hot ladies in ebb and flow

[Yota]

what do you think of rapid rooter plugs?

 

[johnq]

what do you think of rapid rooter plugs?

is the shiznit.... come pretty much pre-moisened to you dont really need to worry about having them too wet. very visible when in need of more water, kinda crusts on the top when they are dry.

gvega - continues to grow, slower than i would like but at least im turning the corner

 

[NewGrowth]

interesting new growth, so what minimum root space would you suggest for flood-drain. I have read about 3L min.

john q, how r your plants doing lately? Any new growth?

No minimum, it depends on the size of your plants. In soil you need about 1 gal per foot of growth to be safe. In hydro you can get away with a 1/2 of that. Ever seen a bucket system? Its a modified Drip/NFT system using a 4 gallon inner bucket and a 5 gal I have seen 7 foot plants doing well in them. Flood tables are mainly used for smaller plants like 2ft and with a SOG they are perfect.

 

[gvega187]

yes, i have been researching this concept you speak of this weekend mr growth. SOG is my plan and it should be everyones lol. I plan on using 1 gal. containers next cycle.

new growth, I know people who use small layer of pebbles on the bottom of containers. They also use hygrozyme instead of peroxide to keep the res clean. Does this seem like a practical method for making 75-80% coco work? It wouldst break down the coco and if it did the pebbles supposedly reduce coco emission through the bottom.

john q, i agree that the rapid rooters are wicked sik. It seems almost impossible to over saturate them like rockwool. Everyone who says to water an inch below the cubes if f'king misleading and worthless. A half inch MAXIMUM space is required between the cube and max water level. I am currently saturating my cubes and they are doing better than ever. You may want to try this for your system john. Anyone else had good results just flooding the cubes too? I leave a dry layer of pebbles above to keep algae off the pebbles and cube.

 

[NewGrowth]

yes, i have been researching this concept you speak of this weekend mr growth. SOG is my plan and it should be everyones lol. I plan on using 1 gal. containers next cycle.

Is that me? "mrgrowth"? SOG is great but I have seen some amazing bucket set ups with more yield and huge beautiful plants. So don't discount other techniques just yet.

new growth, I know people who use small layer of pebbles on the bottom of containers. They also use hygrozyme instead of peroxide to keep the res clean.

Pebbles with coco in a flood? Hygrozyme is an enzyme and will not kill bacteria or provide oxygen to the root zone like H202. However it is the only thing you can use with organics. I'm not a fan of "organic" hydro at all.

Does this seem like a practical method for making 75-80% coco work? It wouldst break down the coco and if it did the pebbles supposedly reduce coco emission through the bottom.

You said it there why use a media that will potentially clog your pumps, drip lines, ect? Don't get me wrong I think Coco is great alternative for a soilless media set up but I would not use it for any type of recirculating system. It is probably the most feasible way to do "organic hydro".

Anyone else had good results just flooding the cubes too? I leave a dry layer of pebbles above to keep algae off the pebbles and cube.

I have done flood tables with no pots just 6" cubes with great results. It is important no to over saturate rockwool however.

 

[gvega187]

It has been a long time since this thread has made progress. I have been through a few semi successful trays now yeilding 6-9 oz. My main problem is a lack of clones due to a mother plant hrmm....miscalculation.

I have one question:

It seems counter intuitive, but I appear to get better results flooding LESS often in the begining. Right out of the clone tray with tons of roots I am doing 3 min flood and 4 hours off time. In fact, my last tray I tried a 2 hour off time and almost all died of overwatering.

1) does this timing seem correct?

2) If possible shouldn't I hope to flood as often as possible without killing the youngsters, or should I give them even more off time. I know RW is often flood only 1x per day.

I am using the coir starter plugs with coco pebbles still.

Just curious also NEW Growth what grow method do you use and where is ur journals?

 

[NewGrowth]

No journals yet, I need a camera. I did make a deal with the devil here on RIU though and I will be posting some pictures probably next month or possibly the month after just depends on how much money I have. Right now I am just growing out mother plants. I am going to set up a small aeroponic fogger system under a 1000 watt HPS. I'll show people how to set up a nice perpetual harvest system for about $700. I also built a vertical aeroponic system but I have been having problems with it lately don't think I will post pics of that just yet though.

Your flooding sounds about right, maybe you starter plugs are holding too much water? That is the problem I am having with my vertical aero right now, the misters are keeping the Rapid Rooter plugs too wet and I don't have the time to hand water them right now. It is kind of lame but there is little I can do about it except wait for them to grow a nice root structure into the aero chamber.

 

[gvega187]

I fell your pain mr growth. I to have had a great deal of difficulty with aeroponics.

I have had success only about 1/4 of the time. I have tried hygrozyme, h2o2 (not in combo) water chillers, expensive timers and my roots wil still inevitably die due to the invariable 30 min pump failure or other slight error.

However I will concede that aeroponics is well worth it if you can keep it consistent. Yields were at least doubled without a stuggle.


And now I have a very simple question which NOBODY has ever given me a straight answer for.

1)how long will roots last suspended in nothingness (ie aeroponic net cup chambers)

2) how long will roots last suspended in pebbbles in a newly started flood tray?

by how long willl they last i mean, how long until they BEGIN drying out and dying.

I have asked this question sooo many times and nobdy seems to know....thanks mr growht you have been a great help with my simple questions.

 

[NewGrowth]

I fell your pain mr growth. I to have had a great deal of difficulty with aeroponics.

I have had success only about 1/4 of the time. I have tried hygrozyme, h2o2 (not in combo) water chillers, expensive timers and my roots wil still inevitably die due to the invariable 30 min pump failure or other slight error.

However I will concede that aeroponics is well worth it if you can keep it consistent. Yields were at least doubled without a stuggle.


