i was wondering this, my 5 gallon REZ level lowers naturally due to evaporation, uptake in plants or whatever the reasons. so when the water level lowers like this, does the concentration of NUTES increase? or is there actually less NUTES because the plants have eaten them up? so is the water evaporation/plant uptake in proportion to the NUTES being used up?

okay, this question is getting to weird sounding... basically, if the water goes down in level, what do i do? i know i'm getting an EC meter and i know some answers may be to check the EC levels and such.

thank you for any responses.

If you don't have a EC of TDS meter you should top off the rez with PH adjusted, distilled or RO water with nutes pre mixed (1/2 strength), most of the loss of water is from evaporation. The evaporation leaves the nutes in the rez and this means higher PPM, and can burn the plants. I find that if you change the rez every week, you don't really need to worry too much about this, maybe make a habit of adding 1 gallon of distilled or RO water with nutes pre mixed (1/2 strength) halfway through the week. For example: I change the nutes on sundays, and on wednesdays I add 1 gallon with nutes 1/2 strength nutes to each 6 galolon rez, and I have no problems with my PPM levels. I start the week at ~475 PPM and by the end of the week I have ~300 PPM. I use DWC style hydro.

You should post some pics for us to see.


L0rdsOth

one of the best investments is something to measure the PPM. This way you know what your plants are doing. I have a 40 leter res and find that all of a sudden one day the water level will drop. When I measure the PPM they are very high 1800PMM+ and I have to add water to get it back down. The plants will go through cycles and somedays drink the water and other days the food. If the PPM gets to high it becomes toxic to the plant and will stress out the plant. I also flush for 24 hr each week when changing the res. It is also a good idea expecaily when the plants get better to check both PH and PPM about 3 times a day to keep every thing stable.
More stable the less stress the better the end results.

PH is the most important thing in growing hydroponically.
A too high or low PH will quickly show up in plants, sometimes being fatal. Even fluctuations in ph will stress plants, it is important to keep it constant. If you have to adjust your water to use, then do so in a seperate container.
the second most important thing is nutes or ppm. plant s don't use all the nutes in the res., just what they need at that time. as the res lowers it can be topped off once with your ph adjusted water, then check the ppm's and raise as needed. when it needs water again clean the tank out along with the pump, reassemble, refill, test and you're good to go.
peace
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Would someone take a quick glance at these nutes. Tell me if they are usable.
http://www.landmsales.com/Dyna%20Gro.htm#

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