poor mans undercurent...

Ok so my setup is not anything for a poorman lol but i guess its called a poormans undercurrent.

ill start with my issue and my setup then move on to what im doing and ask for advice haha...

i have a 180gallon rez. 24, 5 gallon ebb n flow monster buckets and the matching control bucket all together. I do not use the insert buckets, i use a lid with 6" netpot. The roots grow down into bottom of bucket and have plenty of space to grow and dont have to buy medium everytime and easy to clean.

my issue is my plants have been burning from what i think is from the 2 inches of water that the ebb n flow monster kit leaves inside the bucket. So, i purchased a strong air pump and going to run a air line with a air stone into each bucket. This now kinda makes the setup like a bubbleponics which can be easily drained lol.

my questions is should i raise the control bucket another inch or 2 so the water that is at the bottom of buckets always are 4" rather than 2" since i will have an airstone there now. Or should i just add the airstone and leave it be? I was told that if i let the buckets stay filled up for couple hours with the airstones at the bottom then drain it for an hour before letting it stay filled again with new cold nutrient water that i would get way better growth?

hopef-ully not to confusing post... figured someone must run an normal ebb n flow and have the same issue with roots staying submerged in some water that doesnt get drained. An can help meout.

yes my rez is chilled. 63* solid and bought h202 29% at store today to add in regularly now.

I have used Ebb and Grow for 3 runs and I dont think the water in the bottom would be a source for nuit burn. Reduce your PPM in your res by 100 and watch the results. Your other option is to modify the buckets to completely drain the bottoms during the drain cycle.

Do you use the insert pots though? If you have the insert pots then you dont have the roots in the water... i do not use the insert pots so roots are in that wate whole time... the water left behind sits under the insert pot so roots dont touch it when used correctly.

Kinda sounds like you you are confusing ebb n flow with the deep water culture. From what I read it seems like you have your root barrier hanging inside the buckets filled with some water but not all the way.??? In DWC systems. You must have an air stone in every bucket in order for the water inside the buckets to get oxygen, therefore your roots get oxygenated water. You should fill up the bucket up to where its barely touching the bottom of your net pot. If you're growing in rockwool, it will absorb water. You can now connect all your buckets together with some PVC and have them all connected to one main control bucket (that has not plant in it) back to your Rez. Put a float valve in your control bucket that keeps the level in that bucket at the level you want (which will keep all the other buckets full) back to your Rez so it keeps it leveled. You can also run a Mag Drive water pump to circulate your water from bucket to bucket to create flow (under current culture). Also keep your Rez higher than your control bucket so when your control bucket lacks water, the float valve activates and streams water from your Rez just off gravity. I know it sounds crazy, I'm writing this and thinking "shit this person isn't even going to read this". But that's the system I run. Look up under water current on YouTube and it'll show you what I'm talking about.

Fuck Hydro