++Hellraizers++ DO AND DONTs and in and outs of the ebb&grow/ebb&flow systems

I run F&D now but when I ran buckets, I DIY the lids with baskets. This allowed me to move the net pots from the veg station directly in a hole in the bucket lid.

I would veg 6" net pots in 35 gal totes for 3 weeks then move directly into the buckets. I would yield about 10oz a plant using the lucas formula

akpaco said:

Thanks Warlock! So do you just sit them in the table by themselves? Once the roots start exposing themselves in the growdan don't they need to be in something?

Thanks!

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I veg in 4x4 blocks for 3weeks before going to the ebb buckets, its ok if the roots spread out from the block, just make sure
you flood often enough to keep them wet! And all will be good.

hellraizer,

Do you take PH and EC measurements from the RW blocks? If so how?

I have been taking some measurements with some interesting (alarming) results.

I soak them for 24hr in 5.5 pm before use then i just let it ride, i use an ph perfect so ph managment
is not needed

Hey guys. So I have my flood table all set up and ready for round one. But I have a few questions that I can't seem to figure out on my own. I took the 4x4 RW cubes and soaked them in 5.5ph water for 24 hours. After I took them out of the soak I tried to shake out most of the excess water with out squeezing the block. Now my question is, after you soak the block how long will it take to dry out enough that I can start flooding my tray on a schedule? Right now I have 12 girls all in 4x4 and only three have needed any water since the initial transplant. All of them are healthy and growing well. I am trying to get this on point because I am going out of town for a few days on Saturday and I don't want to come back to a dead room. Thanks for you help as always guys. STAY HIGH!!!

hellraizer30 said:

I veg in 4x4 blocks for 3weeks before going to the ebb buckets, its ok if the roots spread out from the block, just make sure
you flood often enough to keep them wet! And all will be good.

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Thanks for all the responses! HR, so its ok for the light to hit those roots that come out the blocks? And what is your watering schedule? And if you keep the blocks wet most of the time you dont have to worry about any rot I've read some people cover there table with panda plastic? Thanks bro!!

Penyajo said:

Hey guys. So I have my flood table all set up and ready for round one. But I have a few questions that I can't seem to figure out on my own. I took the 4x4 RW cubes and soaked them in 5.5ph water for 24 hours. After I took them out of the soak I tried to shake out most of the excess water with out squeezing the block. Now my question is, after you soak the block how long will it take to dry out enough that I can start flooding my tray on a schedule? Right now I have 12 girls all in 4x4 and only three have needed any water since the initial transplant. All of them are healthy and growing well. I am trying to get this on point because I am going out of town for a few days on Saturday and I don't want to come back to a dead room. Thanks for you help as always guys. STAY HIGH!!!

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Dont worry about the excess water and once you transplant to the blocks start you normal flood cycles and times

akpaco said:

Thanks for all the responses! HR, so its ok for the light to hit those roots that come out the blocks? And what is your watering schedule? And if you keep the blocks wet most of the time you dont have to worry about any rot I've read some people cover there table with panda plastic? Thanks bro!!

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I have never ran into rot issues, i like to flood x3 times during lights on for 15min on a 4x4 tables.
as for light i havent seen root pruning from the lights yet but if you got some poly plastic you could
cover it.

hellraizer30 said:

Dont worry about the excess water and once you transplant to the blocks start you normal flood cycles and times

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Well that was what I was going to do. The plants are just now starting to drink a little bit. Flooding it two times a day seems a bit much to me. The grodon I am using seems to hold a shit ton of water. Do you only flood once a day when the girls are small and then kick it up to twice a day when they get a bit bigger? STAY HIGH!!!

Penyajo said:

Well that was what I was going to do. The plants are just now starting to drink a little bit. Flooding it two times a day seems a bit much to me. The grodon I am using seems to hold a shit ton of water. Do you only flood once a day when the girls are small and then kick it up to twice a day when they get a bit bigger? STAY HIGH!!!

