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First DWC run, any tips?!

My flower tent... Did last deflation on bubba kush clone, going into week 4 here soon with her so figured one last hair cut... Orange sour clone in back looking good still going into week 5 here.. her mother was a longer flowerer.. so we'll see.. also threw inn a small orange sour clone back beside it's sister..
 

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So everything is still doing good! I just wanted to ask how long people can wait before changing out the bucket? Weekly is recommended, but I've read where people go whole grows only changing the water at different life cycles? Or only two three weeks at a time.. So figure in gonna try getting away with every two weeks.. my plants haven't ate much , so just added fresh ph'd water when needed.. got about another four days now until I'm on second week from a good cleaning.. gonna try every two weeks empty an scrub with h202 see what happens.. Should be fine.. I check it once daily ( pH an ppm) so soon as my flower tent opens up I'll put both buckets in flower tent... Probably about 4 more weeks are so..
 
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The longer that you go between reservoir water changes will allow nutrients to build up and with some of them, precipitate out of solution, forming a 'crust' in the bottom and on the sides of the reservoir. This can lead to nutrient burn and will make the reservoir more difficult to clean between grows. It also makes the cleaning more necessary because the 'crust' gives microbes and such a place to survive a rinsing out. I use the full strength GH schedule and only get a small (the very tips of the leaves) burn showing during the grow, and water, at mid week, with only pH'ed water to top off the reservoirs. Changing the water weekly also reduces the need for a long flushing period before harvest.
 
What he said!! Weekly change, but reconsider the scrubbing with H2O2: if you are using any beneficial bacteria, the H2O2 will kill that, so you'll be starting fresh each week trying to colonize good bacteria, microbes, etc.
 
alltatup, The 'scrubbing' that I do is after the grow is finished. I do not use H2O2 to clean my reservoirs, I first use a water and vinegar mix (50%/50%), allow it to soak over night. Secondly I use dish soap and water to clean out everything, then, finally, I let the reservoir soak (over night, again) with a mixture of bleach and water (1/3 bleach to 2/3 water), then drain and rinse out until there is no trace of the bleach smell. It is a little trouble, but has worked well for me on the last several grows.
 
I’ve been using Hydroguard on my first small 3 gal reservoir 2 auto grow; but after some comments here planning to change to FloraShield. I sometimes have to wait 2 weeks to change the res out of necessity. So if I use GH full strength (not noticing any nutrient burn so far during beg veg) and only top w ph water the plants get enough nutrients between 7-14 days? What I’m hearing here is that if I do have to go two weeks then work a bit harder to get all of the residue buildup out.

Also if the res is changed every week or even two weeks how is it possible to build up a good bacteria colony w Hydroguard or some other product any way? For this type of setup it seems to me the way to go is eliminate the bad bacteria. What I know about this could fit in a thimble but do find it fascinating and will be making my next change in 5-6 days so I need to get my plan together.

Gratitude.
 
Makes sense to not even give it a chance to build up or cause any problems.. I was just thinking like mayjortom here an thinking I wanted all that good stuff I'm pouring inn there not too go to waste.. but I will change it tomorrow, in a week an half in an still looks great tonight, no changes in temp or pH,ppm, so I'll give it just a rinse tomorrow an re fill! Thanks for all the advise!
 
I use the GH FloraShield (2 - 3 ml/gal) with the nutrient change and in the mid week top off. Have You thought of setting up a gravity feed system to keep the water level steady for the times that You can not be there to change out or top off the system? The Bubbleponics system had a set up with a larger reservoir mounted above the other reservoirs for gravity flow. There was a 'control' reservoir with a float valve in it, as the level went down in the grow reservoirs, the float valve would let water (or nutrient mix) into the control reservoir which was connected to the growing reservoir, maintaining the predetermined water level. This would allow the grow to be unattended for some time (depending on the capacities required and the available space for everything. One would still need to have a method to keep the water temperatures down to correct levels and there would be some buildup without the weekly changes.
 
DW2 Ooooooh, ok, cuz I made the mistake on one of my first grows of wiping out the reservoir with H2O2, and then had lots of trouble with my roots!!!
 
