Ebb & gro worries!!! Please help!!!!

Detroitgrower313

Detroitgrower313

Active Member
I JUST SWITCHED FROM A FLOOD TRAY TO AN EBB & GROW BUCKET SYSTEM AND WHEN THE BUCKETS ARE DONE DRAINING THERE IS STILL 2 1/2 INCHES OF WATER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BUCKET.(THESE ARE TWO GALLON BUCKETS)BUT IF I WERE TO SKIP USEING THE CONTOLLER BUCKET AND JUST SET TIMERS I CAN GET THE BUCKETS TO DRAIN DOWN TO ABOUT A HALF OR 3/4'S OF AN INCH.SO MY QUESTION IS WILL THE 2 1/2 INCHES HURT MY PLANTS?I REALLY NEED SOME HELP FAST,I HAVE CLONES ON THE WAY IN LESS THAN 48 HOURS.:shock: THANKS GUYS.
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
/yes 2 1/2" of stagnant water will hurt roots, can't you make a drain on the floor of res?
 
Detroitgrower313

Detroitgrower313

Active Member
No.the res has nothing to do with it.the res pushes water/nutes into the two gallon buckets and drains with a sensor controlled controll box and a pump.the water gets pumped back into the res once the desired water level is reached in the two gallon buckets.the water is being moved and floods the buckets every three hours.so since the water is being moved so often would it really have time to become stagnent?none the less 2 1/2 inches of water constantly on the bottom of my roots makesme nervious!!!! So as long as the water doesnt become stagnent would the 2 1/2 inches still hurt my babies?like i said i can get it down to about a 1/2 inch or 3/4's instead of 2 1/2 but id be pissed if i bought this system and couldnt use the controller.but i sure as hell dont want to hurt my plants either.so as long as the water is not stag,is the 2 1/2 ok,or should i get it as low as possable?
 
newworldicon

newworldicon

Well-Known Member
Detroitgrower313 said:
No.the res has nothing to do with it.the res pushes water/nutes into the two gallon buckets and drains with a sensor controlled controll box and a pump.the water gets pumped back into the res once the desired water level is reached in the two gallon buckets.the water is being moved and floods the buckets every three hours.so since the water is being moved so often would it really have time to become stagnent?none the less 2 1/2 inches of water constantly on the bottom of my roots makesme nervious!!!! So as long as the water doesnt become stagnent would the 2 1/2 inches still hurt my babies?like i said i can get it down to about a 1/2 inch or 3/4's instead of 2 1/2 but id be pissed if i bought this system and couldnt use the controller.but i sure as hell dont want to hurt my plants either.so as long as the water is not stag,is the 2 1/2 ok,or should i get it as low as possable?
Click to expand...
Why not ask the pros...your supplier this question, sounds like a service related issue to me? That way you get the right answer to solve your problem.
 
Detroitgrower313

Detroitgrower313

Active Member
I did call the people i bought the system from immediatley but the guy was absolutely use less!someone out there has to know if the 2 1/2 inches of water/nutes is gonna cause damage or not.like i said i can get it down to a 1/2 inch but thats as good as it gets with most of these systems.oh..........thanks for the brick idea.im going to try this right now.i should have just stayed with the flood tray,but i want those massive roots you get with these systems.
 
Feelinit

Feelinit

Active Member
Mine are in 1/2" and have no probs. Plants love it, mine does not become stagnant. If your worried about it you can put some PVC between the buckets to raise the roots up.
 
legallyflying

legallyflying

Well-Known Member
I had similar concerns. I glued 2x4's on the bottom of my buckets. I also put 2" of river rock in the bottom of the pots. Plants grew gang busters. But I did the 3 day fully flooded dark flush/ferment and some of the plants had a stinky rotten mess of roots in the bottom. I will say root growth is explosive though. I'm using 4 gallon squares and the best plants had a SOLID mass of roots for 3/4 of the whole bucket plus the 2" under the bucket.

I thought the changed the design to eliminate the stagnant water? Some kind of bubbler on the last pot?
 
M

MoJobud

Active Member
I really don't understand what the issue is. Yes it would be a better peace of mind without half an inch of water or so in the bottom buckets but I have yet to see a problem with this so far.
 
legallyflying

legallyflying

Well-Known Member
hellraizer30 said:
you put the river rock between the outer bucket and the inner one?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I figured it would A: take up some volume so my rez doesn't run dry. B: prevent roots from clogging the hose and C: prevent roots from sitting in the water.

It did A and B quite nicely but in terms of C, the plants grew in and among the river rock so much that I actually had to wrestle them out of the plant roots last night when I was swapping buckets. That has to be the best part of the bucket system. Veg in a seperate set of buckets, then just plop them in the flower room bucket bases. MY veg buckets just sit in a big flood table I built (8" deep). I'm using 4 gallon square food grade buckets that cost me $.75 each on CL.

:)
 
hellraizer30

hellraizer30

Rebel From The North
A/B/C are great methods! have you thought about going a step further and using the river rock for
the main bucket medium?
 
legallyflying

legallyflying

Well-Known Member
It's likely too coarse really. And river rock holds next to no moisture at all and also can not be colonized by myco. Still using hydroton but added maybe 15% perlite to this mix this time as I'm going the full beni route.
 
axl

axl

Well-Known Member
its not a big deal. Chck out the ebb and gro thread. The water is oxygenated. I have used the ebb and grow for a few grows, and the roots always were awesome, white, abundant, no smell. Dont worry about it. All the ebb and grows have the same issue, its not a defect with your particular system or anything. Your roots will be fine.

Some folks raise the buckets, but most said it didnt make a difference.
 
S

snailwagon

Active Member
The number one issue with Ebb n Gros is standing water and root pathogens. The guys that make it, CAP, have addressed this in multiple revisions. Those most recent revision has the bottom raised 3/4", with the inlet/outlet hole recessed down, and the whole thing at a 2-3 degree slope. This leaves virtually no standing water. They stopped selling the old ones about 6 months ago. The old ones are sold marked down normally. It is only a problem for some environments.

Run the sucka 4-5 times a day for 15-30 minutes, with the only dark cycle watering being a little before your lights turn on. If you get rot, treat the unit with hydrogen peroxide, then rinse and add fresh nutes. Both Voodoo Juice and Mayan Microzyme are highly effective also, just have a higher tag.
 
legallyflying

legallyflying

Well-Known Member
Now god damnit, why didn't I think about sloping the buckets!! Very good idea.

Another trick that is pretty obvious is getting the bottom float in the control bucket to come on sooner. I have a DIY control bucket and installed the lower switch a little too high. I tapped a wine cork to the bottom of it. Now it works much better and getting the buckets dry
 
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