And now I have a very simple question which NOBODY has ever given me a straight answer for.

1)how long will roots last suspended in nothingness (ie aeroponic net cup chambers)

2) how long will roots last suspended in pebbbles in a newly started flood tray?

by how long willl they last i mean, how long until they BEGIN drying out and dying.

I have asked this question sooo many times and nobdy seems to know....thanks mr growht you have been a great help with my simple questions.

Depends on temps and how you set up your system. My plants would be ok if the power the power went out there is always about a half in of water in the pvc, its kind of a aero/nft cross. I also have battery back-up so though the lights go out the pumps still run four a couple hours. Room temps effect this as well. So in a flood table I have seen wilting after about five hours in plants in hydroton. They were large pots however and the table held a little water after flooding. So it is really dependent on how you set up your system. If you plan it right it can be close to fail proof.

Oh with the hygrozyme and coco, sounds like a good idea h202 is not compatible with coco so I'm sure hygrozyme would make a good replacement.

 

[gvega187]

agreed about the coco, but i bailed on that idea months ago.

The pebbles are working just fine when i can get over the transplant shock from clone tray to 3x3 tray.

If i am using 5x5" containers, which are very small I should probably need to flood every 3.5-4 hours right? I have had bad results doing anything less than that...looked like overwatering.

 

[NewGrowth]

agreed about the coco, but i bailed on that idea months ago.

The pebbles are working just fine when i can get over the transplant shock from clone tray to 3x3 tray.

If i am using 5x5" containers, which are very small I should probably need to flood every 3.5-4 hours right? I have had bad results doing anything less than that...looked like overwatering.

Yeah but us any water held in the bottom of the tray after flooding?

 

[gvega187]

negative, i would consider this to be a danger to any roots that may have survived a 4 hour dry time. Still water makes me nervous.

I was told that my containers air prune themselves as they leave the pebbles (the 5x5" square containers). I am now considering the fact that my nutrients may be the source of my problems on this tray. I have used GH semi organic flora nova nutes in the past and had really good results. I am now experimenting with the GH 3 part again and failing consideribly. Please see my thread GH 3 part HELP in the aero/hydro section if you think you may have any input.

Thanks G.

I was about to get one of those back up power things you speak of before I got out of aero. Has it saved any crops yet?

 

[NewGrowth]

negative, i would consider this to be a danger to any roots that may have survived a 4 hour dry time. Still water makes me nervous.

I was told that my containers air prune themselves as they leave the pebbles (the 5x5" square containers). I am now considering the fact that my nutrients may be the source of my problems on this tray. I have used GH semi organic flora nova nutes in the past and had really good results. I am now experimenting with the GH 3 part again and failing consideribly. Please see my thread GH 3 part HELP in the aero/hydro section if you think you may have any input.

Thanks G.

I was about to get one of those back up power things you speak of before I got out of aero. Has it saved any crops yet?

Not standing water but a smaller drain so the water drains slowly and pulls more air into the media. Allows the roots to slowly dry just flood less often.

Back-up has not saved anything yet I have never had a power outage but it is nice to know I have it just in case. They are not that expensive either.

 

[gvega187]

oh, no I flood and drain all in about 5 minutes. The pebbles are drying fully for 4 hours.

 

[NewGrowth]

oh, no I flood and drain all in about 5 minutes. The pebbles are drying fully for 4 hours.

And you still get wilt? Sorry I'm a bit stoned . . .

 

[gvega187]

hahaha rofl im up ther with u g dont worry...whats why i needs u help wit dis floodin.

Is there a way to tell overwater wilt from underwater wilt haha...shouldnt they just die if they get underwater...

If only I had xray vision and I could see what up wit them root boi's

 

[NewGrowth]

hahaha rofl im up ther with u g dont worry...whats why i needs u help wit dis floodin.

Is there a way to tell overwater wilt from underwater wilt haha...shouldnt they just die if they get underwater...

If only I had xray vision and I could see what up wit them root boi's

Are you adding h202? May be rootzone infection as well. Underwater wilt is characterized by dried up crispy leaves. Overwater wilt is usually just a general drooping of leaves and yellowing with necrosis on lower leaves. You can tell the difference between a under watered and overwatered plant.

 

[gvega187]

yes, I have been using h2o2 conservatively on the young ones at 2-3ml/gal.

I just started a floranova tray also. In 3-4 days it will become obvious whether the culprit is my nutes or overwatering again....as you mentioned I find it hard to believe that a dry time of 4 hours is insufficient. I only hope 4 hours isnt to long.

The reason I asked you this question to begin with is ppl have told me flooding every hour is ok in pebbles....people have also told me not to flood any earlier than 4-6 hour intervals...At this point I will just have 2 hope for the best I suppose. I took some pictures, but they were so yellow with the hps that it is difficult to tell anything other than they are alive and somewhat healthy...still no vertical growth after 5-6 days thou.

 

[NewGrowth]

yes, I have been using h2o2 conservatively on the young ones at 2-3ml/gal.

I just started a floranova tray also. In 3-4 days it will become obvious whether the culprit is my nutes or overwatering again....as you mentioned I find it hard to believe that a dry time of 4 hours is insufficient. I only hope 4 hours isnt to long.

The reason I asked you this question to begin with is ppl have told me flooding every hour is ok in pebbles....people have also told me not to flood any earlier than 4-6 hour intervals...At this point I will just have 2 hope for the best I suppose. I took some pictures, but they were so yellow with the hps that it is difficult to tell anything other than they are alive and somewhat healthy...still no vertical growth after 5-6 days thou.

Yeah but flooding intervals really depend on plant size. Obviously with smaller plants you flood less often. What nutrient ppm level are you running?

 

[gvega187]

equal parts of GH 3 part 500ppm. Why would you flood LESS often with smaller plants?