Switching back to hydro, help a bro out

[eekje]

Hey guys,
After running on dirt for 1.5 year I truly got tired of lifting bags of dirt 4 floors every few months.

I am planning on running an Ebb and Flow setup like the one from this video.
I plan on using rockwool giant cubes inside pots as medium. I am aware of rockwool preparation before use etc.

I have a few questions tho:

1. Does my res temp have to be chilled? (i will be using hydroguard etc but still) I do have some temp probs in my growroom to be honest and i don't want any root rot. I have red here that ebb and flow is better than dwc/aero/nft if you have room-temp problems.

2. Does flooding in blooming phase increase the humidity in the room?

3. Any other tips regarding this method I should be aware of?

tnx in advance

 

[mjinc]

1. Will depend on your ambient temperatures but my guess is you will need a bit of chilling.

2. Yes it will do. All that water under lights with a large surface area will mean more evaporation and more humidity

3. I use big rockwool cubes also but use DTW, it was just easier for me. Watch the moisture levels of your cubes, they will be like sponges and soak up a ton of water. Later in the cycle that can be a good thing but early on it may stunt root growth.

 

[zypheruk]

Put a cover over the table and that will keep your humidity under control. A cover like on nft works fine as will panda film.
As for the res wrap it in insulation, stick an air pump in there if desired.

 

[chemphlegm]

exposing water to a room with moving air/heat etc will increase humidity.
use white trays to reduce heat in the root zone
use grodan rocks or similar, they can be reused in your gardens unlike blocks of indestructible spun glass rockwool.
you may only have to flood a couple times a day for a minute or two, just a dunk is all you need, a couple inches up the pot.
choose pots wisely, I loved my square 2 gallon ones for fit and management. put a filter on your tray drain, figure out a slick way to drain old reservoirs, they are heavier than five gallon dirt buckets(I changed from my beloved flood/drain to promix/buckets).
if you build your own be sure to have a wet/dry vac on standby, even if you dont build your own, even lol.
keep your res covered and bubbled, zone works well to maintain it, as does sms90. agitated water puts more DO into your reservoir than bubblers do. like a small fountain action/jet etc.

have fun!
get two wet dry vac, just in case....

 

[SouthCross]

I respect the decision to switch from soil to hydro. I've done it myself. I can see how carrying bags of dirt up stairs could be irritating. No less then the weight of full grocery bags and just as annoying.

As someone who went from hydro back to soil. My advice is to not throw away the pots or dirt. If carrying dirt, mixing dirt, fighting gnats, doesn't drive you nuts. Having to constantly check water PH every single day will.

I've never had a grow that wasn't, on some level, a pain in the butt. So...Keep your old equipment handy.

 

[eekje]

Yes thank you for the replies. I am still in the dilemma of making an ebb and flow system (building it) myself or go for something pre-done. Most of the 'ready' market systems have the water tank under the table so it can easily drain there but this will forsure give me res temp problems as I grow in a tent. If i can find the right container size with right depth I could try building one myself. Another solution might be making it a drain to waste, where i will be using a catch container under table where all drainage will be collected, later manually thrown away by me. Which is actually also very intensive job so I don't know if this is the right solution now. Something that recirculates seems better in my eyes as i would only have to top up the solution and perhaps change it once every 2 weeks or so.

Why are people telling me to put an air pump in water res? If the plants are resting in gro-rocks/rockwool/whatever hydro type of medium, they should be getting enough air no?

 

[FennarioMike]

I have a DIY ebb/flow that I keep all my moms in - and I don't chill the rez and I use Hydroguard. It's very warm where I am and it's well in the 80's in the tent, so I'm sure the rez is too.

 

[FennarioMike]

Here it is - I made it very low cost and it works great. I'm also only using it for moms, so I keep it a little crowded. I trim the shit out of them daily or it'd be a total jungle.

But the tubs are called plantainers at Lowes (I think) - like $25. I have them connected to the big tote with ebb/floww fittings so that they just drain back. No chilling - just 2 air stones inside - and hydroguard. Good stuff.

I recently did a comparison of Hydroguard and UC Roots (chlorine disinfectant) and ran 4 DWC buckets of each, without changing the rez for a whole veg cycle, no chilling - with rez temps well in the 70's and low 80's. I did top it off with fresh nutes or RO as needed. All 8 plants did great - no issues at all.

Caveat - I flower with an Under Current RDWC that I run sterile with UC Roots, and chilled.

Oh, and the air in the rez keeps the bad anaerobic bacteria away.

 

[chemphlegm]

when I used those totes for my res the weight of water or maybe chems dunno but the bottom "feet" were weakened, cracked along the edge and eventually dumped on my grow room floor. gallons and gallons of water ! after this happened twice to me I scrapped any thoughts of saving a buck in the grow room.
I dont aim to save money anymore , now I spend the most on the best and it lasts forever, performs perfectly, and never lets me down.
it was like tripping over dollars to pick up nickels until then.

 

[adower]

Hey guys,
After running on dirt for 1.5 year I truly got tired of lifting bags of dirt 4 floors every few months.

I am planning on running an Ebb and Flow setup like the one from this video.
I plan on using rockwool giant cubes inside pots as medium. I am aware of rockwool preparation before use etc.

I have a few questions tho:

1. Does my res temp have to be chilled? (i will be using hydroguard etc but still) I do have some temp probs in my growroom to be honest and i don't want any root rot. I have red here that ebb and flow is better than dwc/aero/nft if you have room-temp problems.

2. Does flooding in blooming phase increase the humidity in the room?

3. Any other tips regarding this method I should be aware of?

tnx in advance

1. If you use hydroguard or what not then you will be okay. Just can't slip at al if you're not chilling your res. Otherwise you'll get root rot fast

2. If you're using exposed rockwool it will raise humidity a little bit nothing crazy. In straight hydroton no.

3. Use a aero cloner and go from cloner directly into hydroton. No rockwool.