ebb-flo ~ 3 tables with 1 reservoir?

[smokingrubber]

While looking for an ebb & flow table, I ran across these at the local hardware store.

They are 31"x19" each. Side by side = 31"x57" I plan to use a 1000w over them (approx 12 plants). Would a 600 on a mover be better?

I'm thinking of using a single reservoir tank to flood each table one at a time. That's three pumps down in one reservoir tank.

What are the negatives/positives under this scenario? I'm not planning a staggered growth cycle. It will be: Fill-Grow-Harvest-Clean & Repeat.

I do desire a couple different strains, which may require different harvest dates. Would it screw me up too bad when it's time to flush?

 

[smokingrubber]

I'd love to go with a grid of 5 tubs. That would be approx 63"x50"

My room is not much bigger than that so I don't know how I would get around to the other side for bug checks and stuff.

 

[Eharmony420]

I love the mortar tray. Used it till i got a botancare. Why 5?

Novel idea bout 1 reservoir. Another good idea is a 18 gallon rubbermaid res for each tray with they tray just sitting on the res. No reason for a lid, but i use on to keep the rubbermaid more stable. Nice stand a 18 gallon makes. USe a roughneck rubbermaid, sturdier.

or go with what you like. I am using a card table for my botanicare 3x3.

 

[smokingrubber]

This will be a basement grow. I will have to dig a pit for the nute reservoir so that it is lower than the trays. The trays will be on a pallet, which will be on the ground. I'm doing 3 (or 5) cuz I'm concerned about having to empty (and refill) so many tubs. Small tubs means less water is required. I plan to get another pump and attach it to a LONG hose so that I can just drop it in and send everything out to the lawn, without having to maneuver a 25 gallon bucket around.

Plus, those mortar trays are only $10 each! I'll spend twice that plumbing the whole thing, but I won't have to worry about maintaining a 100 gallons reservoir. I can fill one of the mortar boxes with 10 gallons, then drain it and fill the next one. A 6x5 ebb-flo tray would require about 40 gallons (guessing). That saves a lot on nutrients and bottled water, right?

 

[TheFaux]

As long as the trays are level with each other you can simply connect them with some barbed tees or quick connects.

 

[Wackytabcky]

if you do one reservoir you should stick with one strain so that you can optimize the solution for that one strain. If you want to run multiple strain get more resevoirs.

 

[Old in the Way]

While looking for an ebb & flow table, I ran across these at the local hardware store.

They are 31"x19" each. Side by side = 31"x57" I plan to use a 1000w over them (approx 12 plants). Would a 600 on a mover be better?

Nice, go with 5 trays 20sq.ft. w/ 1kw=50watts per foot--1kw will give you some serious yields.....do you have the height for it???? If so use that shit....you said a basement grow right, just making sure

I'm thinking of using a single reservoir tank to flood each table one at a time. That's three pumps down in one reservoir tank.What are the negatives/positives under this scenario?

you may need to change the res alot more often, I believe 4-5 L nute solution per plant is what you want......i run 96 plants on 265L res and have to change every 10 days

I'm not planning a staggered growth cycle. It will be: Fill-Grow-Harvest-Clean & Repeat.

Those little tubs are primo for a perpetual harvest....ought to rethink that plan

I do desire a couple different strains, which may require different harvest dates. Would it screw me up too bad when it's time to flush?

I manually flush if I have 10-20 even 25+ plants coming ready before the rest (i am manually flush about 20 right now).....its a pain but something you have to do till your quiver of strains is dialed in......

Some food for thought......are those trays uv proof?....if not they won't hold up long under HID light which contains enough uva, uvb to degrade plastics in the growroom.

just my 2cents


-OitW

 

[tems]

Have one table for half nutes, one table for MAX nutes. and one for flushing. Keep plants mobile in square pots. Wouldnt that work out?

 

[VictorVIcious]

there isn't any drainage for those trays under your plants. You are creating a plumbing nightmare, to save $30.00 worth of nutes?? If you are not going to do a perpetual grow, just run them all at once, this setup may sound neat.......

 

[smokingrubber]

Nice, go with 5 trays 20sq.ft. w/ 1kw=50watts per foot--1kw will give you some serious yields.....do you have the height for it???? If so use that shit....you said a basement grow right, just making sure

I'm really hoping that I can do 5. I would have no way of accessing that side of the table without crawling through the forest. I have about 5ft clear to the dirt floor. That's why I have to dig out a path / reservoir channel. Maybe I can dig a channel below the pallets and pop up on the other side?!

you may need to change the res alot more often, I believe 4-5 L nute solution per plant is what you want......i run 96 plants on 265L res and have to change every 10 days

So, a 20-25 gallon reservoir (4 liter per plant) would serve all 5 tables (one at a time). This may be a stupid question, but how do you know when you need to change the reservoir? Do you just do it every 10 days because that's the schedule? I don't have a problem with changing it every week if that's what is best. But how do you know when it's needed? I had just figured on going with the FF products, add molasses, check the ph, and roll.

Those little tubs are primo for a perpetual harvest....ought to rethink that plan

I will. Thank you.

I manually flush if I have 10-20 even 25+ plants coming ready before the rest (i am manually flush about 20 right now).....its a pain but something you have to do till your quiver of strains is dialed in......

How do you manually flush? Should I simply move the pump and drain lines into a separate reservoir of clean fresh water? This is important to consider because I'll have to dig another spot for that tub also.

Some food for thought......are those trays uv proof?....if not they won't hold up long under HID light which contains enough uva, uvb to degrade plastics in the growroom.

just my 2cents

That's good money OitW (+rep). I'll check to see if it's UV protected. It's for outdoor construction projects, so I would guess that it's rated. I'll check.

