cassiusclay

I have a tiny res in my drip & flow pvc system. This is my first time goin hydro, so I didn't consider res size (prob shoulda done more homework).

Its only 4 gal. (4 plants). I plan to end up with 1-3 females, but they are only 20 days old and just drank almost 2 qt. in 4 hours.

So I'm thinking that about week 5 of flower I could be in trouble w/ 12 hrs of dark to get through.

I could make the room almost totally light proof and open the door to top up the res. at 6hrs. Maybe use a tiny green lite to see the water level.

Or maybe a float valve. It would need to fit inside a vertical 6" pvc tube.

Do they make these in small sizes? gravity operated? electric? I have another pump so I could fill w/that on an electric one. or just set up a tank.

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Mary Don't Change,Mary make a man walk a
mile in the rain,Mary Mary Never temporary,She my
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jamesgang

... Nutrient uptake is at a minimum. I wouldnt worry as long as the plants are not MONSTERS ...

JG

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THE MONSTERMAN RETURNS...


The JamesGang

DoVVn_CaSt

I cant see 4 plants using 4 gallons overnight(unless they are huge).In my opinion a slightly small res is a good thing.It forces you to change the water and the nutes frequently.Theres really no need to do a res change because the water is always being replaced.Its a good idea to clean out any organic material though.Somewhere I heard that 1 gallon per plant of water is ideal.I use a 20 gallon res for about 36 3-4 ft plants and they use about half of it ever other day.

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36 Plant Aeroponic Grow

Super Skunk SOG Grow(Last Grow)

Blue Moonshine X Super Skunk

cassiusclay

thanks.

so jg, you're saying plants don't use as much nutes during flower? that's good, maybe they won't drink as much as they are now.

DoVVn_CaSt, that sounds great. I do have a lot of control w/ a small res, and I don't mind frequent checks/fills. still beats the heck outta dirt. They are starting to smell good and I'll bet they'll taste better than dirt too

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Mary Don't Change,Mary make a man walk a
mile in the rain,Mary Mary Never temporary,She my
sanctuary

penguin

Hi cassiusclay

Good to see you exploring water world.

How much light will you be using in bloom?

4gal is really too little for one plant, much less 4. At best it will have very little pH and EC stability. It also gives you no margin of error, if you miss a top-up for any reason, that could be the end for your plants.


penguin

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JWCyborg

cassiusclay
I'm not trying to speak out of turn here, and don't profess to know the mind of Jamesgang, but I don't believe that is what he meant.

The plants use plenty of nutrients during flower. I believe he was talking about nutrient uptake during the dark cycle.

Just saying

JW

cassiusclay

1000w HPS. now on 1000w MH

The EC does go down between tops (2-3 per day) but the PH seems relatively stable. The pvc is designed to be ph stable or neutral. I know its much more labor intensive this way but I don't know if I can use a float-valve in this set-up..?

Oh I see, well thanks for clearing that up. That is good news because its the 12 hr period I'm worried about. I can always add nutes when I top but if the water level gets too low overnite, the PH will get too high.
If I start at 5.6 at lights out, I'm hoping it won't go over 6.1 by lights on.
I know that the high end is better during flower.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated

__________________
Mary Don't Change,Mary make a man walk a
mile in the rain,Mary Mary Never temporary,She my
sanctuary