New to ebb&flow, what should I expect?
- Thread starter Mongobud
- Start date
trichlone fiend
New Member
...that's what I do, I keep mums in soil,
and ezcloner. I leave in the ezcloner for 2 weeks then straight into flower.
I use 3 inch netted pots w/ hydroton only (no rockwool/rapid rooters exc...) that are placed into 6"x6"x6" pots filled w/ hydroton.
. . I ebb'n flow, flooding the bed about 3 inches deep 3x/daily.
I flower under 600 w HPS aircooled, w/ co2....you'll notice I keep a rather dense garden.
Your 1000w on a mover can work many more plants.
horribleherk
Well-Known Member
hey mongo here is updated pics 1 month after turning light back to 12/12 [june27] i still havent formed an overall opinion of the pineapple chunk at this point it grows fast & big [a little too big] but its a little slow to start budding barneys says it finishes in 55 days but i dont see it happening i did however get on another site & find a grow farther along than mine & gotta say the potential is there& i guess it develops a pineapple smell in the buds these pics were taken this morning
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horribleherk
Well-Known Member
barneys says this is indica but its got sativa written all over it these aer definately not fat indica style leaves
DubsFan
Well-Known Member
The whole idea behind hydro is to feed feed feed. RW, hydroton and all those other mediums breath heavily so you can feed feed feed. It's not a question of if it needs water. It's more a question of can it withstand more. For soil I get it...but with hydro the goal is water up to 15min every 3 hours. That's the goal. Your climate can hold you back though...RH and what not.My setup in my avi is with 12in slabs. Sure I could go days without watering. By the time I'm late into flower I'm watering every 3 hours even during dark.
More feedings in hydro with the right nute schedule equals higher yeild.
I have my cuttings on a flood and drain as well. They are in a dome for a few days but once they are hardened off they get fed twice a day until they pop roots. They're on roids when they're done. That little 45 degree cut takes up a lot of nutes.
Early on in my grows I don't even feed them on a timer. When I go in to check on them I plug in the pump. I definately baby them in the beginning. But once you got a foot or taller plant it's time to really force feed them.
Mongobud
Well-Known Member
Cool Dub's. I appreciate the input.. So do you ever see any problems with root rot on your tables? What do you use to combat it? ..I was hoping to use beneficial bacteria along with Aquashield and a little Hygrozyme or Sensizyme from time to time. ..but I'm open to suggestions.
I was thinking the other night that if I DON"T flood my tables at least twice a day... that could lead to build up and ph and PPM imbalances in the medium. I was thinking that it was better to have that medium pumped with fresh nutrient solution..
I was thinking the other night that if I DON"T flood my tables at least twice a day... that could lead to build up and ph and PPM imbalances in the medium. I was thinking that it was better to have that medium pumped with fresh nutrient solution..
DubsFan
Well-Known Member
I have found that some nutes spike in PH and others don't. GH nutes tend to be pretty stable. The bigger your res the more stable the PH. I'm not a PH nut but if you go days without watering your RW the PH of the water in the rockwool could be near tap water levels. So now you are Ph'ing your water to say 5.8 yet your rockwool that has been wet for a few days unwatered could be at 7+. It's a bit of a jump to water those high PH slabs with 5.8 water when the slabs are wet with 7+.
It really comes down to this. Hydro is more than just a soil less medium on timers. it's designed to be watered more than soil...that's one of the primary reasons to have it. If you want to water every few days on timers do soil with a drip system.
trichlone fiend
New Member
...I agree, as long as your ladies aren't showing signs of overwatering, the more the marrier.
A quote from lucas
:
> the best situation would be a nutrient fog
> how do we control watering frequency so that the roots are in that zone for as often as possible?
the larger the pores, or air spaces in the medium, for example with grorox, the sooner the medium will be dry.
