how often should i flood

youve all heard this asked about a thousand times but i was wondering im growing in clay pebbles 10 plants under a 600w light how often do you think i should flood my plants its a flood and drain system much appreciated

What time of setup? A flood table? Inline buckets? What size table?....I usually use a time table of 4 floods a day one every 6 hours. Time of flood depends on pump size and table. Easiest way is to time a full table flood then set the timer to that flood time say 8 minutes floods a 4x4 table to full fill then you set the timer to flood every 6 hours for 8 minutes or adjust to your pumps and table flood pattern.

flood table in 11 litre pots clay pebbles ive go it on 4 times a day for 15 mins at the moment

i run ebb/flow constantly with hydroton in 9" square baskets. takes about 9 minutes to flood, 4 minutes to drain via autosiphon (bell siphon), then repeats. the clones were originally rooted in rockwool blocks, which are still buried in the hydroton, yet i have no problems with it getting too soggy, high humidity, mold, etc. The roots coming out of the top half of the basket are pruned by air and light, forcing them to branch within the hydroton. the lower roots just sprawl out in the flood trays and are submerged in water 24x7.

as long as the roots don't dry out, i suppose a dry interval wouldn't hurt, but seems like a guessing game to me. as your plant grows and its root mass grows, its needs will change. most people seem to do it this way, though, only a couple times a day.

i'm pretty sure running ebb/flow non-stop has no adverse effects with hydroton. coco and rockwool will probably drown. the only way you can go wrong is not watering enough, imo.

im gonna set it to water every 4 hours for half a hour so you run yours constant dont they drown mine aint in baskets mine are in pots pal

iv had the same setup for years 3 times a day for 30minutes, you can even get away with 15min 3 times

Every 3 hours is a safe place to start.

With fresh clones I make the intervals a little longer, every 5 or 6 hours.


Remember, you only need to flood while the lights are on. Read: you don't need to flood when the lights are off..

Clown Baby said:

Every 3 hours is a safe place to start.

With fresh clones I make the intervals a little longer, every 5 or 6 hours.





Remember, you only need to flood while the lights are on. Read: you don't need to flood when the lights are off..

Click to expand...

Wrong plants uptake water in the dark aswell, when the plant is outside do you think it only gets watered during the day??? lol some users need to think and do more research before giving false information and your over watering imho, 3 times a day 15-30min each, every 3 hours is way way too much

Your better off flooding in lights off time too. A good set is 4 times a day that once every 6 hours whether in veg or flower.

This is way excessive and not recomended. Your drowning the roots with little air time so your slowing the process and hurting the yield. roots need air time so to flood like this is crazy not to mention it wastes nutes and your ph has to be fluxin like crazy and your adding to your electric and water bill. Surprised your not seeing massive root rot if you flood back to back all day every day.

im not sure where peopl got this notion of not watering during the dark period, but its completley false i have read numerous studies to the contrary, here is cannibis culture giving good reasons to water during the dark period, when i find a good study i will post it, i just have to re find tem

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2024.html

I have always ran six 30 minute flood cycles in my tables. Six inch net pots and a table, dry out just enough and the grow is wonderful. Never had any problems.

so long as your medium is drying out enough. point being plants need to soak then dry out a bit then soak again.... this happens even during lights out

why would i see root rot i water 4 times a day for half hour nothing wrong with that the guy on here runs his constant and he aint said out about root rot

I flood every 3 hours for 30 mins... Fabulous results!

Flood times all depend on the medium you are using. I cant seem to get file to download here but just google ( Cannastats ebb&flow tips.) They have a chart, you enter your info and it will give you the results.

EvilSmurf said:

Wrong plants uptake water in the dark aswell, when the plant is outside do you think it only gets watered during the day??? lol some users need to think and do more research before giving false information and your over watering imho, 3 times a day 15-30min each, every 3 hours is way way too much

Click to expand...

photosynthesis is co2 + h20 ---light---> c6h12o6 + o2.
If there's no light, then please tell me what plants need water for. They're fine on what they got during the day. And hydroton can retain moisture throughout a 12 hour dark cycle. The only thing watering at night is going to do is contribute to excessive night time humidity which can lead to PM.

And I said to water every three hours. Meaning three hours in between waterings. In a 12 hour cycle that's a max of 4 times a day. 4 vs 3 is way too much??? So if you think every three hours is "way too much", then DWC and RDWC must not even work, right? They must kill plants instantly, because then roots are always submerged in water.

I am a newbie, but I watched a informative video/movie "Aquaponics Made Easy" very helpful, He too was using constantly pumping in a flood & drain system 24/7 with auto-siphon system, but he also had air stones to make sure the fish and plants had the oxygen they needed.

I am the ultimate newbie lol. Its my first hydro grow and I run my pump on for 30 off for 30 and the plants r about 6 feet tall and r 60 days old appr. So plants seem to like it too but I was not expecting that kind of growth lol.

for hydroton you will need to flood 4x a day. 15 min. light on only!