Sounds good. Somebody should experiment to see if there are differences between weekly and bi-weekly water/nute changes, but I'm not volunteering.

What I do do: As soon as my seeds have germinated, I put the seedling in my hydro grow box with plain pH'd water in the reservoir. When the roots are getting close enough to the water, I replace the water with a low-nute mixture, and I don't change this water for around 2 weeks; I just top off. It's true that baby roots are happiest with the least amount of disturbance possible.

I also have my fresh water/nutes prepared and ready to drain into reservoir before I drain the old water out. The faster I can do it, the happier everyone is.
 
That’s the backup res setup I’m using plus an ice probe type chiller on a timer; and an auto ph system. I’ve had to play w it all a bit to get all the settings right. I hope it’s all still working and keeping them happy! I just found out I’m gonna be another 2 days away next week bringing the total days away this time to 14. And then I’ll only have about 24 hours to set it all up for the next 10 days... didn’t count on my work being this demanding when I started this but I’m not giving in; I’ve come too far. This takes a lot of dedication for sure. And thanks for the tip on keeping the res buildup cleaned out. Would I just do that w a rag dipped in H202?
 
My long changes right now are mainly out of necessity. Maybe when I get a little better at this I’ll volunteer for the study...
 
Made it yet days shy of two weeks an plants seem ok? I change everything last night so, should be fine! Started using microbe life photo plus in my hydro buckets... Been doing wonderful mixed into my soil nutrients! But thanks for all the help and tips everyone!!
 

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Also need to ask, because I've been looking it up all day an can't find a straight answer!! Why does my girl scout cookie have a hollow main Stem!? I topped it an trying to clone the cut.. but it's hollow?! No other signs or deficiencys... Just got me stuck?!
 
MajorTom, the H2O2 will kill off some of the organisms, but will not do much for the residue buildup. Plain old distilled vinegar (used for pickling and canning) is a mild acid and will dissolve and or remove the residue. I let my reservoir soak, over night, with a mixture of 1/3 vinegar to water. You could use the vinegar 'straight' and scrub out the reservoir if You can not spend the time for the soak. I use bleach to sanitize the reservoir after removing the build up and rinse (over night soak) with plain water to remove traces of the bleach.
It sounds like You have the makings of a good system. Keep adjusting and soon You'll have a grow setup that You can 'drop in seeds and pull out the weed!',(lol). Good luck with Your grow.
 
The hollow stem is normal, every one of the plants that I have harvested have them. That is the way the water and the nutrients get through the plant.
 
Plants are still doing great! I noticed some brown algae buildup on the roots of those plants but I lot worse on the GSC.. now I've been using floralaicous plus an it stains my roots a browish color but, I was getting a dark brown build up in the top middle of my root ball. So I emptied it the buckets, scrubbed with h202 an re filled after I did some test to find the light leak.. after a while of trying to find it I gave up an wrapped the whole buckets in big bubble wrap.. also taped a reflective flap over the bucket lids so.. shouldn't have any problems now.. Don't really see how I had a little light leak before? But the only thing I can think of is the clear air tube I'm using... I've taped it all up with black tape tho... From pump all the way to the inside of the bucket... Even doubled up on the tape t to make sure.. so I'll keep a close eye on it.. other than that everything else has been looking perfect.. my flower tent will be mostly emptied out here in two weeks after I flush.. so i will be putting the two dwc buckets into the flower tent soon! Can't wait! Will Max out Lucas formula with additives an throw my new metal halide light in my cool tube... Just for the first few weeks of flower to get a really nice stretch... I also have my first fully organic super soil I made my self to try out, ten gal pot full of worms also.. put the biggest bubba kush clone I have into the big pot.. I'm hoping to fit two five gal dwc bucket an a ten gal dirt bucket all into flower tent at the same time, really hope they all fit! Will probably be snug but.. should be awesome.. we'll see here soon I guess..
 
How cool are you keeping your reservoir temps? They should not exceed 70 degrees F. I usually keep mine between 60-65 F. Any "funny" smells coming from the root zone?
 
Clear air tubes are a no no, but it sounds like you've done the right thing. I use nutes that stain my roots brown, too, but I've also dealt with root rot, so I know the difference.
 
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