Advice, Opinions on this Tray Ebb&flo/Dwc System

[CoreyPKGrower]

Yes those roots look great ! Glad to see your work and patients is paying off. Ive decided to use the clay balls (like you) this time on my new batch. I dont like the RW cube always being soaked and poor fluid xfer because I'm only wetting the
bottom of the cube. So thanks for the hint on that man !
I will be wrapping the upper taper of the 3.5" pot with plastic and rubber band. This will keep roots in check out the sides but still alow them to grow out the sides. When transplanting I will be able to safely remove the Plastic allowing root freedom.. lol
There is no doubt.. My roots go to crap if I let them stand in the air for more than 25 minutes. Even that is pushing it when roots are dense. Like you... When the clones are in 1st week veg I have similar timing. But plant get stunted if I dont give more watering
time. I have tested this. Early roots are much easier to keep healthy. Problems begin even with healthy plants around 5 weeks. 3 veg, 2nd week in flowering. Of course that is due to poor root mass circulation I think.
Hope I can get it all figured out this next batch.
Yup I'll post more pics soon, but so far most are doing good.

 

[PetFlora]

I have a few wrinkles to offer, which you can investigate by checking out my thread HPA Without an Accumulator: it's a 21st Century F&D system using zero medium when using clones, and only a starter cube for seeds. NASA developed this system some 20 years ago, but today the parts needed are inexpensive and simple to install.

The idea behind it is that as go the roots, so go the plants. The left photo example is not a picture of ideal roots, due to not having a deep cycle timer (the one in this system has a minimum on time of 30 seconds, which is way too long!), but note the roots are fine with lots of smaller roots growing laterally.

Photo on the right: The timer in my main rig goes down to ~ one second. On those roots I am able to get root hairs, which look like tiny fuzz balls, covering the roots. Root Hairs is what we shoot for to maximize nutrient uptake. You can see some root hairs, but even here the roots are too wet. However, clearly there is greater mass to absorb more nutrients hth
s.

 

[CoreyPKGrower]

Glad that works for you. But... My system is way too big for that. Plus I dont have 2 ft height to waist for root dangling.
Im tweaking this tray ebb&flow system. Not getting into aero. Not for large qty plants anyway..

 

[Stonetech]

Hey Corey whatsup buddy? Still killin it? Get your doser runnin? Hope all is well, you must be busy.

Anyways I was rereading the thread, thanks for being so detailed BTW, and noticed that you don't root your own clones, am I right? You said they arrive in RW. I don't have much experience with RW but I know that I hate it. So have you been thinking about rooting your own clones at all? At least that way you could skip the RW cubes and go straight to hydroton. I've been using the same method (e&f/dwc) for everything including cloning, I've even started seeds this way. Its not as fast as an EZ cloner claims to be, my average is about 10 days, but I've had a really high success rate so far. I don't use any media similar to an EZ Cloner and I flood 24 hrs/day for a couple days then I switch to flood/drain. I only built a 10 site cloner in order to give me a fresh supply of guinea pigs but I'll post a few pics so you get the idea.



Heres a couple pics of the seeds I started, they all popped roots but only 3 out of 8 survived, which is not bad for a first try i guess.



Peace out.

 

[CoreyPKGrower]

Only three weeks left... And all's well.



Getting some pretty skookum heads !



And more...

 

[CoreyPKGrower]

Hey Stonetech ! Ya been busy for sure. But all is well.
Your right ! I dont root clones. Too much space and time required for the qty I need. Tried it in the past. Worked ok but just too much space required with isolated environment.
Just got a new batch on Friday. Here they are...



Sometimes there in the RW plug sheets that fill the trays. Other times there in this stuff... Forget the name of it right now.. lol



So there already rooted and stable. I use a 350w CFG glow lamp for a few days b4 transplanting into the big veg tray. Then have 2 1000w MH lamps take it from there.
I run the lights 1hr on 1 off for the first couple days. (harden off). Then gradually increase time over the next week till they under 20hrs On. 4 off..

