Hello JHazzardB,
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They get changed roughly every 10 days. Sometimes I add nutes to them.
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I'm not sure you understand what I mean by changing the
nutrient solution. I mean dumping out all of the old nutrient solution and mixing up a whole new fresh batch. That is the only way to ensure a balanced nutrient solution. Plants don't take up the different mineral salts/elements evenly, they take up what they need and leave the rest. Again the problem with PPM/EC meters is they cant tell you what is in the water. If you just rely on what numbers you see on the meters, then you will eventually wind up with some elements being at toxic levels.
Like I said plants don't take up the mineral salts evenly, and only absorb what they need and leave the rest. That means when you add more
nutrients, you not only add what the plants used, but you are adding what the plants didn't use as well. That means that for those nutrients the plants don't use as much of, the adding of more nutrients will lead to a build up of them in the water, and eventually they will reach toxic levels if all you do is just add nutrients tell you get a number on your meter. Because PPM/EC meters cant tell you the levels of each element in the water (the only thing I want them to do), they wont be able to tell you when a particular mineral element is depleted, or at a dangerous or toxic level, so they just don't help.
Not to mention whatever mystery elements are in your source water to begin with will build up as well. As an example: often times there is a lot of calcium in the water supply, and a buildup of calcium can bond with the iron causing nutrient lockout of both calcium and iron. Our source water here in the desert has a lot of excess iron, calcium, and Manganese, not to mention many other minerals. So I use RO or filtered water only.
To ensure a balanced nutrient solution, you need to completely change it regularly (and should use a good source water). How often depends on the size of the plants compared to the amount of water volume, even temperature and humidity. But for me, I generally change it anywhere from 1 to 4 weeks.