 

[smokingrubber]

there isn't any drainage for those trays under your plants. You are creating a plumbing nightmare, to save $30.00 worth of nutes?? If you are not going to do a perpetual grow, just run them all at once, this setup may sound neat.......

It's an ebb & flow system. I'll drill 2 holes in the bottom of those trays. 3 times a day the tubs will be filled with about 2½ inches of water, then completely drained back to the main reservoir. Not really that big of a plumbing problem. Must use aquarium silicone!

 

[VictorVIcious]

It's an ebb & flow system. I'll drill 2 holes in the bottom of those trays. 3 times a day the tubs will be filled with about 2½ inches of water, then completely drained back to the main reservoir. Not really that big of a plumbing problem. Must use aquarium silicone!

Look sport, I built all of the flood and drain tables I use, and posted the build. When you flood a tray, you must completly drain the water away from the plants. These tray without something added to the bottom of the tray will not do that. You would have to countersink your fittings so they would not sit higher than the bottom of the tray. Or add something for the plants to sit on in the tray, I have about 15' by 42" of a material that does a dandy job. Stop by and pick some up if you like, I buy the trays now, they are made to drain.

What you are saying now defeats your whole purpose, the idea was you could use a smaller res for all of the trays, if you flood them all at once ...??

 

[smokingrubber]

What kind of material are you suggesting for lifting the plants? I'm in the southwest usa so stopping by would be difficult.

I do plan to use fittings that sit below the bottom of the pan for complete drainage. Plus, the pans will be slightly tilted (one degree or so). I definitely don't want any standing water in there.

I'm not going to flood them all at once. I'll flood them one at a time.

You made trays? What did you make them out of? You buy trays now? Do the old ones wear out fast?

 

[tems]

hey download sea of green 3. its a complete guide to SOG with hydroponics. It should answer most of your questions.

 

[smokingrubber]

hey download sea of green 3. its a complete guide to SOG with hydroponics. It should answer most of your questions.

Is that a book, movie, program, term paper . . . ?

 

[Dirtfree]

I am using the same trays. The only problem is they are flimsy on the bottom and dont drain well in some spots! Other than that they work great!! I feel the same as you...Why pay 100 dollars when you can pay 10. Good luck to you!!

 

[smokingrubber]

Excellent. Thank you Dirtfree. How many grows have you completed in them? Are they getting UV-bleached and degrading?

 

[VictorVIcious]

What kind of material are you suggesting for lifting the plants? I'm in the southwest usa so stopping by would be difficult.

The material is normally used under floors in basement. I bought it at Lowe's comes in 30' x 42" roll and you can cut it with scissors.

I do plan to use fittings that sit below the bottom of the pan for complete drainage. Plus, the pans will be slightly tilted (one degree or so). I definitely don't want any standing water in there.

I'm not going to flood them all at once. I'll flood them one at a time.

In order to install you fittings on the bottom of the pan and attach the necessary lines you are going to have to support them, take a look at what Earl did to put drains in.

In order to flood them individually your going to create a plumbing mightmare. And you will not change it by using silicone.
At the very least you would spend more money. IF you insist on doing this your best bet would be to buy some RainBird equipment, They have 3 station prebuilt celenoid switches that can be connected to a timer that allows you to water different zones of your lawn, in this case your fantastic garden. If I remember right the zone control valve is about $50.00, I bought on of thier 8 station times for less than $20.00, I think the normal price is around $40.00

You made trays? What did you make them out of? You buy trays now? Do the old ones wear out fast?

HAHAHAHAHAHA. You could have answered your question by reading any of my threads, I have been a member for a little over 2 years and have only started 10 threads, 7 of them are DIY threads.
Yep, I buy the trays now, and build the table to put them on, install the casters and reses.
NO, they have been replaced because there are problems with drainage. I am trying to save your ass, because I have done it, and you are trying to be a smart ass. It would probably be better to be smart. And it would cost you a lot less too. That doesn't mean I don't like ya............yet. VV

 

[VictorVIcious]

I am using the same trays. The only problem is they are flimsy on the bottom and dont drain well in some spots! Other than that they work great!!
See whatimeanvern. VV

 

[smokingrubber]

Where was I being a smart-ass? I'm looking for help and I appreciate advise. I didn't do a background check on you prior to asking you about your experiences. Sorry, if your reputation didn't precede you.

I checked your journal (prior to your response) and didn't see a description of your tub. I didn't read all 52 pages though.

I'M NOT ARGUING WITH YOU. I'm honestly looking for advise. I MAY not take it . . . but I'll listen. Mr Green used the same tub in his grow-video and I was planning on doing the exact same thing. You used orchid pellets in individual square pots (if I remember correctly)? Is having the ability to move them important? I had planned on simply filling the tub with pellets and using the large RW cubes.

I can see where the plumbing would be a bit exotic. Let me explain how I was thinking it should work. Each mix-tub (3 probably) would be plumbed to their own pump. I could zip tie the pump line and the return line together and drop them in the res. Each pump will be on a separate plug timer ($10ea). That way I'll only be using about 5 gallons of fluid from the reservoir at a time. When it's time to flush or go half-nute, I can simply drop that pump line into a different reservoir. This way each mix-tub is doing it's own thing, but still sharing the primary nutrient supply.

I see that there is only so much I can do about standing water in the bottom of the tub if my fittings are 1/8" high. I will do whatever I can to eliminate this issue. (FYI, I work in the plastics industry. I design and mfg things like cell phones, buttons & connectors. So when I say I'll do "whatever" I can do . . . I have the resources available to do far more than most!) So, what if there is a tiny puddle on one end of the tub? TINY! I know it's bad, but every tub will have some issues?

Thanks for the help everyone.