Any veterans out there in the ebb n flow department?

IceIceBaBy

hello fred! thanks for some input...i will have pic's up asap! until then words will have to suffice. my medium is hydroton expanded clay pellets and i am using individual circular 5 inch pots in the tray. each tray holds 32 pots...i think its the standard 3x3 foot ebb n flow trays. hope this can help paint a picture for you

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tokecrazy

Hey Ice,Your res temp should be from 63 degree to 75 degree for the best up take of nutr.Mind stays around 70 to 72 most of the time.Rule of thumb is it shouldnt take more than 15 mins to fill & drain the tray.How high do you have the over flow set?Do like highphil said ,raise the tray a little to drain it.I change out my res {14gal} every 10 to 14 days,When it's low in veg cycle I top up with lite nutr mix.In flowering I just top off with PH water.If the ppm is high just top up with PH water.When the ppm is high or going up top off with PH water,it will lower the ppm.How many times a day do you flood?With a 30 gal res it will stabilize easy and stay stable.Do you have hydroton in the tray around the pots or just in the pots?Like fred said a pix speaks volumes.Help you I can.Peace

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IceIceBaBy

i have 2 air stones in the 30 gallon res for oxygen and water circulation..is it wise to just top off the res with pH'ed water or half strength nutes when it gets low?

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ISO2BWELL

Hi Ice,

Do you have a good PPM meter? If so, the idea is to check the PPM of the nutes before you add water. Odds are in a 30 gal res. you won't have to add water but about every 2 weeks, which is about the time to change it out..hence, better to change it all out and increase nutes to the next level instead of trying to take what is there, add to it enough to bring the PPM back to where it should be.

The PPM's in my 30 gal res's seems to stay within about 50 points of where it starts for at least a 2 wk. period. (ie: dropping from 400 down to 350 or so across 2 weeks.

More importantly, IMO, is to keep an eye on the PH. That will tell you if something is not right.

ISO

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IceIceBaBy

thanks ISO, i have a pretty decent ppm meter (paid like 100+ for it at my local hydro shop). so i should be able to fill both trays off the 30 gallon res? and not have maintain water/nute supply too much, just watch pH on a regular basis? if the pH starts to fluctuate what does that usually indicate? thanks again...this info will be very helpful to me this time around. i will have pictures up today im about to go get batteries now so ill post them up asap

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IceIceBaBy

hey toke! thanks for the input. i think with my previous cycles i was using pumps that could not handle the whole pumping and draining properly...they were smaller and used smaller tubing for flow of water/nutes. i think the small tubing was preventing water from pumping/draining fast enough and there would always be stagnant water sitting in the bottom (not too much but enough to cause root damage). in the beginning the roots were pure white and healthy but half way through they started changing to a light brown and i didnt know if that was just from the expanded clay pellets or the beginnings of root rot.

this time around im using a bigger sized pump with bigger sized hose for better and faster water flow and drainage. in your opinion, is the 30 gallon res big enough to handle both trays? or should i use one for each?

As far as hydroton goes it is only in the pots....not in the tray as well. is that an issue?

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IceIceBaBy

does the number of plants you have per tray influence how fast the water/nutes in your solution get depleted?

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ISO2BWELL

If the res is 30 gal., are you staggering the flood times for the 2 trays?

I find that the PH starts to go off as the res is lowered by the plants feeding...and also as a result the PPM's will change. Larger res's are much easier to stabilize (learned that from Toke) and tend to hold PH well if the nutes and other factors are stable.

Keep in mind though that if there is a res problem you are risking 2 trays worth of plants.

Looking forward to seeing those pics...

ISO

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IceIceBaBy

ISO

that is a idea....last time i was running both pumps off the same timer so they were pumping up and down at the same times. i haven't exactly figured out the best amount of times to fill the tray per light cycle..i think previously i could have been flooding too many times per hour i think i had it set up for every half hour it would flood and drain. i am desperately trying to work out the kinks in everything before my little ones are ready to get into the trays and under the 1000 watt. ill get those pictures up to give you guys a better idea of everything

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ISO2BWELL

Ice,

These are the timers I run for my res's and lights. They are the best I've found for being dependable, take no batteries and are MUCH cheaper than the ones at a hydro store.

They were $7.99 last month, but even at 8.99 you can buy 2 for the price of just one from the hydro store...and this is most likely a better timer too.

Just off-set the flood times by 20 min. (one starts at 9:00 and floods for 10 min, the other starts at 9:20...gives the res a chance to breath more air into the water before it gets fed to the next plants.

Were it me though, it would be separate res's...just for the added safety factor of if one goes bad for any reason it won't destroy all your plants in one shot. Couple of $5.00 ea 18 gal. tubs should suffice...but the one you have will do it too...guess I'm just an old worry-wart..LOL

ISO

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