 

[CoreyPKGrower]

3 ot off 8 on your first try is awesome man ! geezz.. I had 0 out of 50 on my first try ! lol.
I like your DIY cloner. Is that a 3" ABS end cap on your lid ? ! lol... Great how you used your ingenuity to make ur cloner.



Heres my DIY auto feeder. It adjusts reservoir water level too so I call it auto feeder..lol

 

[YaK]

3 ot off 8 on your first try is awesome man ! geezz.. I had 0 out of 50 on my first try ! lol.
I like your DIY cloner. Is that a 3" ABS end cap on your lid ? ! lol... Great how you used your ingenuity to make ur cloner.

View attachment 1554973View attachment 1554974

Heres my DIY auto feeder. It adjusts reservoir water level too so I call it auto feeder..lol

Hmmmm, what would you charge to make another one (or 3) of those autofeeders(tm) ??

 

[CoreyPKGrower]

One million dollars....lol. Well Yak the only problem is getting one to you without revealing my identity. Could be difficult.
My cost was around... $90 main pump. $25 each solenoid x 4. $40 computer Power supply. And $50 appx for the rest. So about 300 in parts alone. It can be done cheaper of course with volume..

 

[Stonetech]

]Sometimes there in the RW plug sheets that fill the trays. Other times there in this stuff... Forget the name of it right now.. lol

View attachment 1554967

Those look like rapid rooters, I've never tried them but I heard they're great. What strain are your new babies? PK again?

Great work on the Autofeeder! + rep!

Edit: ya the 3" end cap is a perfect fit for a 3.5" hole, I've got a tub of spare plumbing parts from all the shit I've tried in the last couple years LOL.

 

[YaK]

One million dollars....lol. Well Yak the only problem is getting one to you without revealing my identity. Could be difficult.
My cost was around... $90 main pump. $25 each solenoid x 4. $40 computer Power supply. And $50 appx for the rest. So about 300 in parts alone. It can be done cheaper of course with volume..

a million dollars is just a tad bit out of my price range. here in the US it's easy to send stuff anonymously, though... I guess it'd be different if something had to go through customs. put that you're the queen of england sending me an autofeeder (3 of them). I'll start saving my million.

really though... F'ing awesome that you made that. seriously.

 

[drgreentm]

One million dollars....lol. Well Yak the only problem is getting one to you without revealing my identity. Could be difficult.
My cost was around... $90 main pump. $25 each solenoid x 4. $40 computer Power supply. And $50 appx for the rest. So about 300 in parts alone. It can be done cheaper of course with volume..

i have seen them on the web (pretty expensive) they also make them to auto ph your water as well pretty cool shit.

 

[CoreyPKGrower]

a million dollars is just a tad bit out of my price range. here in the US it's easy to send stuff anonymously, though... I guess it'd be different if something had to go through customs. put that you're the queen of england sending me an autofeeder (3 of them). I'll start saving my million.

really though... F'ing awesome that you made that. seriously.

LOL ! OK ! Let me know when you have it saved.. Thanks for the compliment Yak. It was an interesting challenge to design it. But I found out after after using it I want more features. So I'm back to the drawing board to make one with abilities to control
my Feed pumps, and drain pumps and sense psi as well as floats. Right now mine checks if the main pump has run and waits for system drainage and if water level has dropped below set point it will add water and dose at the same time. I would rather have
it control the pumps instead. Then I can incorporate sensing and alarm conditions.

 

[CoreyPKGrower]

i have seen them on the web (pretty expensive) they also make them to auto ph your water as well pretty cool shit.

Yes like this one... http://www.amhydro.com/index.php/Grower-Gear/IntelliDose.html
And then add the Solenoid pac $400. As long as you dont mind putting your nutrients on a shelf above the unit ! If not then add $1400 for 3 pumps !!!
I was going to incorporate Ph into mine but I already have ph adjuster separate. Easily done thou.

