Classic Ebb and Flow: why aren't more people doing it?

I leaned ebb and flow with rockwool years and years back and its really the only way I've ever grown. To me its always seemed to be the easiest way for hydro. Wondering why more people don't use this system. Its seems to me to be the simplest way in terms of investment,equipment and maintenance and yet very few seem to use it. Any ideas?

Drain-to-waste is even easier.

Height is also a precious commodity for many tent growers.

Billy the Mountain said:

Drain-to-waste is even easier.

Height is also a precious commodity for many tent growers.

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I've thought about drain to waste a few times but the emiters (and set up) always strike me that they might be a pain. Maybe I'll try it sometime.

pegboy said:

I've thought about drain to waste a few times but the emiters (and set up) always strike me that they might be a pain. Maybe I'll try it sometime.

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Try the Floraflex caps sometime; no finicky, temperamental emitters, no clogging, and they work well with common low-psi pumps.

Billy the Mountain said:

Try the Floraflex caps sometime; no finicky, temperamental emitters, no clogging, and they work well with common low-psi pumps.

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This right here. They are great. Inexpensive to setup as well.

I'm literally right there with you.

I think its less attractive than the yield from DTW and plant counts hurt the optimal SOG set up with rockwool. There's also the organic push, for better and worse.

I love growing in rockwool. Only reason I want to change it up is because I want to be more hands on with my garden and learn a new discipline. It sucks how little I have to do between res changes lol

Tolerance Break said:

I'm literally right there with you.

I think its less attractive than the yield from DTW and plant counts hurt the optimal SOG set up with rockwool. There's also the organic push, for better and worse.

I love growing in rockwool. Only reason I want to change it up is because I want to be more hands on with my garden and learn a new discipline. It sucks how little I have to do between res changes lol

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Ha ha . Seriously I think we are the only two on here doing ebb and flow.

With dtw you have no reservoir to maintain. Since there's now flow back into it there is no bacteria and root exudates fueling their growth.

Lou66 said:

With dtw you have no reservoir to maintain. Since there's now flow back into it there is no bacteria and root exudates fueling their growth.

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How do you deal with the waste water if no drains nearby?

pegboy said:

How do you deal with the waste water if no drains nearby?

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Catch run off in a small tray. Use a condensate pump to get it into a larger bucket. From there it can be hauled or pumped to a drain.

I love how easy ebb & flow is. I did a sog flood & drain for over a decade, truly fool proof with little maintenance. It was perpetual, harvesting every 2 weeks a la Al B. Fuct. It was a PIA to plant 22 new clones into pots of media every 2 weeks, and dispose of all the media root balls (perlite/vermiculite/rockwool mix) and plant trash. I've just moved into a house in an illegal state (not even medical here!), so I can no longer afford to toss bags of 'hot trash'. I just switched over to aero/nft a la Stinkbud's rail system, and I'm digging it so far. Again, very little maintenance (maybe even less) and no media to dispose of. I just burn the leaves and roots in the fire pit after harvest while I roast S'mores. Makes them taste even better for some reason...

pegboy i have been looking at your grow setup for a minute, i am also growing in a 2x2 tent and i was thinking about rocking your setup but after learning you have a reservoir im out lmfao, coco dtw is the easiest thing i have ever done, no reservoir no bs just mix a fresh bath of fertilizer everyday and bam.

pegboy said:

I leaned ebb and flow with rockwool years and years back and its really the only way I've ever grown. To me its always seemed to be the easiest way for hydro. Wondering why more people don't use this system. Its seems to me to be the simplest way in terms of investment,equipment and maintenance and yet very few seem to use it. Any ideas?

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I use a Ebb and Flow, Drain to reserve system. 4x4 grow tray and twenty gallon reserve. The system is very straight foward. When ran properly it will grow some chonky budz.

I think most people dont try this method because its equipment is large and cumbersom compared too Dwc or Rdwc.

secretmicrogrow420 said:

pegboy i have been looking at your grow setup for a minute, i am also growing in a 2x2 tent and i was thinking about rocking your setup but after learning you have a reservoir im out lmfao, coco dtw is the easiest thing i have ever done, no reservoir no bs just mix a fresh bath of fertilizer everyday and bam.

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I DO see you point. However Isn't prepping/mixing/placing the coco in (x) gallon pots and repotting kind of a pain in the ass? I mix a new res every 1 to 1.5 weeks and watering schedule is all on timers ( I've even taken week long vacations). When the grows over I toss out a few used RW cubes and bust open a new package and I'm back in business. easy peazy.

Edit: Adding to the post I only need to be hands on a maximum of once a week for about 20 minutes.

pegboy said:

I DO see you point. However Isn't prepping/mixing/placing the coco in (x) gallon pots and repotting kind of a pain in the ass? I mix a new res every 1 to 1.5 weeks and watering schedule is all on timers ( I've even taken week long vacations). When the grows over I toss out a few used RW cubes and bust open a new package and I'm back in business. easy peazy.

Edit: Adding to the post I only need to be hands on a maximum of once a week for about 20 minutes.

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Your correct these are all good points. I cannot pull individual plants plants in my setup once fully mature. I plant direcly into a deep bed of hydraughton. Its seems like nine 5 gallon buckets for DWC might be easier. Root aphids can become a major problem also. Once the system is all tuned though it is easy maintanence. 1 hour per week.

Automated drain to waste. I rocked botanicare turbogardens for flood and drain for a few years, this is slightly less work. I use my 20 gallons a week but I use it up completely not discard and start fresh. It's not entirely different, maybe easier to pick up and move. Definitely grows plants. These are in 2 gallon pots of promix.

A simple shot of my micro flood tray. This one was available from Active Aqua as a kit. Back in the day I was making my own.

Because I like it simple and working every time, just put water and nutrients in a big container, then come back in 3-4 months to pick the fruits. No maintenance and no electricity needed, just grow lights indoors. That is why I use Kratky. The bigger container size, the bigger fruits, yield and plant size.

But if you like to do it more complex than you need, with many more factors that can fail, then do other grow methods for sure.

bloom maker said:

Because I like it simple and working every time, just put water and nutrients in a big container, then come back in 3-4 months to pick the fruits. No maintenance and no electricity needed, just grow lights indoors. That is why I use Kratky. The bigger container size, the bigger fruits, yield and plant size.

But if you like to do it more complex than you need, with many more factors that can fail, then do other grow methods for sure.

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I've heard of it but really know nothing about it. Why don't you get PH swings? What/how much fertilizer to add? So you never have track any of this stuff?

Edit: So after a bit of research this method is NOT ideal for cannabis.

5 gallon bucket would need to be topped off multiple times to accomidate the plants thirst (while trying to maintane correct air layer)

Nutrient imbalances common

PH problems.

It can be done, but at a cost to the plants health.