Run to waste or recirculating?

[son666]

Hi Guys,

 

Im tossing up whether to go for a run to waste system or a recirculating one. What are the pro's and con's of each system, also what differs between how the systems are run ( feeding, flushing, testing etc...)

 

Thanks

[Buster]

From what I can gather (and I have no experience with hydro) is that with run to waste you haven't got the worries about fluctuating PH or nute toxicity due to different nutes being needed in different amounts by the plant. The down side I presume is that you will use more nutes and obviously you'll have to have somewhere to run the waste to.

 

I'm sure some of the hydro growers can give you a more indepth answer

 

 

Buster.

[Mick666]

Im growing some AK99 and Big Bud ATM growing in 50/50 coco peat/perlite, just hand watering. Its great I hand water just till water drips out the bottom so I don't waste any nutes really. So easy and I would think alot less chance of having problems (diesease and what buster said above)

 

It is a pain in the ass having to be here every 2 days to water them tho... Hopefully setup a trumpf water sensor on them soon and put a 25L res up top so they can water themselves

 

Anyone else used these trumpf things? they are only 12 bux each and they open a valve when there is no moisture in your medium and then close it when it is wet enough again...

 

With reciruclating systems Im sure they would end up costing more because you need pumps and heaps of testers etc etc etc

 

IMO Run to waste is the go, but im very certain alot of people will disagree...

[Guest weekprik]

they sound good but what would happen if they failed and dumped the whole amount of nutes in to the soil??

[Tom]

they sound good but what would happen if they failed and dumped the whole amount of nutes in to the soil??

If you are using a well drained media there shouldn't be too much of a problem other than wasted nutrients.

 

IMO Run to waste is the go, but im very certain alot of people will disagree...

I use one myself, it doesn't cost me any more to run than a recirculating system would and there is a lot less time spent on maintenance and much less money needed to spend on equipment to test the nutrient, the only tester I use is for PH. Check the link in my signature for a description of my system.

 

http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/ruinkai/coolgleamA.gif

[son666]

don't you still need all the testers to check the ph and ppm of your reservoir?? How does feeding differ betwwen RTW and recirculating?

[Guest Field_of_Light]

I personally found that RTW used 60% more nutrients with my ssystem....but overall maintenance was very low...I still flushed every week or so....

 

This was of great benefit to me as I was the lazy grower...

 

Recirc....better I think for well maintained systems...Ie you check em fairly frequently....saves u plenty on nutes...

and I never worried about the ph as I found it within acceptable margins all the time....something to do with the nute being made for adelaide water conditions.....

[pipeman]

tap water tends to be slightly alkaline, an mj ntes tend to bring it back somewhere closer to the 5.2-6.3 range that you are aiming for in hydro. So, if you are using a run to waste system and have correctly mixed nutes chances are you won't be far off the idea PH range. So if you're just running to waste it may be OK.

 

However with recirculating systems PH monitering becomes more critical I find for my bubbler I am continually adding PH down at least every couple of days.

[son666]

I'd prefer to use run to waste, as im still not understanding how to keep all the nutes in check with a recirculating system. Has anyone got any ideas on where to run the waste though since i will be doing my grow inside a room.

[Guest Field_of_Light]

if u live in your house by yourself and dont mind cutting holes..cut one in your floor and run a hose outside onto the concrete...youll probably have to cut a hole in the brickwork as well.......do not run it under your house....

 

Or run a hose into your bathroom...and it will drain down your sink.....or run it outside to feed your garden!

 

Unless u are taking the whole mj growing business extremely seriously I wouldnt worry so much about testing for nutrient defficiencies/oversupply etc........recirc is hyper easy to setup and great to be self contained