Question about ebb and flow and hydroton

So I'm getting an ebb and flow system with 5 inch pots, are these big enough to take the plants to harvest? It holds 16 pots, and they are all touching, is that enough room for each plant or do I need to not use all the pots to give them more space? Is a 400w light enough or should I get 600w?

If I start in 1 inch rockwool cubes, when they are ready do I just put the 1 inch rockwool directly into the 5 inch pot filled with hydroton? If so, I'm kind of confused about watering. Will the ebb and flow water it properly at this point? Since the water only goes a couple inches up the bottom of the 5 inch pots, how do the roots receive water? Does the hydroton wick moisture up to the rocks above the water level, or do the roots needs to be down where they would be touching the water before I can use the ebb and flow?

And finally, how many times a day do I set the system to flood the tray and for how long? Will it be the same throughout the life of the plant, or is it different based on what stage it's in?

With the answers to these questions I can finally start, thank you very much in advance.

I ebb and flow in hydroton...


1)depends on how big you wanna grow em...
send more info on your space/pot size/environment etc.
2)you can set the flood level to match where you think the
rockwool is in the pot with hydroton or you can hand water
through the top until the plant establishes a root system.
for the most part hydroton will wick and hold moisture, but
usually will not hold it for long.
3) I flood every 2 hours around the clock for a half hour each
time but it can get very dry where I am at so I need too;
the stage of the plant doesn't matter for me. 2 hours is
about how long my plants can go without showing signs
of wilt. Your flood frequency and time will vary depending
on your environment.

This is the system I was looking at: http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MGSYS-Hydroponic-Megagarden-System/dp/B0001XLP9G/ref=sr_1_6?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1321127993&sr=1-6

Is that big enough or not really? Would it be better to use 9 inch/3 gallon pots? Could I use them in this system? It would hold 4 of those ya? So I'd need like two of the systems then? Is it easy to build your own system it seems like it would be alot cheaper.

Oh and also do you flood while they are sleeping too or only during lights on?

You can DIY one for cheaper
for sure. Everything you need
for the system itself would run
you about $100 or so if you shop
around. You'll also come out with
a larger system so you can
grow larger plants.

Depending if you have a garden store
near you or not, you can get your tray, rez and
drain/fill hose (mixing tub they are like 2'x3.5' and 20 gal tote)
from lowe's/home depot and spend about
$25~$30
air pump/line/stone walmart $10
get your pump/planters/fittings/hydroton
for $25-$50 from the garden store
and there you go.
But if you gotta shop online, you'll have to
consider shipping.

I flood every 2 hours around the clock for 30 min each
flood.

I honestly don't worry if I ever flood too much
since I use straight hydroton and I don't think
that a 1" cube of rockwool is going to hold too
much water for a plant in full bloom.
The way I figure it I can keep my tray flooded at
all times and it couldn't be any worse than DWC.
Hell, maybe even better since the water is super
oxygenated and circulated by waterfall.

Shit, worked for Willy Wonka right? ~\\(o.0)//~

I would go with Moses.Lyons's suggestion. I think you would be disappointed with your crop size. To get even two to three ounces off a plant I let them veg longer than that unit would allow. I can fit MAX six budding plants under my 1000 watt. The more root space the bigger the buds. If that holds 15 tiny plants and you can only get 3/4 to an ounce you'll max out under a pound. Plants can double and triple during flowering. If you spent less money and more time and built it yourself you could have those same 15 plants produce 45 ounces instead of 16. Depends how many/much you want to grow. I use the 8 bucket General Hydroponics WaterFarm setup which would also be very easy to copy. I'd also use the biggest buckets your space will allow.

If he maxxed out at a pound and correctly sized his light for his size tray... maybe say 600... 450 grams out of 600 watts sounds pretty damn good to me... are you getting two pounds with those 6 plants under that 1k?

to the op yes that all sounds pretty solid under a 600, flip them to 12/12 at like 8-10 inches (preferably an indica dom strain..) and look up the lollipop pruning technique. Its pretty simple and its just removing growth from the bottom half of the plant so the main bud isnt crowded. Hopefully if all goes really well you'll be pulling 1/2-3/4 of an ounce a plant.

I cover my table with panda film and let the roots grow out of the pots and into the table. Not only does covering the table help with the humidity and evaporation, but it allows for a huge root system. Big roots=big buds!

I would love to do that, but how do you insert the plants? Assuming 5 inch pots for the sake of discussion.

Destillat said:

I cover my table with panda film and let the roots grow out of the pots and into the table. Not only does covering the table help with the humidity and evaporation, but it allows for a huge root system. Big roots=big buds!

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Ya I'm gonna do that with the panda film. I think I'm going to cover the tray with the pots in it with the film, then mark where the middle of each pot is on the film, then cut holes maybe an inch or an inch and a half in diameter on the marks I made. Then after they sprout and I transfer them to the tray I should be able to just very carefully put the film with the already cut holes over the little seedlings. Sounds like it'll work ya?

Oh and also I have a 400w light. Will that not be enough for the 2x2 tray?

The 400 will be perfect for that tray.

shnkrmn said:

The 400 will be perfect for that tray.

Click to expand...

thinking of the same size tray myself for a perpetual. would a 600 watt be ''overkill' for tray and be better off with a 2x4? dont mean to jack the thread.

sure it's overkill, but there's nothing wrong with that. a 600 will cover a 3 x 3 or even 4 x 4 nicely. Enclose the 2 x 2 with reflective material and you will redirect most of that to your plants.