Ebb and Flow Hydro Question

when using these systems, how often do you flood the roots and for how long? just a newb question

Lots of people have lots of different opinions on this and it is hugely dependant on your media and stage of growth, strain ect , you want the media to be damp but not sloppy wet, i use rockwool and it holds the perfect amount of water and air if you make sure it is free to drain away

About 3 times a day is what i do for 30 min each cycle.

I am currently growing 5white widows in clay beads under 2 /400watt lights at12/12 I flood them for 10 minutes every hour,they were 3inches high when planted 57days ago they are now 2.5 feet high and bushy.

I'd flood 3 times a day for 30-45 minutes each flood.For so few plants you really only need 1 400 wat light and could cut your electricity costs but 2 don't hurt lol have fun

is it a good idea to aerate the water on the flood?
and in conjuction with this question:
are you continuously pumping for the duration of the flood (from the resevour to the flood area)? I suppose that might be the only way to keep it flooded if its supposed to drain back out.

I really need to read more about flood and drain, any good resources?

theollister said:

is it a good idea to aerate the water on the flood?
and in conjuction with this question:
are you continuously pumping for the duration of the flood (from the resevour to the flood area)? I suppose that might be the only way to keep it flooded if its supposed to drain back out.

I really need to read more about flood and drain, any good resources?

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I wouldnt suggest using rockwool for flooding. Unless you want to manually water, at first atleast. Watering 3-4 times a day will make the rockwool too soggy to be worth a shit. I dont grow this style but I would think the clay pellets and coca fiber stuff is more for ebb and flow.

Yes, it is good to airate your water res. Even better is too just go aeroponics.

On my e&f system (10 yrs ago) I just made the drain holes big enough to drain the water slowly. Its just something you are going to have to figure out without overflowing. A good digital timer will help you get it right.

I still havent weighed out doing aero, and i would probably be more comfortable starting out aero, since thats what i started out researching.

When you flood a hydro bed, you need 2 drain holes. One regular drain hole, and another with spacers above it so the drain level is at the full level, this is the overflow drain.

You can flood into the regular drain from below, and the bed will fill to the overflow drain and drain out there until the pump goes off and the bed empties out through the regular drain.

HTH