Need help with reservoir size

[Weaselcracker]

Hey folks. I am plotting on switching to a drain to waste Hydro system. Ideally I want to grow one large plant under a 600 W light. Will use a Coco in a 3 gallon pot, or larger if necessary. I would like to be away for a week sometimes if I have to be, without the pump running dry obviously. What reservoir size would you use in this situation?
I have looked through a lot of threads and I posted a version of this question elsewhere, but still a bit confused. Part of the reason I am asking is in the area where i live we run on a rainwater collection system and tend to want to conserve. In my current set up with two 600 W lights and about 20 plants in soil I use about 50 gallons max every two weeks.

 

[cannaguru]

A 600w light can cover a 4X4 area well. To grow a plant of about 16sqft you need a pot closer to 20gal. Don't think of water usage on a per/plant basis but rather a volume basis. If you have 10 plants in a 2gal pot and one large in a 20gal pot the water usage will be similar. Of course this depends on the size of the plant, the stage etc... so water needs will change over time greatly. Best for you to use a digital timer and test fed using your system first. See how long it takes for your coco to reach desired feeding right before you leave for vacation. Then set the time to replicate.

In my opinion in full flower 25gal would NOT be enough for 2 weeks.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Hey thanks bro for the reply. Yes I figured a large plant would use about the same amount of water as a bunch of smaller plants in the same area with about the same amount of runoff and surface transpiration. Not sure about the pot size thing. 3 gallons does sound tiny but I haven't heard of anyone using much more than 5 gallons with coco. (I don't know that much about coco, I only used it once many years ago and it didn't turn out well (lol) but I know they've improved their cleaning process with Coco since then.) I'm not so limited/worried by pot size though. The Cap'n says his "10 ounce monsters" drink about a gallon a day so with a bit of a run off you would think they wouldn't go through much more then 10 gallons a week(?) Of course I'm going to have to set this thing up slowly by trial and error and learn from experience as always. Just hoping to pick the brains of the vast knowledge that's here on this awesome site. Going on vacation sounds nice! As it is now I'm often away about four or five days a week for life obligations. This is working out fine with the soil though I'd rather be there every day of course. Actually I want to turn both of my 600 W lights over to a Hydro system but don't want to go in that direction only to find out that I have a water shortage. There is always more that can be done such as building more rainwater cisterns if I absolutely need to. It sounds from you like I would need a 50 gallon res to run the plants for a week or so under the two 600s. Sounds like a huge amount of water for two plants but that's why I'm asking the people who've been down this road already. Cheers mate.

 

[c526]

Mine is a little bigger, @ 5ft and I can leave for a week with the 27g tote

mine currently drinks 2 gallons a day,in aprox 11 gallons of croutons,BUT as the water levels drop the ppm rise,so mix it low and go on vacation

in a 3.5 gallon pot,I can get 8-9 dryed zips and use a 15 gallon tote for a weeks vacation

I have a thread in my current journal

--but look at skybound,greenthumb,african grower,shanker65 we have all taken the Capns advice and are killing it,good luck, hope to welcome ya aboard the capns ship

 

[Weaselcracker]

Mine is a little bigger, @ 5ft and I can leave for a week with the 27g tote

mine currently drinks 2 gallons a day,in aprox 11 gallons of croutons,BUT as the water levels drop the ppm rise,so mix it low and go on vacation

in a 3.5 gallon pot,I can get 8-9 dryed zips and use a 15 gallon tote for a weeks vacation

I have a thread in my current journal

--but look at skybound,greenthumb,african grower,shanker65 we have all taken the Capns advice and are killing it,good luck, hope to welcome ya aboard the capns ship

Sweet. Thanks so much! I will look up those member's threads. Extra bonus points for telling me kind of what I wanted to hear re the reservoir size Lol. I think I'm going to have to increase my water supply anyway but it looks like I might have enough to work with at least for now. Actually I've already been following along with that crazy monster you've been growing. Subscribed now

 

[cannaguru]

Hey thanks bro for the reply. Yes I figured a large plant would use about the same amount of water as a bunch of smaller plants in the same area with about the same amount of runoff and surface transpiration. Not sure about the pot size thing. 3 gallons does sound tiny but I haven't heard of anyone using much more than 5 gallons with coco. (I don't know that much about coco, I only used it once many years ago and it didn't turn out well (lol) but I know they've improved their cleaning process with Coco since then.) I'm not so limited/worried by pot size though. The Cap'n says his "10 ounce monsters" drink about a gallon a day so with a bit of a run off you would think they wouldn't go through much more then 10 gallons a week(?) Of course I'm going to have to set this thing up slowly by trial and error and learn from experience as always. Just hoping to pick the brains of the vast knowledge that's here on this awesome site. Going on vacation sounds nice! As it is now I'm often away about four or five days a week for life obligations. This is working out fine with the soil though I'd rather be there every day of course. Actually I want to turn both of my 600 W lights over to a Hydro system but don't want to go in that direction only to find out that I have a water shortage. There is always more that can be done such as building more rainwater cisterns if I absolutely need to. It sounds from you like I would need a 50 gallon res to run the plants for a week or so under the two 600s. Sounds like a huge amount of water for two plants but that's why I'm asking the people who've been down this road already. Cheers mate.

As the 420admin said, you got to go 10gal or better. He said 15.. I said 20gal ... this is more about maximizing your yield for the 600w light. And the more the volume the longer you can go without feeding especially in Coco.

I suggest a coco Pearlite mix.. and make sure to Add Magnesium to any Coco grow. You may get by using 25galon two 600's but not in full flower in my experience. Not if you are not under watering.

 

[Weaselcracker]

As the 420admin said, you got to go 10gal or better. He said 15.. I said 20gal ... this is more about maximizing your yield for the 600w light. And the more the volume the longer you can go without feeding especially in Coco.

I suggest a coco Pearlite mix.. and make sure to Add Magnesium to any Coco grow. You may get by using 25galon two 600's but not in full flower in my experience. Not if you are not under watering.

Good advice thanks man. No- underwatering plants is definitely not a place I'm interested in going to. I just have no experience of what to expect with this system and don't want to go down this road if it won't work. This sounds good though. I can at least get one 15 or 20 gallon res going for one of my lights and learn a bunch and if I want to go hydro later with the other light maybe use another res for that which gives me better flexibility anyway.