1st attempt with Ebb n Flow! Need advice!

Wasup RIU'rs! So far every question I've had has been answered with the help of you guys here on RIU... So I'm hoping I get good advise this time as well since I have no idea where to start! So... I bought a small Ebb n Flow system from sum1 for cheap but I have no idea how to use it! The tray is 16"L x14"W and 10"Deep, and it sits on top of a 5gal rez! I plan on following the Lucas Formula with the GH 3 part Flora series for both veg and flower and I also have some Bloombastic for the final 4-6 weeks of flower. I have 4 clones from a bagseed plant that is really nice and I really like the way it grows and the buds are freakin awesome! This plant stays very short and flowers beautifully... I know this cuz I just finished one up in DWC and I loved the way it came out! The guy I bought it from says that he put 4 clones in it and got a QP off it at harvest. IDK if the size of the tray would hold 4 plants, however I think I could pull it off with these clones I have! Basically my question is... How the hell do I use this thing? What is the best feeding schedule? I've never used Ebb n Flow so I have no idea what to do! So ANY info would be greatly appreciated! Oh and lastly... I plan to veg under CLF that has 4100 lumens and is the right spectrum for veg, then I have 400w HPS for flower! I plan on using Hydroton for the medium! Again... Any input or advise would be very much appreciated! Thank you all in advance.....

HB

With hydroton u want to flood like 4x a day in veg and up to 8x a day in flower or so. Avoid watering during the dark cycle. Other than that, keep ur ph at 5.8, work your way up on nutes and change them 7-10days max. Check out my third grow in sig to see a f&d setup working.

if you can do dwc then e&f will come easy i do e &f with rockwool & love it hydroton ive seen done & i agree with some guy15 i go on other sites but have got the best help &support right here riu is my prefered site my e&f is 3x3 600w.hps here is a few random pics. of what i got going on good luck to you

Someguy15 said:

With hydroton u want to flood like 4x a day in veg and up to 8x a day in flower or so. Avoid watering during the dark cycle. Other than that, keep ur ph at 5.8, work your way up on nutes and change them 7-10days max. Check out my third grow in sig to see a f&d setup working.

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Thx Someguy! So when I flood... How long should it flood for at a time? Can u explain why I shouldn't flood during the dark cycle? Will it cause algea or root rot or something? Right now the way I check my Ph is with the drops... So I guess I should invest in a digital Ph tester huh? I seen em on Ebay for like 30 bucks or sumthin so that's not bad! I just wanna have everything I need b4 I start using that system! I'm deff gonna check out ur 3rd grow! Maybe I can learn something! LOL... Thx again....

HB

horribleherk said:

if you can do dwc then e&f will come easy i do e &f with rockwool & love it hydroton ive seen done & i agree with some guy15 i go on other sites but have got the best help &support right here riu is my prefered site my e&f is 3x3 600w.hps here is a few random pics. of what i got going on good luck to you

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Hey Herk... Thx for the support! Ya I did DWC for the 1st time EVER! I've never tried growin anything b4 but with all the reading I did and all the help from u guys here on RIU.... It all turned out unbelievably well! I mean... So far it has! I have maybe 2 weeks left (I think) and compared to some of the other grows I've seen... I think I've done pretty damn good for my 1st time! Well let me shut up b4 I fuck around n jinx myself...LOL. I'm just lookin at my trics everyday to see if I see any amber but I haven't yet... They're all clear and some are cloudy. I'd say maybe 30% are cloudy n the rest crystal clear! Plus they're swelling like crazy! So I'm guestimating about 2 weeks left... but I'm really not sure! I'm just staying on top of it n checking em everyday for any changes! But I must agree with u on this... RIU is the SHIT! I've gone on other sites just to check em out but I've never posted nuthin cuz I get all the help I need right here! So thx to all u guys I know what I know and its paid off so far! Those are sum really nice ladies u got there man! I can't wait to finish mine up n start all over again... Only this time ima give the E&F a try! I'm just tryna soak up all the info I can now b4 I dive in! Thx again for the help and support man...

HB

I flood for 15 mins, but more because that's what my timers intervals are. As long as you fill the tray full and it starts overflowing, your good. You don't need to flood at night because the plants aren't drinking hardly any water. So you end up over watering or raising humidity unnecessarily, so just not advised, there should be plenty of moisture to make it to the next flood ~ 30 min after lights on.

O and I still use the drops, as long as u check the color carefully they work great, and they never fail like the digis sometimes will. I've noticed I can watch the drop hit the liquid and watch the color it changes, if I'm close to 6 it will either be slightly green for slightly above 6 or slightly orange for slightly below, not perfect but has given me great results. GL.

Someguy15 said:

I flood for 15 mins, but more because that's what my timers intervals are. As long as you fill the tray full and it starts overflowing, your good. You don't need to flood at night because the plants aren't drinking hardly any water. So you end up over watering or raising humidity unnecessarily, so just not advised, there should be plenty of moisture to make it to the next flood ~ 30 min after lights on.

O and I still use the drops, as long as u check the color carefully they work great, and they never fail like the digis sometimes will. I've noticed I can watch the drop hit the liquid and watch the color it changes, if I'm close to 6 it will either be slightly green for slightly above 6 or slightly orange for slightly below, not perfect but has given me great results. GL.

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Cool thx for the reply! I'll have to get a new timer cuz the one I have turns on in 30 min intervals! Or would 30 mins be ok? The system I bought has a sensor to where it will stop pumping water once it reaches a certain level (that's what the guy told me) so it shouldn't overflow. So start flooding 30 mins after lights turn on, n I assume last feed would be 30 mins b4 lights out right? Is it ok to just put my rooted clones directly in the hydroton without anything else and just cover up the roots with the hydroton? Or should I put them in like a pot 1st n then suround em with hydroton like u did in ur 3rd grow... Which BTW was kick ass! Those were some fat ass buds my friend! WOW!!!! VERY nice job!!! I'm surprised not many people commented on ur thread. But +rep for keepin it goin all the way to the end! I'm gonna start readin into the one u got goin now! Ok so the drops will do then huh?... That's basically what I been doin. I just base it on the color and kinda estimate! Hey one more thing... Those pots that u used... They weren't net pots! Did u just get a reg plastic pot n make extra holes in it? That's kinda what I did now with sum WW I started, I just got a styrephome cup and made a bunch of holes in it and it seems to be workin just fine! Roots are hanging down into the water just fine in a lil mini DWC thing I invented! Trust me I'll be the first one to save $ if I can. Lol. Hey man thx again for the advice n I will be checkin into ur current thread... so u can expect me poppin in once I read thru it all! Thx again...

HB