how often do I flood (ebb and flow)

If using ebb and flow and the pump was on a timer how often should the pump flood the tray? and how long should it take for the water to drain out out of the tray?

Not as simple as it would seem. Depends on grow medium , grow room environment, type of timer you have, strain, and other variables.

In hydroton, with a 15 min increment timer, I flood 3 times during light, none in dark. At lights on, 5 hours later, and 5 hours later for 15 minutes each.

In rockwool with the same timer, I flood twice in light. Once at lights on, and once 8 hours later.

I like fast draining as well. I usually use 1/2 inch tube to flood and drain through same hose, so it empties pretty quick.

I haven't done flood & drain in a while tho as I felt there was too much equipment involved(tables, pumps, reservoirs, slabs, etc.) so take this with a grain of salt. There's probably better advise available from people who do flood & drain currently.

anybody else??

Kdoe420 said:

anybody else??

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3 times during the lighted hours with fast draining medium worked fine for me.

i asked a guy at the hydro shop and he said that 3 10 min floods are too much have a 8x8 room with one 1000k hps and 8 max fan...so im perplexed is 3 10 min floods too much

REDI JEDI 420 said:

i asked a guy at the hydro shop and he said that 3 10 min floods are too much have a 8x8 room with one 1000k hps and 8 max fan...so im perplexed is 3 10 min floods too much

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In hydroton, it's hard to flood too much as it drains completely. With rockwool, I preferred 2 over 3. It really depends on how much water your medium retains between floods. For example, rockwool slabs dry out much more slowly than loose rockwool, but it's the same stuff.

i guess i just gotta know my garden