I'm using ebb and grow with hydroton and 3 part GH nute feeding. The setting water at the bottom is a major design flaw so raising them is a good idea. I did that and also modified the hose system by installing a 2' PVC main pipe from the controller bucket that T's off in the middle of the room and extends to both walls. The feeder hoses come out of the main pipe every 14" or so and are connected to 4 and 5 buckets each. It's easier to offset the plant spacing and the system fills and drains much more efficiently. Originally my room of 90 would take almost 30 minutes to fill completely and now it fills in about 10 and all of the buckets fill at the same rate instead of the staggered rate of the "daisy chain" hose set up. It has also virtually eliminated the clogging that can happen from gunk buildup when all of the feed water has to travel solely through the small diameter daisy chain hoses.
For All Cap Ebb and Grow Users
- Thread starter pluto420
- Start date
formfactor
Member
Right on thx hellrazer. I am very curious about nutes... Someday I may build a second controller, and run like 6 experimental buckets to tet different nutes. But with the GH 3 part I saw absolutely no deficiency whatsoever (until I flushed with just tap water,
Btw, you guys probably already know this but the 3/4" e&g gromits and fittings fit in the same holes as the 1/2" fittings...
I went to the hydro store and got 20 3/4" Ts 20 3/4" grommets and 20ft of 3/4" hose all for around 40$. Unfortunately I still need more of hem so I'm still running 1/2". But I am definitely going to upgrade to the 3/4" eventually. Another thing I'm concerned about is how much more water volume the bigger hosing would use... I can already imagine 35 pants is going to leave the res pretty empty between fills.
Btw, you guys probably already know this but the 3/4" e&g gromits and fittings fit in the same holes as the 1/2" fittings...
I went to the hydro store and got 20 3/4" Ts 20 3/4" grommets and 20ft of 3/4" hose all for around 40$. Unfortunately I still need more of hem so I'm still running 1/2". But I am definitely going to upgrade to the 3/4" eventually. Another thing I'm concerned about is how much more water volume the bigger hosing would use... I can already imagine 35 pants is going to leave the res pretty empty between fills.
Ferredoxin
Active Member
Could I see some pictures of the PVC setups? Specifically the controller bucket/PVC junction, and the junctions with the pots. I know hellrasier posted some a while back, and Im too lazy to search for them!@! I would like to go this route also. I had some pretty plugged up tubes after the last run, and I would like to make it an easier job to change out all the hose after every run.
stillgamble
Active Member
i had the same prob when i was using 29% h2o2 but my water temps were around 78 so im thinking that was my prob. so after i ran out of h2o2 i started using bleach and i dont have those slime shit floating around anymore and once in a while ill have a little slime around my airstones but not nearly as bad when i used the h2o2.
Ferredoxin
Active Member
Nevermind....found yours hellraizer. Anyone else?
Ferredoxin
Active Member
Hellraizer: Do you think the 3/4" PVC line would be enough to supply 12 buckets in a run? I have my buckets set up in 4 rows of 6 buckets each, which of course need 4 supply lines coming from the brain bucket. I would like to eliminate 2 supply lines and feed two groups of 12 buckets with the PVC.
Also, what did you replace the 'T' in each bucket with to get it to interface with the PVC? Did you leave the rubber grommet in the 'T' hole and slide the 5/8" tubing in? Is the 5/8" tubing the stuff that came with the Ebb/Gro?
Also, what did you replace the 'T' in each bucket with to get it to interface with the PVC? Did you leave the rubber grommet in the 'T' hole and slide the 5/8" tubing in? Is the 5/8" tubing the stuff that came with the Ebb/Gro?
hellraizer30
Rebel From The North
For the tees I eliminated them and went to a strait fiting, made by raindrip and it ties into the 3/4 pvc through a 3/4
Pressure fitting made by rain drip also. You can go with 12 in a run it will just take longer to flood and drain. So to break
Down first it goes bucket to a 3/4 gromit to a strait 3/4 fiting like the one that comes with the kit, then to a small peace
Of 3/4 hose and into a raindrip 3/4 pressure fitting thats threaded to the pvc.
