerated or your growing using sprayers etc then add a dose of chlorine day at an amount equal to adding 0.5 ppm per day.
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People the man knows what's what so pay attention.
fatman7574 said:
If the systems is already badly caught up in root rot then when you change your reservoir out after the first dose of chlorox again to dose to 2.0 ppm instead of just 0.5 ppm. From there continue with 0.5 ppm per day.
Click to expand...
This is excellent advice, if you have let things get out of hand this may be your saving grace.
fatman7574 said:
Burning Buhach works real well fir mtyes, flys etc. It is a pwder that you light with a match and it just smolders andproduces a smaoke. The smoke gets into every nook and cranny. Some do not like the smell but it is harmless. It is used for mosquito control in rural homes through out the U.S. It is a must in Alaska where some call the mosquito the state bird.
Click to expand...
+1 for an great pest deterrent. I hate the smell of this shit but it works.

Fatman is da man. I can be a bit A.D.D. in my method, I do what works for me. Thank you fatman for clerifying some of the process and letting people know that there are acceptable shortcuts.:clap:
 
MeJuana

MeJuana

Well-Known Member
When I have nothing else to research I look up fatman's posts, which is why I can't give him anymore +rep right now.. As far as I have seen he is the most informative "accurate" person on this forum. Chlorine tester is one of my next purchases too.
 
D

DaPurjn1

Member
Thats the simplest way to putit. You flush to wash away built up salts from your nutrient solution. The salts build up in the rootzone and in the media. So, if you add nutrients to this flushed out water, you will be putting it right back if you reuse the water, PLUS youll be adding MORE salt when you add the new nutes. DONT DO IT. Use the tap water if you have to drive that far for good H2O. GAS PRICE V.S. possibly slight yield decrease. HMMMM
 
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