 

[CoreyPKGrower]

]Sometimes there in the RW plug sheets that fill the trays. Other times there in this stuff... Forget the name of it right now.. lol

View attachment 1554967

Those look like rapid rooters, I've never tried them but I heard they're great. What strain are your new babies? PK again?

Great work on the Autofeeder! + rep!

Edit: ya the 3" end cap is a perfect fit for a 3.5" hole, I've got a tub of spare plumbing parts from all the shit I've tried in the last couple years LOL.

Yes PK again... LOL.. Yes I have the exact same tub of plumbing part around here too ! Very handy sometimes. But always seems like I'm missing one part that I have to buy at some point .

 

[drgreentm]

Yes like this one... http://www.amhydro.com/index.php/Grower-Gear/IntelliDose.html
And then add the Solenoid pac $400. As long as you dont mind putting your nutrients on a shelf above the unit ! If not then add $1400 for 3 pumps !!!
I was going to incorporate Ph into mine but I already have ph adjuster separate. Easily done thou.

yes this is the one I saw, I thought it was crazy although in veg i like a good ph swing within the week untill i change water res's, in flower i like to keep my ph a bit more stable. anyway nice system you got there.

 

[CoreyPKGrower]

Well there getting really close now !!! On the 5 of May(couple of days) they will be 60 days in flowering. Past grows have shown there ready by 65 days. So I'm going to water only tomorrow and using Final flush
thru the water only period. Im pleased with the results and will be making a few tweaks for the next batch. Heres some pics...







There have been about 20 plants or so that fell over due to their weight. I just used 1/16" aluminum welding wire to tie them up. For the most part the 3.5" mesh pots mounted in the holes have supported the plants well. And there is tons of air flow
blowing them around too.

 

[My420]

Geezz... Just as I suspected. Root rot is starting. I just spent a few hours root trimming the most obvious plants. Some had to be completely stripped of roots. Shit fuck !!!
They were healthy when the went in there. plants grew great and tripled the root mass in the following two weeks. But now looks like there's a problem. I did not change anything and nothing mucked up either.
I'm thinking there is not enough O2 in the nutrient. Once the plants roots get to a certain size the O2 required exceeds my ability to replenish with 2 60gal tanks with pumps and air stones. Root bounding does not seem to be a problem. Its dense but
not tightly packed. The only change was the plants getting bigger and needing more food, water and o2...? Maybe why this is happening.
I changed my controller to now wait 15 minutes between watering cycles. Maybe more air time on roots would help. Cant use more than 5ml/gal H2O2 so Im maxed on that already.
Any opinions??
View attachment 1520917

GF cleaning out the other area... lol

I use great white last time I had a rot problem and that stuff works very very well. Cleared up in about a week. But it is powder so if you use in a water system you must have a pump or something going on the bottom that is agitating the water the it does not settle on the bottom.

 

[My420]

Well there getting really close now !!! On the 5 of May(couple of days) they will be 60 days in flowering. Past grows have shown there ready by 65 days. So I'm going to water only tomorrow and using Final flush
thru the water only period. Im pleased with the results and will be making a few tweaks for the next batch. Heres some pics...

View attachment 1582247View attachment 1582248

View attachment 1582249View attachment 1582250

View attachment 1582251View attachment 1582252

There have been about 20 plants or so that fell over due to their weight. I just used 1/16" aluminum welding wire to tie them up. For the most part the 3.5" mesh pots mounted in the holes have supported the plants well. And there is tons of air flow
blowing them around too.

that looks great for sure. Have you ever thought of doing any type of LST with them? I think you would benefit with more yield if you did.

 

[CoreyPKGrower]

Harvest Day !!!! Don't bug me... LOL. I will post my weights and stuff by the end of the week. Cheers !