Ferredoxin
Active Member
So did you get those straight 3/4" fittings from Raindrip or CAP? Do they require a worm clamp? The hose that came with the E&G is 3/4" correct?
tommyo3000
Well-Known Member
The bigger hose should't affect the amount of water in your system very much at all.. I upgraded to 3/4 and love it. The buckets hold the same amount of water.. You gained 1/4" in tube size.. that does't translate into a lot of extra water sitting in the tubes..
hellraizer30
Rebel From The North
No the hose that came with the ebb is 1/2 in. Also the all the fittings in the ebb system are raindrip
So it dont matter if you get them from cap or raindrip
Ferredoxin
Active Member
So is that just standard 3/4" irrigation tubing? Also....where is the 5/8" tubing coming into play?
hellraizer30
Rebel From The North
its all 3/4 if I said 5/8 it was a typo, the hose I use is raindrip brand 3/4 but I use very little the rest is pvc
facestabber
Active Member
Hi everyone! I've been growing in the Ebb & Grow for about a year now with great success. I use a 60/40 mix of hydroton and coco along with the full line of H&G nutrients. After hours of reading this thread I've decided to give pure hydroton a try. This attempt is with a batch of "DHN" Chemdawg4. I picked the clones up from a local dispensary and popped them into my Ebb & Grows ten days ago. So far only about 80% of them have new visible growth which concerns me. They are developing roots and I can see the bases of the stems getting fatter just above the rockwool cubes (also an indicator of root development). Is this normal for clones to be sluggish in this system at first? 10 days? Heres a bit about the grow.
Lights-1000w lumateks dimmed to 600
Light cycle- 18/6
Nutes- House & Garder aqua flakes@ 5ml/gallon, calmag@ 1ml/gallon. 560ppm, 5.8-6.0ph
Flood- 3 times a day for 20 minutes. (every 6 hours except when lights off).
Medium-Hydroton
Water- tap water. About 50ppm from the tap, very clean.
Lights-1000w lumateks dimmed to 600
Light cycle- 18/6
Nutes- House & Garder aqua flakes@ 5ml/gallon, calmag@ 1ml/gallon. 560ppm, 5.8-6.0ph
Flood- 3 times a day for 20 minutes. (every 6 hours except when lights off).
Medium-Hydroton
Water- tap water. About 50ppm from the tap, very clean.
facestabber
Active Member
Here are some low quality pics courtesy of me and samsung. Is this normal for 10 days in this system?
facestabber
Active Member
Here are my "Alien OG's". Currently in week 3 of 12/12. 60/40 hydroton/coco mix. I Flood as needed. Usually once every other day with H&G coco nutrients plus hydrofungicide. I had alot of problems getting this to work until I started using hydrofungicide in my rez to keep things clean. I yield 1.5 to 2 pounds per 1000w hps with this method. Hoping to get a consistant 2 pounds per light with straight hydroton.
I really am concerned about my plants in hydroton though and need you guys and girls help. Im only posting these coco grow pics to show that it does work well in the Ebb & Grow and to demonstrate my decent skill level when it comes to this kinda stuff. Any help diagnosing my sluggish babies will be greatly appreciated and rewarded with frequent updates and pics.
hellraizer30
Rebel From The North
ive noticed babys transplanted to hydrotron take some time to get used to it then they take off
hornedfrog2000
Well-Known Member
Is there some sort of diy for making a cap like system? Anything I could read that could point me there?
tommyo3000
Well-Known Member
hornedfrog2000
Well-Known Member
hmmmmmm. I think I might just do that. I've seen the aquahub mentioned before, but what is a rough estimate of final cost of materials to make a 10-12 bucket setup with it? If you know that is. Thanks.
tommyo3000
Well-Known Member
idunno... i just built my second 18 bucket system..
u need the controller, 20 or 24 buckets, two pumps, black tubing, hydroton clay balls (comes in 30liter bags i think), fittings...
buckets are 2.40 at walmart... idunno.. that should give you an idea at least..