Hello GC, Looked and looked. I find very little information on the Ebb and Flow systems. Mostly this site seems to prefer the BB systems Anybody use and ebb and flow table system? I'm looking into getting a 4x4 tent and a table that maximizes my grow space. maybe use a 1000 Watt switchable ballast and a 8 inch inline fan , cool tube or vented hood and vent to my attic with a carbon scrubber. Or, anybody use a ebb and flow bucket system. I've been reading the Jorge Cervantes Bible and even in that compendium there is only two or three pages max that deal with ebb and flow BB or tables. Tables seem to maximize your space rather that only have six buckets and sticking the Res outside of the tent. I realize this is not the absolute beginners page. But I'm a beginner and would appreciate any feedback and any links to information for me to read. I have searched. Just looking for a little more information. My plan is to start much smaller but with my budget i know once I have my genetics down I'm going to upgrade and use my much smaller BB two plant system as my mother keeper.
Well I'll ask a couple while we wait is it just a large table with hydroten or is each plant in a separate bucket? how often is the table flodded? Does the res need a bubbler?
a large table with hydroton, the plants are in thier own net cup buried within the table, Your flood times are directly related to your enviorment, a good starter flood is every 4 hours for 6-8 minutes...imo... yes a bubbler in the res is recommended,
It depends on your medium, too. Using 4" rockwool cubes in clay, I find that 15 minutes of flooding every 8 hours works.
You don't need to fill the table with hydroton, you only need the roots to be in the dark, hydroton works easily for this but seems wasteful. I prefer to have a lid on the table, with holes for the netpots to sit on top of. The roots hang and then hit the bottom of the tray, all in the dark. If you have no lid you need to fill it with something. Coco and rockwool mini cubs work too (as root cover in the tray, not the media in the cups). When the plants are small, I flood once a day to make sure they get a little dry, as it encourages root growth. As soon as they are noticeably growing, I switch to once every 4 hours. My trays are homemade, and take 4 minutes to flood. As stated, you really want a bubbler in the res. I use 4 stones for my 20 gall res. My trays hold an inch of water at the bottom ( to keep roots submerged) and I put a stone in each of those trays as well.
I agree with the above post. I started using an ebb/flow for my flowerroom, and have a big 2x4 table filled with hydroton. but what a pain in the ass it is going to be to clean all those rocks and roots. I think for my next round, I'll use something that doesnt take up so much space. plus, i just planted the girls directly in they hydroton, and you cant rotate them or move them around. it's a decent way to grow, just not sure it's the best for limited space. as for timing of floods, i just flood it until it gets near the top, which was about 5 minutes and do this every 3 hours and it's worked fine, but it might be different for you based on environment. good luck!
I see lots of 'Flowering' use of the flood table... Might I inquire as to if anybody keeps mother plants in this or a similar hydro setting.??
What about Ebb & Flow system reservoir temperatures? Do they need to be chilled with a water chiller?
406MatteNE- I use flood tables and DIY flood trays and reservoirs for all phases. I prefer e&F because it can be automated to the point of you really not needing to lift a damn finger for a week or longer. The only thing I sweat is light height, so I check the plants every day or two. Nutrients usage is less than some methods since you can use relatively small res. and change the nutes every two weeks. Cuttings- Once cuttings have been rooted, they go into trays with 6 3" netpots, the are hanging in the lids of the trays. Hydroton in the netpots, none in the tray. I use rubbermaid containers, stacked on each other for res/tray. The res holds 7 gallons, and I use bricks to take up space in the trays to flood without exhausting the res. It works with a teeny 130 gph pump. I use 1 cheapo walmart fish tank aerater for bubbles. I water once every day at this stage. 24/0 lights Veg. Once plants are "active" and growing around an inch a day, they go into veg trays. These are the same type of trays as I use for the cuttings part. I water once every 4 hours with none during lights out. 18/6 lights Flower I have a 20 gallon res connected to 2 trays that are 18"x28"x8" I have 2, with 3 plants per tray in 6" netpots using hydroton. This has a 400gph pump, and it takes 8 mins to flood these. I water every 2 hours, and none when the lights are off. I put airstones in the res and the trays with 3 pumps doing 4.5L/m of air. Mad bubbles. RE: mother plants I tend to find its easier and safer to keep moms in soil. I would be very hesitant to keep moms this way, since there could be a lot more things that could go wrong. My moms are very important to me, so I wont trust them to failed pumps, power outages, etc. My buddy feels the same way, but he keeps his in bubbling buckets, since they are complete setups each to themselves and he can run redundant air pumps. Very very low maintenance with the buckets. RE: temps in the res. You need two things- NOT hot, and no light. Basically its the algae game. If its warm, and has light, it will grow, and you lose. No light, it can be warm, but not too warm. I dont the limit, I know my plans wilt with really warm water. Its stressing. Mine is at most 80, and it works fine.