, as long as the medium is not dry, the pores will be full of nutrient fog. The roots will find the fog and thrive.
the denser the medium, for example soil, the smaller the pores, and the fewer fog pores available to the roots. That is one reason there are no roots in the upper half of a pot of soil. Most of the roots are spun around the bottom perimeter of the pot, closest to where fog could form, away from the soil medium itself.
big pores will provide the greatest volume of fog, and will also require more frequent watering. both are a good thing, causing the roots to spend most of their time in fog.
> As long as the root zone is neither dry nor below 5% dissolved oxygen
in medium, there is no way to oxygenate the water if it is sitting there for more than 24 hours. Then we are relying on the pore spaces to provide fog, which will absorb oxygen from atmosphere.
in fact, when relying on pore fog, it matters not what temperature the irrigation is at, nor whether it is oxygenated. The reason is that what makes the roots happy is the fog in the pores. In ebb flow, the heat of the room, and from the lights, causes the pots to warm up nicely, so they produce fog.
> 24/7 drip in rock wool.and 2' air stones in 10gal
I imagine your roots are escaping the soggy rockwool and thriving in the bubbles from the stone. Dry rockwool has pore spaces, wet rockwool does not.
the key to watering enough is to not let the roots dry out.
but the key to not watering too much, is to not let the pores be full of water.
anything inbetween, in terms of moisture levels in the medium, is good, so long as that moisture is feeding the fog into the pores.. so you need pores.. I like grorox on ebb flow as an example of non mechanical oxygen delivery.
Oxygen is delivered in the fog created by evaporation of water in the medium, into the pore spaces in the medium.
Lucas
A quote from lucas
:> the best situation would be a nutrient fog
> how do we control watering frequency so that the roots are in that zone for as often as possible?
the larger the pores, or air spaces in the medium, for example with grorox, the sooner the medium will be dry.
, as long as the medium is not dry, the pores will be full of nutrient fog. The roots will find the fog and thrive.
the denser the medium, for example soil, the smaller the pores, and the fewer fog pores available to the roots. That is one reason there are no roots in the upper half of a pot of soil. Most of the roots are spun around the bottom perimeter of the pot, closest to where fog could form, away from the soil medium itself.
big pores will provide the greatest volume of fog, and will also require more frequent watering. both are a good thing, causing the roots to spend most of their time in fog.
> As long as the root zone is neither dry nor below 5% dissolved oxygen
in medium, there is no way to oxygenate the water if it is sitting there for more than 24 hours. Then we are relying on the pore spaces to provide fog, which will absorb oxygen from atmosphere.
in fact, when relying on pore fog, it matters not what temperature the irrigation is at, nor whether it is oxygenated. The reason is that what makes the roots happy is the fog in the pores. In ebb flow, the heat of the room, and from the lights, causes the pots to warm up nicely, so they produce fog.
> 24/7 drip in rock wool.and 2' air stones in 10gal
I imagine your roots are escaping the soggy rockwool and thriving in the bubbles from the stone. Dry rockwool has pore spaces, wet rockwool does not.
the key to watering enough is to not let the roots dry out.
but the key to not watering too much, is to not let the pores be full of water.
anything inbetween, in terms of moisture levels in the medium, is good, so long as that moisture is feeding the fog into the pores.. so you need pores.. I like grorox on ebb flow as an example of non mechanical oxygen delivery.
Oxygen is delivered in the fog created by evaporation of water in the medium, into the pore spaces in the medium.
Lucas
Mongobud
Well-Known Member
Thanks to you both. ...Well I'll be using 6" Hugo blocks on top of gro dan slabs, at least this round..I may switch to hydroton and pots next time.. ...How many times do you guys suggest I flood my tables to begin with?.. I'll be usind a 1000 watt on a light mover, A/C window unit with plenty of circulation...I can get my RH down to 45% no problem.
horribleherk
Well-Known Member
hey mongo this is only my 3rd e&f rockwool grow & im using the classic slabs [3''] i can only say what has worked for me so far my plants are averaging 5' tall & here are pics taken today these plants were put in room 6-16-10 & i turned light 12/12 6-27-10 estimate harvest sept. 10
