3x3 Ebb & Flow System ( a few general questions )

Greetings fellow RIU'ers

I have constructed my FIRST Ebb and Flow setup it fills and drains flawlessly with no leaks! I ALSO constructed a custom wooden frame that the res sits under ( SEE PIC) :: 3x3 Tray // 27 Gallon Reservoir 296 GPH Eco Pump.

1/2" F -- 3/4" D... I may be asking some silly questions BUT I'd love to get some answers


1) How high ( should my water level be in the tray? )


2) Around how long should my pump run in sync with the timer and how many times a day?


3) I'm going to be using net pots... What is the more effective, Rokwool cubes or Clay Rocks or ????



Any and All suggestions and feedback is greatly appreciated



Thanks, Ch33b

1) the water level should be high enough to submerge the roots (if its clay rocks leave a little room for the roots to breathe in the medium)

2) set the pump to run 3 times a day for 30 minutes and 1 cycle at night should work out fine

3) IMO clay rocks because it allows room for roots to get air in the medium, also rockwool tends to grow algae

Just my 2 cents you can check my grow journal in my link to see I know what im talking about

See my high performance Mini-Me F & D

Big trays are not necessary, require a lot more nutes= unnecessarily bigger rez

Polished Ornamental rock (Dollar Store) rocks.

It's fast draining, keeps roots cool, provides air to roots AND cleans easily for reuse

The super efficiency allows me to feed every hour during lights on

This reveg is 34 days old

On my first grow I used the height of the outlet tube to determine the flood height. Frequency was every two hours for 30 minutes. Night time was every two hours for 15 minutes. I use the grow plugs and Hydroton. I designed my lab to be as low maintenance as possible.

The results were great. My first grow was bag seed. Vegged 8 weeks and flower for like 8. To be honest, like many newbs, I couldn't wait. After all the picking and microwave drying I still pulled down a nice plant though. I got 139g off of quarter of what was left.

For this grow flood is every 2 hours for 30 minutes and off at night. They seem fine.

Hope this helps,
Peace.


Bagseed. Critical Sensi Star Northern Lights Auto

2 Critical Sensi Star clones----->>>>^^

So would you say an inch of water is ideal?

Hope this quick drawing helps.

1. This is the height of your outlet inside of your flood table.
Thus, the height of your water.
2. The bottom of the rooting media should be just above the water line. This so the roots can grow down to the nutes, they don't get damaged and they have room to grow.
3. It's not good that the media stay drenched, but new plants/clones need moisture on demand. So starting it at this height will be fine cause as the plant grows it will raise the plug higher. Just keep an eye put for stem rot. (More than likely you will forget about this nuisance because you're going to avoid it all together, right? Riiight!)
4. This represents the depth of your table. AKA how much space your roots will have to develop in addition to the LxW. Off the dome I would say Yes you could use an inch of water because continuous flow systems generally aren't more than an inch and NFT is even less, with aeroponics taking the prize.

Hope this helps,
Peace.

Its my first time hydro and I only give this advice as my grows be going long enough to ascertain whether or not this works. I flood every 4 hours for 15 minutes in hydroton. My table is 4x4 but clay definitely allows you an increase in flood cycles which inturn increases fresh oxygen to your roots. My water level is about 4 inches MAX a concern as I cant fill my pots all the way . Im going to fill the tray after making some mods but other than that I see growth everday.

Looks like your on your way. Love DIY'ers, if you do use RW cubes many people use panda film to cover the top to help with algea also, and this is what I do, is use a lid with net pots suspended and filled with hydroton. Filling the tray with hydroton would require a crap load and cleaning that amount may be a bit of a pain. Another thing I found handy was a overflow drain an inch below the top of the flood tray incase of blockage. It saved me from a flood a couple of times lol. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Here's how I roll

No cover needed

Easy to clean and reuse

No RW to toss which does not break down in a landfill

I buy bags from the Dollar Store

Shit, Uploader not working again. I was going to post a pic

Come by my thread to see pics of seedlings in net pots with polished ornamental stone

I tried every 3 hours and they didnt wilt but the were pointing towards the light either. Ive got 100L of hydroton just sitting around and im planning on doing some kind of aero next.

The polished ornamental stuff sounds good.

So basically the water level only goes as high as the drain fitting about 1" when filled... Should be ok? I'm actually not sure what to use now Rockwol, Net pots with hydroton or what?

Hydroton allows you to water more. This inturn increases oxygen to the roots when the water drains. Though Rockwool is obviously less mess.

Just me but I would use net pots and still cover with panda film. I don't really like rockwool but I have seen some amazing grows using rockwool slabs.

Hydroton kicks ass. Rockwool is ok but I hate it.

With rocks, flood as deep as you can. Transplant at a depth that puts roots below flood depth but stem should not get wet. The deeper flood inceases root zone / mass and thus yields increase too. You need a phat res tho.

In hydroton I flood with an interval of 5 hours and duration adequate to reach full depth.

District said:

I tried every 3 hours and they didnt wilt but the were pointing towards the light either. Ive got 100L of hydroton just sitting around and im planning on doing some kind of aero next.

Click to expand...

Its super easy to convert from flood drain to aero/nft. Testing a system i converted for someone now hope to make a thread sometime but i can help you out if you want.

Thanks for all your input guys keep in mind this will be my first attempt at hydro!
I'm going shopping tomorrow:
(4) Clones
(4) 1 Gallon Net Pots
Hydroton...
GH Flora Series (Nutes)

I'm planning to set my PPM @ 1000 // PH @ 5.5 through out my entire grow ( is this a good idea? )

I will check my Rez 2 times a day (9am morning and 9pm evening) TOP OFF PH and check PPM

ch33b said:

Thanks for all your input guys keep in mind this will be my first attempt at hydro!
I'm going shopping tomorrow:
(4) Clones
(4) 1 Gallon Net Pots
Hydroton...
GH Flora Series (Nutes)

I'm planning to set my PPM @ 1000 // PH @ 5.5 through out my entire grow ( is this a good idea? )

I will check my Rez 2 times a day (9am morning and 9pm evening) TOP OFF PH and check PPM

Click to expand...

My first go aswell. I check at least twice. I keep my ppm around the 1000 mark and PH between 5.5 and 5.8. An airstone or 2 for your rez is a good idea too. Im also using GH Flora series and GH Diamond Nectar (Fulvic Acid).

two2brains said:

Its super easy to convert from flood drain to aero/nft. Testing a system i converted for someone now hope to make a thread sometime but i can help you out if you want.

View attachment 3254354

Click to expand...

Thanks dude. I actually had ATOMIZER helping me but decided first to KISS. He knows his shit. I'll definitely sub to any thread on the subject.

Newb here but I would start the nutes in the low side, 1000 ppm's would IMO be a tad high. 5.7-5.8 ph for veg and 5.8-6.1 for flower is the norm I believe. Let the plant tell you if it needs a higher ppm. Dont force feed it is my moto lol.