Hello everybody, I am starting my 3rd grow...but a little new to the flood and drain system (ebb and flow) Let me just list what I have... I've got two 4x6 trays, with a 50 gallon resevoir for each tray and x3 1000 W HPS lights, with a 8" duct fan running through all of them out the door. I have 50 clones as well on their first night. As far as potting the clones, I am going to use hydroton and rockwoll as a medium...almost as a sandwich method. They are all sitting under the light waiting to be transfered tomorrow, and that is where I am confused. I need 50 2 gallon buckets, each transfered into their own bucket I'd assume, but my question is .....after all the buckets are sitting in the tray....obviously the buckets are taller than my trays...so how does the water fill up high enough to the top of the buckets? am I missing something, can somebody explain to me if my potting method is correct? ....also, I found tonight as I was flooding the trays, after they are draining some of the water stays in some of the corners...and I dont want to have to lift the tray after every watering cycle just to get the water to slide down to the hole... Ok, Id love a great response....hopefully someone can help map this out for me!!! Thank you
I've been seeking for the same answer. I have a 4x8 tray, 117gl res, running 2 1000w lights with parabolic hoods. I will be transplanting cuttings that are in 1.5" rockwool cubes into 1gl pots filled with hydroton. In my res, if I put the overflow drain around 2.5", obviously, that will be the height of the water in the tray. I think this should be sufficient as when I transplant the cubes in to the pots, they will be buried in the hydroton approximately 2-3", enough so the hydroton covers the tops of the cubes to prevent algae growth. If the water is coming up 2.5", this should be just to the bottom of the cubes. The hydroton will ebb water from there and the roots should grow right into the moisture in the bottom. In other words, the water doesn't need to reach the top of the pots. Hope that helps! Also, if there is water hovering in the corners, simply shim the table up where ever you need to to make it level.
The idea is that the roots are at the bottom of the pots, and the tray floods up to a point where the roots and medium are irrigated, not topped off. It's a delicate balance in the beginning, sometimes you have to hand water. The best way is to let your roots on your clones get long enough to reach the bottom of the pot, then plant and cover with hydroton. Then, on your over flow fittings, just use 2-3 extensions to fill to max. As the root system develops, you can take out an extension, as the root will take in the nute solution as soon as flooding begins. I've never done a 50 plant grow, the most was eight. I eventually went to a drip stake to make sure they were getting hydrated. Even with pots at 8"+ in height, they will get hydrated with 4-5" inches of water flooding. If you plant in a coco/perlite medium, you can even flood with less water. This medium wicks the necessary solution up through the pot. You can flood with as little as 2" for 30 minutes, and they will be well watered. You can water as little as 4 times a day with this method. When I used hydroton, I set my timers to water every 2 hours because the clay pellets dry out quicker. I don't do e & f any more, I'm doing a linked RDWC system now, with a few hempy buckets. I am just trying different systems to see what they're all about. I hope I've been able to eplain this in terms you can understand. If you have further questions, you can pm me or Yahoo messenger me. Good luck guys, let me know if I can help.....Peace....chunk BTW.....if your fill fitting is at either end of your tray, a small 1/2" shim on either corner will direct drainage to the fill port and it will drain back through the pump.