minituarized ebb&flow

Hey yall,
Just wanted to share my new contraption with everyone, it looks like it'll work so far! I had a bunch of leftover hydroton and a couple of extra square feet of grow space in my closet, so I decided to rig up a minituarized ebb n flow system and germinate some extra seeds to find strong females. I built my last hydro system with 2 sterilite totes (6 gallon res- 8 plants in 5.5" netpots) and this one I wanted to make more user friendly (i.e. ez 2 check pH, refill, move around, etc..)
I started with a small rubbermaid roughneck container ($7) and a dishpan about the same size ($4). I used ebb&flow fittings ($5) and hydroton in net pots. Cut out the middle of the container lid so the fittings could hang down and I could rotate the tray to access the resevoir. I'm using a tiny pump from a relaxation fountain, not very powerful but almost too much for this setup..
Seems to be pumping fine so far, I'm only planning on vegging 4 seed starts here, then culling males and retransplanting the girls straight into the dishpan with lots of hydroton to fill in..
I'm hoping this resevoir isn't too small to work, I'm kinda counting on a lot of extra flow during the pump cycle to aerate the h20.
Here's some pics, seedlings are just now poking through the rockwool cubes so more to come.

Nice Little setup ya built there, i got one like it using a lil bigger tub and a kitty litter box. For me I found the best way to keep the pump from spraying all over the place was to partially crimp it and use a zip tie to keep it crimped.
Good luck
P@ssw0rd

robeauxdamatador said:

Hey yall,
Just wanted to share my new contraption with everyone, it looks like it'll work so far! I had a bunch of leftover hydroton and a couple of extra square feet of grow space in my closet, so I decided to rig up a minituarized ebb n flow system and germinate some extra seeds to find strong females. I built my last hydro system with 2 sterilite totes (6 gallon res- 8 plants in 5.5" netpots) and this one I wanted to make more user friendly (i.e. ez 2 check pH, refill, move around, etc..)
I started with a small rubbermaid roughneck container ($7) and a dishpan about the same size ($4). I used ebb&flow fittings ($5) and hydroton in net pots. Cut out the middle of the container lid so the fittings could hang down and I could rotate the tray to access the resevoir. I'm using a tiny pump from a relaxation fountain, not very powerful but almost too much for this setup..
Seems to be pumping fine so far, I'm only planning on vegging 4 seed starts here, then culling males and retransplanting the girls straight into the dishpan with lots of hydroton to fill in..
I'm hoping this resevoir isn't too small to work, I'm kinda counting on a lot of extra flow during the pump cycle to aerate the h20.
Here's some pics, seedlings are just now poking through the rockwool cubes so more to come.

Click to expand...

I have a similar small home made flood and drain set up and from experience I would just like you to know that with such a small reservoir the PH changes very quickly and so you need to check it two or three times daily if possible.Good luck.

Yup Ph jumps quick, Pain in the Ass but it can work.

thanks for the heads up on the pH, I'm hopefully going to use this only for starting off clones and seedlings, then transfer to a larger ebb & flow table when they develop nice roots. just needed to separate the young plants from mature ones for the nutrient mixes.. cool idea with the hose crimp, right now I've ust got a bunch of hydroton covering the inlet but it looks a little sketch sometimes- tray fills up and drains out the overflow tube super fast!
*hopefully pics of transplants soon

this is really nice.
i dig. I might mod this with a larger rez to fit it in a hydro cab.
I like.
-e

woah... i can't see the pictures.....

robeauxdamatador said:

Hey yall,
Just wanted to share my new contraption with everyone, it looks like it'll work so far! I had a bunch of leftover hydroton and a couple of extra square feet of grow space in my closet, so I decided to rig up a minituarized ebb n flow system and germinate some extra seeds to find strong females. I built my last hydro system with 2 sterilite totes (6 gallon res- 8 plants in 5.5" netpots) and this one I wanted to make more user friendly (i.e. ez 2 check pH, refill, move around, etc..)
I started with a small rubbermaid roughneck container ($7) and a dishpan about the same size ($4). I used ebb&flow fittings ($5) and hydroton in net pots. Cut out the middle of the container lid so the fittings could hang down and I could rotate the tray to access the resevoir. I'm using a tiny pump from a relaxation fountain, not very powerful but almost too much for this setup..
Seems to be pumping fine so far, I'm only planning on vegging 4 seed starts here, then culling males and retransplanting the girls straight into the dishpan with lots of hydroton to fill in..
I'm hoping this resevoir isn't too small to work, I'm kinda counting on a lot of extra flow during the pump cycle to aerate the h20.
Here's some pics, seedlings are just now poking through the rockwool cubes so more to come.

Click to expand...

never mind, nice setup.

I think those containers are not light proof, and are opaque if you hold them up to light, just a heads up, some plastic and your good to go..JR

I live in a small place and i don't want a garden, will this work jrinlv?

Work as in grow weed in? sure.....Good luck JR