Reservoir flushing

[headhigh]

I've been doing a bit of reading about flushing

 

Alot of nutrient manufactures are saying you need to do it once a week, this seems rather overkill.

 

My setup has a 90L res connected to 5 x 20L buckets

 

thats a metric shit tonne of high quality premium priced nute water to throw away every week.

 

whats the take? i'm thinking of doing a proper flush every 4 - 6 weeks as it is going to be quite difficult due to my setup (max floor space for flowering = little moving room)

 

Do you see dramatically different results in plants that is flushed regularly?

 

do the nutrients degrade left in the water?

 

I've purchased a reverse osmosis system so my water is quite pure now (strangely my ph only lowered abit over 1 point from 9 to 7.5 (ppm went from 250 to 11))

 

any input is greatly appreciated

Edited May 24, 2011 by headhigh

[Aar0n92]

I think you suppose to flush in the last 1-2 week/s of flowering. Hope it's helps.

[One]

hi headhigh,

 

Umm....I used to scrub my res, flush my plants & squeeze and flush the hoses from pots to reserovir...every week.

It was time consuming, but after a few times, i got the whole method down to about 20minutes...(originated @ 40mins).

The worst build up is in your hoses draining back from your 20L buckets to your reservoir.

 

A Clean Watering System, Is a Happy Watering System, Which Means..... Healthier Plants.

 

One.......

 

 

P.S. FLUSHING YOUR SYSTEM IS HGHLY RECOMMEND AND EXTREMLEY BENEFICIAL TO PLANT GROWTH

[merl1n]

Regular flushing is a must.

Salt build up can be toxic to the plant, this can cause leaf deformities, spots, leaf curl.

It encourages microbes that invite diseases like pythmosis and root rot. Does flushing make a difference? 'hell yes'

 

The smoke from unflushed weed is harsh and chemically in taste and a well flushed smoke is a shitload smoother

Now I use perlite and topfeed with a pump from a 30ltr brain tub. So in a regular flush, usually fortnightly (as recommended by my nutes),

I throw out about 90-100 ltr, about 30 ltr of used nute mix. For my final days of flushing. I'm using about 60-90litre/day of straight pH adjusted water.

 

Now I'm not sure about reverse osmosis and salts. My understanding was that reverse osmosis killed off the bugs and bacteria from the water, but salts are very different. I maybe very wrong and I am open to enlightenment if somebody has the info, let me know. But flushing a hydro system can clear up many problems and it re adjusts the environment, refreshes everything. You try going more than 2 weeks without a shower (bit simplistic I know but it works)

and yes you do notice a difference in growth rate and plant colour. A happier plant

 

Hope it helps

 

Merl1n

[headhigh]

hmmm....

 

i guess if i can get it timed correctly, just when the res is getting low it would make it alot easier to do a proper flush

 

May start to do it every 2- 3 weeks depending on the dosage of that particular week.

 

Another Q

 

When to start flushing?

 

i've always done it at the forth week (from when the seedlings popped) is that too long?

[One]

head high,

 

yeah, your getting the idea, every week is wat most growers stick to for a full system flush....

 

It's a good habbit to get into. Especially if you are ever going to upgrade to a larger scale setup.

 

One........

[ConvexConepiece]

I usually go 1-2wks for a 90L res.

 

I rarely ever top up with more nutes - only plain water until i've added an equal amount extra water as my initial res capacity.

 

I do think you see a small 'boost' a day or two after a fresh tank.

 

That being said, when in veg i've left the res go longer with no ill effects but during critical flower periods I keep on top of it.

 

Also there are certain nutes such as canna aqua which apparently can be used in a continual top up setup... do some research on it.

 

Cheers

[headhigh]

looks like i'm gonna have to modify my setup to include a 'flush' function.

 

Bit of a pain as i'm going to have to make holes in the wall and get an extra pump along with some decent length of PVC pipe.

 

i dont' plan on upgrading to larger setup - keeping plant numbers to a minimum in case those dirty piggers rock up (touch wood).

 

Thanks guys

[nugget]

Sorry guys I really need to learn how to read I don't use a reservoir.

 

Edited May 25, 2011 by nugget

[merl1n]

Lots of ppl have their own ways of doing a flush, something that suits them and their system.

One member talks of not having a resi, you talk of making additional holes, each setup will have it's own needs or specs to consider. My resi is outside the grow space so no extra holes are needed, just a garden hose. I don't use an extra pump just a couple of taps to redirect the flow from one pump.

There isn't a right and wrong way of doing it. For me, my way works. Somebody else did the same thing and had a major flood How I don't know 'cos I didn't say anything about flooding his basement . But the timing the method and frequency is all up to you but again flushing is a must, imho.

My flush cycle starts from the day the plants go under HID.

Two weeks from that day I flush and every two weeks from then until final flush, which is about 3 days of straight pH adjusted water. On occasions when the pH won't settle or the ec is too high and I can't get it down, I'll do a mini flush in between the 2 weeks. Some ppl say this is a waste of nutes and not nessessary and that's fine, but for me and my setup, It works.

You need to work out what works for you. A bit of trial and error. The plant will tell you when she's not happy, then its time to change something.

 

Merl1n

Edited May 25, 2011 by merl1n