Root systems of ebb and flow

BenFranklin

BenFranklin

Well-Known Member
Dilemma I have is roots in dwc are massive on my kush strains, if I switch to ebb and flow, I wonder if this root growth will give me a massive headache in an ebb and flow. Will the ebb and flow 3x3foot be able to handle the root system of 16 plants? Should I use those giant rock wool cubes or go with hydroton in pots? Or is it preference and ease of use vs access to a good grow store that carries this stuff?


My dwc roots in 5 gal buckets fill the entire bucket up.
 
JohnDee

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
I grew on a 3x3 tray using many smaller pots using hydroton. 5" pots and as many as I could cram in there...24 I think. I also did not put any hydroton around pots so that roots were air trimmed. Always had good growth and at harvest the roots looked nice and healthy.
JD
 
M

MoJobud

Active Member
Key with rw is rate you need to make sure the cubes can drain. The botanicare trays have shallow grooves so there is very little air circulation. It can take 2-3 days to properly drain those while a cheap table with large grooves can drain in a day. Keep your cubes light before you water again. Pool shock or h2o2 to make sure the system stays sterile. I veg for 3 weeks and get 2 zips per plant that take up about 18" sq. you get the idea.
 
JohnDee

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
Ben and Mojo...
I know runaway root growth is the purpose of the thread. I just wanted to comment on Mojobuds last post. Rockwool can be problematic far as draining is concerned. And having a shallow bed of hydroton underneath would help with that issue. Roots could spread more...but not enough to be a problem. Anyway...that's what I've seen others do. Not speaking from personal experience on that point.
Cheers,
JD
 
JCave

JCave

Well-Known Member
BenFranklin said:
Dilemma I have is roots in dwc are massive on my kush strains, if I switch to ebb and flow, I wonder if this root growth will give me a massive headache in an ebb and flow. Will the ebb and flow 3x3foot be able to handle the root system of 16 plants? Should I use those giant rock wool cubes or go with hydroton in pots? Or is it preference and ease of use vs access to a good grow store that carries this stuff?


My dwc roots in 5 gal buckets fill the entire bucket up.
Click to expand...
My first grow was DWC, I liked it but water temps were always little on the high side ~75-78, usually room temp.

So I switched to ebb and flow method I use ~2x3 table and I have the plant in 6in net pots filled with hydroton (the plant itself is in a 1in rockwool). The table is covered with reflector material (panda plastic I saw worked) No hydroton in the table, all the hydroton is in the netpot with the plant. This reduces water loss through humidly/evaporation. Also I flood 24 times a day 15min each time.

I listen to the plant, the plant looks healthy and so the the roots.
 
waterdawg

waterdawg

Well-Known Member
Correct me if Im wrong but the whole ideal of ebb and flow using cubes and no cover is so that the root mass stays in the cubes. I use a tote with net pots in the lid suspended with roots free flowing below. I do have to clean drain once a run but not a big deal. Also I run a continuos flood cycle so i think the drain is more apt to clog.
 
Hydroburn

Hydroburn

Well-Known Member
What would be an ideal setup for keeping mothers in ebb n flo? I guess there are rw slabs, rw cubes (grodan), and hydroton. I guess some things to think about are it would be a long-term home for head stash moms, so I would need to be able to remove and replace plants without disturbing the other mothers. I would also want relatively slower growth I suppose since I would only be taking cuttings every 3 months more or less. I plan to train them bonsai style.

If I run an air stone or water fountain in the res, do I need to worry about rw being too saturated? The nutrient solution would have a lot of d.o. Not trying to hi-jack the thread but I have very similar questions and it would be kinda dumb to make another one about the same thing.
 
waterdawg

waterdawg

Well-Known Member
Not sure about the mom's, I would put them in organic mix I think. As for cubes being wet, my cubes are always wet, the bottom of the cubes are just at water level, the tops of the cubes are covered with hydroton to stop algea growth.
 
Myles117

Myles117

Well-Known Member
i keep my moms in pots of hydroton. iwouldnt use RW for moms as it gathers salts over time and can be a bitch to flush em out over and over.
 
Hydroburn

Hydroburn

Well-Known Member
Myles117 said:
i keep my moms in pots of hydroton. iwouldnt use RW for moms as it gathers salts over time and can be a bitch to flush em out over and over.
Click to expand...
Do you have to flood to the tops of your net pots? I don't image hydroton wicks the water up at all.
 
Myles117

Myles117

Well-Known Member
in my veg room, i flood to about an inch from the top of the hydroton. this wets the most root zone without surface moisture and the problems that it creates (algae, fungus gnats, possible trunk rot). In flower i only flood 2/3s of the pot height. the roots seem to wick the water upward once well established. The higher flood for veg is mainly to make sure the recently potted clones get enough water up to their small shallow root systems and flush the moms continuously. In addition, I top water the moms only using a watering can and RO water. eliminates what little buildup esists towards the top.
 
waterdawg

waterdawg

Well-Known Member
I am also wondering about keeping mom's but am leaning towards cloning from clone for logistics. Just to clarify, do you just use hydroton like you would soil for moms? What size of pot do you keep mom's in. Do you keep them in veg room? Sorry for the highjack!!
 
Myles117

Myles117

Well-Known Member
they are in the veg room, usually in their own tray so lights can be kept higher up. i keep em in 5.5 inch square pots of pure hydroton. to be clear, i do not keep large mother plants though. i keep them at 8-24 inches tall and bushy. monthly cloning followed by additional pruning if needed and in another month shes ready to give me another round.
 
waterdawg

waterdawg

Well-Known Member
Gotchya thanks! Thats perhaps what i will do. The timing, moving, and space is my dilema with the systems i run. Perhaps it's time to switch to different setup or build a bigger shed lol.
 
AlphaPhase

AlphaPhase

Well-Known Member
I know this is an old thread, but if anyone can answer a question I have that would be cool.

So I use 2 gallon ebb n grow buckets. The net pots I have now are 2 gallon and they fit exactly in the pots and fill all the space. I have to use two gallons of hydroton to fill each one. My question is, it I make a lid for the buckets and put a smaller 5" net pot in the lid, the roots would be suspended in the air instead of growing in all that hydroton. Would this work well or better with roots being suspended in air versus growing roots in a bucket of hydroton?
 
F.White

F.White

Well-Known Member
In have the same buckets in my ebb and gro setup. I used to run rocks or hydroton then switched to gro-cubes then gro- chucks (rockwool by a company called gro-dan) My suggestion would be if you plan to use Hydroton just plant directly in the pots. If you use rockwool plant directly in the pots but cover the rockwool with hydroton to prevent algae. The roots will come out the bottom of the inner pot but the plants will be fine. Just my 2 cents...
 
AlphaPhase

AlphaPhase

Well-Known Member
F.White said:
In have the same buckets in my ebb and gro setup. I used to run rocks or hydroton then switched to gro-cubes then gro- chucks (rockwool by a company called gro-dan) My suggestion would be if you plan to use Hydroton just plant directly in the pots. If you use rockwool plant directly in the pots but cover the rockwool with hydroton to prevent algae. The roots will come out the bottom of the inner pot but the plants will be fine. Just my 2 cents...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply, I was thinking of using hydroton again, but i would like to use a smaller net pot filled with hydroton so that the roots can be suspended in air, also it would give me less of salt buildup I think since there's only 1/10 of the hydroton being used. So it's sort of like a DWC bucket but in an ebb and grow bucket system. Would this work? Here's the pictures of the old net pot and the new net pot lid I'd like to use instea, what do ya think, would it work?
 

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