Ghostrider OG - Ebb & Grow - Suspended Pots

AlphaPhase said:

Sure, do what I do! Buy some 1gal mesh bottom pots, put your clones in those with hydroton or whatever medium you'd want to use, then veg in the flood tray. When they are ready to flower, simply plant the while 1 gallon pot into the ebb n grow buckets and back fill around the pot with your medium, works great this way and no transplant shock

Check the first few posts in this thread, it shows how I vegged everything for the buckets

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Sounds good, but I want to buy an all-in-one system like the Titan or Sentinel instead of attempting to DIY. Those come with 5 gal buckets with 4 gal mesh inserts

ThaMagnificent said:

Sounds good, but I want to buy an all-in-one system like the Titan or Sentinel instead of attempting to DIY. Those come with 5 gal buckets with 4 gal mesh inserts

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Yeah, totally, mine isn't a diy, it's the grow flow made by hydrofarm, I did do a small modification with them by just adding 1.5" foam board that holds the pot in the air in the bucket so I don't have to use more hydroton though. . Mine are only 2 gallon buckets, but bro, there's no need for 5 gallon, you can grow a 10' plant in 2 gallon pots lol. I just transplant the 1 gallon pot into the 2 gallon insert, but you can totally veg in the ebb system, it's actually preferred by me, but it takes up a lot of space I don't have in my veg room (I have a separate veg and flower room so it's just easier for me to do it the way I'm doing it). As soon as I flower in the ebb systems, I start vegging the next batch so they are ready to flower by the other plants are ready to harvest. If you're doing a single grow, veg right in the system!

Consider this system, I have 2 and they haven't let me down. You can expand up to 48 buckets or something for each controller. It's not a digital timer so less can fail. Also, the best feature that I haven't seen in any other ebb system is the extra float valve that prevents flooding if the other floats fail. Another good thing is these buckets drain 100% unlike many other systems. The tubing is attached to the bottom of the bucket rather than the side.




https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/93223/GROW-GFO7KT.html?utm_source=SmartFeedGoogleBase&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_term=GROW-GFO7KT&utm_content=Ebb+n+Flow+Systems&utm_campaign=SmartFeedGoogleBaseShopping&gclid=CKqM9srQ3MsCFc5hfgodPi8JZQ

I think Active Aqua is the same as Hydrofarm. I want to buy this setup, but it says they ship it on a pallet because of the size...

Also, what's a good size flood tray for veg? 3x3 or 4x4?

ThaMagnificent said:

I think Active Aqua is the same as Hydrofarm. I want to buy this setup, but it says they ship it on a pallet because of the size...

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Yup, it's the same company. What I did was buy just the controller and the buckets and didn't buy the 55 gallon res (that's the part that needs to be shipped on a pallet). I bought a 50 gallon recycling bin on wheels for my res from the home Depot, works great!

ThaMagnificent said:

Also, what's a good size flood tray for veg? 3x3 or 4x4?

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4x4 would be plenty, I use x2 2x4 trays which allows me to grow enough plants for 4k watts, I can fit about x18 24" plants in a single 2x4 tray, they are packed in there but definitely possible. 12 would fit extremely comfortable In a 2x4 tray

Here's how I have it set up, the blue garbage can is freaking great for the res. The lid is hinged, it has wheels. Easy to move. Hella durable. And cheaper than a hydro res (shipping a 50 gal res would be a bitch and expensive). This was like $60 I think

Oh, and before I forget.. If you're just going to do 12 plants, a 35gallon brute garbage can works fine, I use one on my other ebb system for 12 plants and I don't have to add water back for 3 days or so, a bigger res would be better, but definitely not needed for 12 buckets, and a 35 gal brute is only like 30$

ThaMagnificent said:

I think Active Aqua is the same as Hydrofarm. I want to buy this setup, but it says they ship it on a pallet because of the size...

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it does wrapped in green hydrofarm plastic, off an 18 wheeler "LOL" but for a few dollars more i got the grow flow 2.0 3/4 inch tubing and 5gal buckets. heres a link http://www.activeaquahydroponics.com/trays-reservoirs-systems/active-aqua-hydroponic-systems. best investment i ever made. get a good tri meter and it eliminates all guess work.

Did you drill holes in the bin for the tubing?

20 litres of hydroton per container, is a bitch to clean tho.

ThaMagnificent said:

Did you drill holes in the bin for the tubing?

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Yeah, just 2 1/2" holes at the very top for the grommets and connectors, takes literally 5 seconds, that's all you have to do

toaster struedel said:

it does wrapped in green hydrofarm plastic, off an 18 wheeler "LOL" but for a few dollars more i got the grow flow 2.0 3/4 inch tubing and 5gal buckets. heres a link http://www.activeaquahydroponics.com/trays-reservoirs-systems/active-aqua-hydroponic-systems. best investment i ever made. get a good tri meter and it eliminates all guess work.

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I'd love to have the bigger plumbing, I was thinking of upgrading the tubing size but I'd still stock to 2 gallon buckets, man 5 gallon just seems insane lol, unless I was growing outdoor monsters

Do the pumps pull a ton of amps when they kick on each time? And what is your schedule for the trays and the buckets?

ThaMagnificent said:

Do the pumps pull a ton of amps when they kick on each time? And what is your schedule for the trays and the buckets?

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The pumps are tiny, probably 40watts or less, no issue for amperage at all. In veg when Im using hydroton, once I plant a rooted clone into the 1gallon pots, I water every 8 hours until I see roots coming out of the bottom of the pot. Then I flood every 6 hours. About 3 weeks into veg when the plants have a nice root system and are like 16" tall with multiple branches, I flood every 4 hours. In flower pretty much every 3-4 hrs if I'm using the 2 gallon ebb buckets full of hydroton. 20-24hr lights in veg, 12 hr lights in flower, no watering at lights off.

Best way to empty the tray and bucket rezs? Pump and garden hose?

ThaMagnificent said:

Best way to empty the tray and bucket rezs? Pump and garden hose?

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You got it, I use a sump pump and a hose to empty it, and a hose to fill it. In my veg room I just pump the water into 5 gallon water jugs and dump them in the tub since I don't have a hose in my veg room and the veg res is only 20 gallons, takes a bit more time but I don't have to do it often

I got a 400gph pump laying around. good for thr 55 gal rez?

ThaMagnificent said:

I got a 400gph pump laying around. good for thr 55 gal rez?

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It would totally work, but might be a bit overkill, 400gph is pretty powerful. Also, you're going to want a bottom draw pump definitely for the controller bucket so you can pump out all the water after the flood cycles, the regular style pumps leave too much water in the controller. You could use it for the fill pump if needed, it would be extremely powerful though lol. The pumps that come with the system work excellent. I bought all the parts separately on eBay. I bought the controller bucket for like 200$ which includes both pumps. Then I bought x2 bucket expansion kits which have 6 buckets each, 60$ each. So $320 total including shipping.

That was my next question because you have to buy the rez as part of the whole kit

So far i got

Veg-
4x4 tent
4ft 6 bulb t5
3x3 table
40gal rez


Flower-
Flo n gro 12 site
5x5 tent
500w cob led