Ebb and Flow water Q

I currently have some rooted clones, in rapid rooter plugs, surrounded by some hydroton in plastic containers set up in a just made ebb and flow system.

I made it from the DIY section, the one with the kitty litter tray

Anyways, works great, except I cant figure out how many times and how long I want the pump to run...

Currently I have it run for 15 minutes every 4 hours... is this too much? the hydroton isnt very spongy, but I know I cant just have the thing running all the time.. or can I?

I must say the clones arent taking a liking to the system, as before I made it they just had rapid rooter plugs and misting with a dome... that was until roots started showing.

Thanks~!

1-3 times a day until the system floods the medium

PSA and for all lookers in this thread....


this is not a general question for all mediums... s/he stated his medium...that quote was for his medium

the timer the pump is hooked up to is only controllable in 15 min intervals, that wouldnt be too long for them would it?

And thank you for quick response... so the hydroton wouldnt dry out too quickly if the pump only runs once or twice?

15 mins is fine...


damn my bad i thought you said rockwool....you're using rooting plugs and hydroton? well maybe you should flood it 3 times a day... not sure...

maybe you should sit those root plugs in some rockwool cubes so it(hydroton) wouldnt dry out so fast


you can still use the hydroton and rockwool cubes as well


someone pls correct me if im wrong

dammit, trying to stay away from sketchy rockwool....

you do not need rockwool, you have it set up perfectly. on freshly rooted clones flood the tray every four hours for 15min's, then when they get bigger flood every 2 hours and you will be just fine. make sure the water is getting high enough to soak the rapid rooter plug, it should come up about half inch from the bottom on the plug............GL........rockwool sucks

Yes, rockwool always kills my seedlings

thanks for the help!!

Ok they have been set to every 4 hours for 15..

Heres hopin!!

They have already started to show more roots!! yay!

so the 15 min every 4 hours worked well for you???

I got he same thing going and would love to hear what has worked out for you...

Thanks....

I have the same setup, using hydroton and rapid rooters. I flood mine every 3 hours while the lights are on for 3 minutes each. It only takes 3 minutes to fill up my tray. Lights turn on at mid night, I do one flood then, One at 3 am, etc... until the light turns off. I do not water during lights off. Hope this helps...

Thanks jonnyk...!!!

I am vegging and rooting some clones right now... so the light is on 24/7

I am using one of those cheapo timers... and the smallest interval is 15 min... My pump floods the tray in about a min or two...