Ebb flow garden system
- Thread starter Lycan77
- Start date
id say go with either a full on nft/aero setup or a small flood table and use small square pots... that system in the pic has a few things going on that I can't see as being "good"... maybe not really bad either but it would require a lot of work to clean by looking at it... my flood and drain tables require a fair amount more work to keep clean than I originally thought but definitely a lot easier than pulling all that apart based on only looking at it..
Lycan77
Member
Thanks for the feedback. I've always grown in soil. I have air pumps and 2 big airstones. I've been wanting to try the dwc totes with about 6 plants in each tote. Using 2 of those to have a total of 12 plants.
Nothing wrong with that... just remember that water/nutrient temp is imperative no matter which hydro method you choose, water temp is mucho importantay... 65-70 degrees, 72 absolute max or else you'll be battling root disease and poor growth due to lack of oxygen which leads to root disease and a million other problems... hydroponic methods should all come with a disclaimer that states if you can't maintain 65-70 degree water at all times; don't waste your time or $ and rather pick up some soil and make life easy for yourself...
My advice would be to setup your equipment and run it all out as it would be without plants and monitor water temps for a couple days and see where your water temps land at its high and low and make your decision from there before wasting more time and $ on genetics... if you can't create the proper environment, your going to be disappointed and fight an uphill battle that's going to take your attention away from learning the basics and turn it into a true trial by fire that in most cases ends in people quitting before they even have a chance to see if they "have" what it takes... complexity is the enemy of reliability, hydroponics is the true meaning of complexity to a newish person to this game... if it's your first true go round really research the differences and complexities of hydro vs soil... soil is the best place to start for most new people due to its forgiving nature compared to hydro... just some food for thought... and I say this because I learned the hard way... I spent $100's if not $1000's attempting to grow hydro only to figure out I couldn't hack it but was lucky enough to stumble into a bag of soil and was lucky enough to find my way...
Good luck either way....
My advice would be to setup your equipment and run it all out as it would be without plants and monitor water temps for a couple days and see where your water temps land at its high and low and make your decision from there before wasting more time and $ on genetics... if you can't create the proper environment, your going to be disappointed and fight an uphill battle that's going to take your attention away from learning the basics and turn it into a true trial by fire that in most cases ends in people quitting before they even have a chance to see if they "have" what it takes... complexity is the enemy of reliability, hydroponics is the true meaning of complexity to a newish person to this game... if it's your first true go round really research the differences and complexities of hydro vs soil... soil is the best place to start for most new people due to its forgiving nature compared to hydro... just some food for thought... and I say this because I learned the hard way... I spent $100's if not $1000's attempting to grow hydro only to figure out I couldn't hack it but was lucky enough to stumble into a bag of soil and was lucky enough to find my way...
Good luck either way....
HydroRed
Well-Known Member
Flood and drain table is going to be your easiest,most convenient way to do hydroponics SOG in my opinion. With a F&D setup you can have 1 huge plant or do 46 small plants all with the same table and setup. Plus its about as close to the K.I.S.S. method as you can get. Easy to clean, break down, set up & reuse. I went from drip feed to F&D and dont think I'll be going back to drip. I have $70 into a 4x3 diy flood table setup and it works perfect. So well in fact I built another just like it.
toaster struedel
Well-Known Member
I see quite a few people using that system with good results! I use a ebb flow bucket system, and it was the best move I made in 15+ years of growing. I started in dirt, moved onto DWC, and went to ebb + flow. I think it's the easiest method so far, for me anyway. Takes all the work and hassle out of growing. Until clean up time comes, six cleaning 160 liters of hydroton. But that's only every 2 months.
ThaMagnificent
Well-Known Member
That's and breaking down the system is to clean and reset up. What nutes do you run? I've found the powder to be easier to maintain and clean. Botanicare is another story...
toaster struedel
Well-Known Member
I run GH flora series, with their silica and calmag,along with Floralicious plus, hydro guard,liquid Koolbloom and dry KB the last 2 or 3 weeks. I only use the grow during veg. The Floralicious is the only thing that mucks up my pump filter bags. But well worth the mess IMO.
ThaMagnificent
Well-Known Member
I ran botanicare line my first run and the liquid karma mucked up my lines real good. Too much pain to clean up imo
HydroRed
Well-Known Member
I'm a lazy SOB and just buy more hydroton. I could bake it in the oven I suppose if I were to reuse it? Whats your method to restore your hydroton for reuse?
cat of curiosity
Well-Known Member
old used washing machine with a touch of bleach, rinsed and spun a few times. just don't overfill, it'll break the fins and fuck up the motor.
Lycan77
Member
I'm limited to a height of a 5' tent (4' actual grow height). Do you think I could still do the flow and drain system? I usually grow auto's but also have some good feminized beans.
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HydroRed
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry, I didnt realize the dimensions you were working with in your first post. Thats a small area to try and tackle a F&D hydroponics setup just because of the headspace limitation. Whatever method you go, your likely going to want to run indica dominant strains since they are usually short and bushy and great for SOG.
toaster struedel
Well-Known Member
I soak mine in hot water and florakleen, after I dry em and remove all the roots first. It would break me to buy five 36l bags every grow. I've baked them in the past, but not every time.
HydroRed
Well-Known Member
Thats far more than I use so I can see why you aren't lazy like me haha. My plant count and pot sizes are rather small. I use 1 gal pots in my new system and before that I used 6" netpots that held about 1/2 gal worth of hydroton each. I barely put a dent in a 56L bag between 2-3 grows.
ThaMagnificent
Well-Known Member
What about sexing? can't throw em all in the buckets because you'd have to yank out males and waste buckets?
Dopaw13
Well-Known Member
you can still have a flood and drain system like HydroRed's just make the table shorter and get a shallower long rez great thing about DiY is you can change someone's original design to fit your needs. And like he said want to stay with indica dominant strains to keep it small something like this https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-50-Quart-Wheeled-Latch-Box/46001909#about paint the outside black then white to reflect and light that hits it.
toaster struedel
Well-Known Member
I only use clones in the ebb & flow, seedlings go in DWC buckets or dirt until sex is determined.
ThaMagnificent
Well-Known Member
So my screen around the filter caps did not work. It seems that the screen is causing a leak between the rubber rings that hold the flood valve in place in the bottom of the buckets. Fuck! I had everything setup and now I have to unplug all the buckets just to take the screen out! I think I'm going to try and lay the screen on top of the flood valves and hold them down with some hydroton next...
Are you using the Hydrofarm controller bucket? Does the clock make a ticking sound when it's on? I can't remember. My flood timer work when it hits the right time on the dial, but it seems like the dial isn't moving itself?