Best medium for Flood and drain SOG

rodosman

Active Member
What is the best medium for my setup. I am presently setting up a perpetual grow with 4 1000's. Each 1000 over its own 5x5 flood table. I want to go for MAX YIELD! I am into 6''x6'' Rockwool cubes right now on another grow. They grow pretty good but I want real experiences from RIU members, Please.
 

tea tree

Well-Known Member
hey what does that 6x6 rockwool look like? I am about to start vegging in those and then plan to stick those on top of some 8x8s for flower. I am an ebb and flow junkie. I planned to use hydroton and then drip thru flower. But screw that. I went back to rockwool.

I love rockwool. I also plan to do a few in sure to grow which I have heard good things about. The price is better. For the same price as rockwool they thro in some more cubes.

Pics would be nice. I have never used the 6x6 cubes and figure they are like one gallon pots and that the 8x8s must be like 3 gallons I hope. Or two.

How long did you get thru veg?
 
What is the best medium for my setup. I am presently setting up a perpetual grow with 4 1000's. Each 1000 over its own 5x5 flood table. I want to go for MAX YIELD! I am into 6''x6'' Rockwool cubes right now on another grow. They grow pretty good but I want real experiences from RIU members, Please.

Hydroton has been great for me...4 1000's produce alot of waste. All that rockwool will be a security nightmare coming and going with the hydroton you can clean and reuse.

 

sherriberry

New Member
no strains mentioned tho yet...?

sweet tooth has to be a good one.

Bug bud or ak47 should be good.

thumper, low ryder, blue tooth

lets see what everyone else has to say
 

bran1981

Well-Known Member
In a flood and drain hydrotons I think are the best, rockwool gets to wet and you can't flood near as often there for you don't get as much oxygen to your plants as if you where useing hydrotons.
 

rodosman

Active Member
I agree prof Saul. It will be alot of waste since I plan on having 48 plants in each flood tray. My focus is more on yield than anything else. I could get rid of 48 grow cubes every 2 weeks if I had to.

I do like the aspect of hydrotron that you can flood and drain more ofter gettting more air to the roots.
 

VidiotRayM

Active Member
For straight SOG...as in single cola plants.....I just use 4" cubes set in 6" plastic pots, 32 in each 2x4 tray. I flood to drain twice a day and have 1 minute cycles every 3 hours to keep the roots that grow out the bottoms moist..... I tried filling the pots with hydroton, but it's a PITA.........it floats, it isn't all that easy to clean and I seemed to have way more bug problems with it than without....so I ditched it all and just stick with the 4" cubes....... Never tried the 6" cubes as they're way higher cost than 4".........I guess it just depends on how big you let your plants get.........mine veg to 8-12" then bloom to 24-30".......1-4 tops right now, but will settle on a specific # in a few months......seems best with only 1 or 2....but I'm experimenting with 1,2 and 4 to see which is most productive for me....... The point is...unless you're growing shrubs, you can get away with 4" cubes just fine...........
 

rodosman

Active Member
For straight SOG...as in single cola plants.....I just use 4" cubes set in 6" plastic pots, 32 in each 2x4 tray. I flood to drain twice a day and have 1 minute cycles every 3 hours to keep the roots that grow out the bottoms moist..... I tried filling the pots with hydroton, but it's a PITA.........it floats, it isn't all that easy to clean and I seemed to have way more bug problems with it than without....so I ditched it all and just stick with the 4" cubes....... Never tried the 6" cubes as they're way higher cost than 4".........I guess it just depends on how big you let your plants get.........mine veg to 8-12" then bloom to 24-30".......1-4 tops right now, but will settle on a specific # in a few months......seems best with only 1 or 2....but I'm experimenting with 1,2 and 4 to see which is most productive for me....... The point is...unless you're growing shrubs, you can get away with 4" cubes just fine...........
Thanks for the input. I am leaning towards the 4'' rw cubes in a 6'' pot. I guess I will learn from my own experiences to find the answer I want.
 

tea tree

Well-Known Member
ever looked at the loosed fill rockwool mini cubes? the air ratio seems like it might be better. they are bought by the cubic foot bag. The price is not to bad. I did a grow with a 4 inch cube and loose fill and it was nice. used 6 inch pots.
 

burninjay

Active Member
ever looked at the loosed fill rockwool mini cubes? the air ratio seems like it might be better. they are bought by the cubic foot bag. The price is not to bad. I did a grow with a 4 inch cube and loose fill and it was nice. used 6 inch pots.
I like to use 50/50 rockwool mini cubes and hydroton. Drains nice, keeps the roots moist and retains some nutrients between floods.
 
ever looked at the loosed fill rockwool mini cubes? the air ratio seems like it might be better. they are bought by the cubic foot bag. The price is not to bad. I did a grow with a 4 inch cube and loose fill and it was nice. used 6 inch pots.
now that is a nice idea as i think you could still flood and drain every 4 hours because of the air pockets between the small cubes.
 
I'm wondering the same thing. Would starter 2x2 cubes, placed in a 8" mesh pots filled partially with hydroton. flooded eva flood ry 3 or 4 hours? Has anyone tried covering the top of a flood table with plastic, just allowing the stems of the plants to come out. You could leave a section of table open to allow airflow to roots, but the darkness would certainly increase root growth. any thoughts?
 

choempi

Well-Known Member
In a flood and drain hydrotons I think are the best, rockwool gets to wet and you can't flood near as often there for you don't get as much oxygen to your plants as if you where useing hydrotons.
that is bullshit reasoning
 

lowerarchy

Active Member
I'm wondering the same thing. Would starter 2x2 cubes, placed in a 8" mesh pots filled partially with hydroton. flooded eva flood ry 3 or 4 hours? Has anyone tried covering the top of a flood table with plastic, just allowing the stems of the plants to come out. You could leave a section of table open to allow airflow to roots, but the darkness would certainly increase root growth. any thoughts?
Small cubes in hydroton is a standard process.

As for the plastic idea, I've done both covered and uncovered and didn't notice much of a difference as far as root development, but then again I covered everything up with hydroton anyway to keep the cube stable.

Don't worry about airflow though if you do it. Anything below the flood line will be fully aerated because the water will push stale air out and automatically pull fresh air in.
 

drgreentm

Well-Known Member
i like to use hydroton and 3x3x3 rockwools in 6x6x7 square pots for me it works amazing i have watered my 3x3x3 rockwools in veg just in the tray with no hydroton for 30 min every 3 hours and never had a overwatering problem but then again i only veg for 3 weeks max.
 

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