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I dont change much from young ones to adults, are you using growdan chunks or flock?

Penyajo said:

Well that was what I was going to do. The plants are just now starting to drink a little bit. Flooding it two times a day seems a bit much to me. The grodon I am using seems to hold a shit ton of water. Do you only flood once a day when the girls are small and then kick it up to twice a day when they get a bit bigger? STAY HIGH!!!

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In RW I run water 3x aday all the time. Even when they don't need much water. By flooding you are forcing out the old water and when it drains it pulls o2 down to the roots.

Warlock1369 said:

In RW I run water 3x aday all the time. Even when they don't need much water. By flooding you are forcing out the old water and when it drains it pulls o2 down to the roots.

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Very well said warlock

Thanks. Been feeling like a rookie in some fields. But that happens when you jump into something you never Tryed before. So far plants are liking the tea. But in less then 2 weeks I will be adding the zyme and other stuff not needed with tea. Just not adding tea. Trying 1 on 1 off. Sence I can't make tea every change. Wish I could.

And it's funny. I made the same batch in 2 different systems. My RW veg tubes and my ebb & GRO. Same batch mind you. Both in veg. After 1 flood ( like I always do) check ph the RW needed down and ebb needed up. Fist time having both on the same nutes. I'm behind in the glower room. Way to small. Gonna switch next week no matter what. My veg tubes will get to big if I don't. 15 veg plants in a 2x4 area 20" tall and 10 wide will be to much. Times like this I want a table.

hellraizer30 said:

I veg in 4x4 blocks for 3weeks before going to the ebb buckets, its ok if the roots spread out from the block, just make sure
you flood often enough to keep them wet! And all will be good.

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HR,

So you run an 18/6 light schedule for your veg table? If so would you flood four times in the 18 hour lights on?

Thanks again!

akpaco said:

HR,

So you run an 18/6 light schedule for your veg table? If so would you flood four times in the 18 hour lights on?

Thanks again!

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X3 is plenty enough for 18/6
Hey i hear theres another crazy wind storm coming


But remember you want your roots to stay wet or they will
die and root prune! So a 4th might be in order or like warlock
said add one at night.

3 in light and 1 in dark is what I do. 1 hour after lights on 1 hour before lights out and 1 in the middle. Be it 18/6 or 12/12. But I'm also not on a table.

hellraizer30 said:

X3 is plenty enough for 18/6
Hey i hear theres another crazy wind storm coming


But remember you want your roots to stay wet or they will
die and root prune! So a 4th might be in order or like warlock
said add one at night.

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Yep! supposedly saturday night. They say it's not going to be as bad as the last one, we'll see. Our power went out an hour before my set off time and came back at 6am at my on time!
Got lucky!!

Been trout fishing?

Thanks Warlock!

I was under the impression not to flood in dark. Maybe this is just in flower.

IMO you can flood as many times as you want if your soup contains enough D.O. (dissolved oxygen). As worlock stated when you flood your pushing the old air out and pulling in oxygen rich air. This creates a nutrient "fog" which roots thrive in.

Many people tune in there floods by watching for wilting and then shortening time between floods.
If your plants are "drooping" in hydroponics then there is simply not enough o2 at the root zone. There can be several causes for this.

a. res temps are too warm causing water to become stagnant, therefor o2 depleted and a breeding ground for pathogens. This will essentially "drown" the roots when flooded to many times or for too long a period. This is when cutting down flood times becomes necessary.

b. Air pump is to small to keep the nutrient tank oxygenated. pumps should be 1watt per gallon and no less than 1watt per 2 gal. I use a second pond pump rigged with some pvc to create a water fall. This is set on a timer that run 30 min every 2 hours.

In design, flood tables are supposed to allow the user to flood more often causing plants to uptake nutes faster. This leads to earlier finishes. When band-aiding the o2 problem with fewer floods you lose this "boost" that flood tables are famous for.

@Hellraizer

Very nice thread, lots of useful data here. + rep