ebb & flow...best time to water, how often? first indoor grow.

i've tried to do the majority of my research before posting a thread and asking some stupid ass question however i'm the type of dude that relies on comments and feedback. any help would help.

a variety of 12 clones( 2 jr, 2 purpbubba, 2pk, 2 blue dream x haze, 1 querkle, 1 hindu kush, 1 bubba kush, 1 purp sourdesiel) trying to keep it legit
6x6 rockwool cubes
2 x 4 propogation tray with 45 gallon res
1 subpump
1000w hps lite

flora nova nutes 2pt 3 solubles

how often should i flood the tray?

i'm currently water every other day for 15 mins, 1 hour after lites out. i scratch my head when i hear people say that they water 3,4,5 times a day because the rockwool seems to absorb so much fluid. even with my watering pattern the rockwool is always really heavy and saturated.?? is that normal? i want to nute em up!

All I do is water right when the lights come on and about once when the lights go off. It works for me and I am sure it will do it for you as long as you are using clay balls. I don’t know what the other stuff needs. I start the clone off in 1” rock wool and that’s what I do. It should work for you.

chewdizzle said:

i've tried to do the majority of my research before posting a thread and asking some stupid ass question however i'm the type of dude that relies on comments and feedback. any help would help.

a variety of 12 clones
6x6 rockwool cubes
2 x 4 propogation tray with 45 gallon res
1 subpump
1000w hps lite

flora nova nutes 2pt 3 solubles

how often should i flood the tray?

i'm currently water every other day for 15 mins, 1 hour after lites out. i scratch my head when i hear people say that they water 3,4,5 times a day because the rockwool seems to absorb so much fluid. even with my watering pattern the rockwool is always really heavy and saturated.?? is that normal? i want to nute em up!

(medical marijuana patient w/paperwork to prove)

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cackpircings said:

All I do is water right when the lights come on and about once when the lights go off. It works for me and I am sure it will do it for you as long as you are using clay balls. I don’t know what the other stuff needs. I start the clone off in 1” rock wool and that’s what I do. It should work for you.

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thanz,thats sounds bout right. not using clay balls right now though. i have some, but the rockwool cubes are pretty big and dont see any roots popping out the medium yet. thats the difference though, the roots pop right out of 1 inch cubes and into the clay balls which dont absorb much liquid. it seems like mine are constantly saturated

you probably are watering too frequently thats why you don't see any roots yet. you aren't making the roots "search" if you are watering them while the cubes are still "heavy". put them in grow rocks once those roots do pop out and increase the feeding frequency to 3 times during lights on for 15 min intervals.....

chemicalsword said:

you probably are watering too frequently thats why you don't see any roots yet. you aren't making the roots "search" if you are watering them while the cubes are still "heavy". put them in grow rocks once those roots do pop out and increase the feeding frequency to 3 times during lights on for 15 min intervals.....

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ok ok thanks for the info today i decided to plant mty bubba kusk outside. so i gently tore the rockwool apart exposing the roots which were as you said not growing out or down to much and the bottom of the rockwool was completely saturated. is there a way that you would suggest that i could remove some of water cause it has been soaking in the cube for days now and i'm concern that pH is out of wack. would you recommend flushing with rO water only or continue to let dry out ?

damn glad i read this post. i have an ebb and flow and i was on 4 times a day but i read yesterday on another site that it should be on for 15min every 2 hours. so i did that and guess what? after 1 day the plants started to show nute burn so i went here ... thanks for saving my plants.

i water for 15 min every 2 hours and grow amazing shit. I retired using rock wool because it retains too much moisture, especially a 6" cube. Expanded clay is dank and drains fast. If u water more often u need to keep close eye on ph\ppm. The idea is to leave your plants wanting nothing. Doing the twice a day watering would probably work great with the rock wool though.

I have been flooding my Hydrotron rocks every 3 hrs for 15 min.
21, 3 gal pots with a 33 gal res.
My bottom leaves have been looking ugly.
Brownish and limp.
I figured I may be flooding to much.
Was going to cut back to twice a day.
Then I cound this link and think I will add a feeding 4 times a day?
Guess I will try it and see what happens.
Here is a very infomitive likn:
http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/fourtwenty/articles/eftips.htm

You guys are right about 6X6 rockwoll cubes. They hold too much water and can easily get waterlogged. I'm watering my 6X6 cubes for 3 minutes twice a day. I have my cubes buried half way in Hydroton. I'm going to the 4X4 block for the next crop.

so if you were using the 4x4 would you water 2wice a day once when lights on the once before bed? 3-5 minutes each time?

15 mins every 2-3 hours is useless, your going to water log the plant, i do 3 times a day at :30 mins a pop and i could still drop to 2x at 30 mins....your plant will look gross at watering it every 3 hrs, a plant needs to dry out a bit before it is rewaterd..... do not listen to anyone who tells you to water every 3 hrs, the only way that would work is if you used no medium (aeroponics) if your using rockwool or even hydroton 3 times a day is fine