4X8 Ebb And Flow

[shishka]

With rez on a basement floor you would be needing heat. If yours runs hot, put it on the floor if you can.

When I was running E&F I affixed some relectix across the top of my table and cut out holes to drop my pots in. The idea was to get more light reflecting up to the plants. What I discovered is that that dark, moist environment between the table floor and the cover would explode with roots! I was using 1 gallon regular nursery pots with hydroton and the roots would grow out of the holes in the pots and form one big mat. Worked great.

[LansingAreaCaregiver]

With rez on a basement floor you would be needing heat. If yours runs hot, put it on the floor if you can.

When I was running E&F I affixed some relectix across the top of my table and cut out holes to drop my pots in. The idea was to get more light reflecting up to the plants. What I discovered is that that dark, moist environment between the table floor and the cover would explode with roots! I was using 1 gallon regular nursery pots with hydroton and the roots would grow out of the holes in the pots and form one big mat. Worked great.

 

You didn't burn the bottom of the leaves? I've considered doing something similar, but that is my concern.

[Dman]

With rez on a basement floor you would be needing heat. If yours runs hot, put it on the floor if you can.

When I was running E&F I affixed some relectix across the top of my table and cut out holes to drop my pots in. The idea was to get more light reflecting up to the plants. What I discovered is that that dark, moist environment between the table floor and the cover would explode with roots! I was using 1 gallon regular nursery pots with hydroton and the roots would grow out of the holes in the pots and form one big mat. Worked great.

 

 

I have had my tables in action for 2 years now. I used to run DWC which had huge root balls. A few cycles ago I noticed that I was not getting great root balls due to light burn. I started covering my tables with Mylar. Yes the roots have grown much bigger and they look healthier. I do not get any burn on the bottoms of the leaves.

 

One big concern that I had was will they get enough air flow under the Mylar canopy. I have not had any issues yet. I have seen air-lines through the groves in the trays before but I have not tried this myself. Anyone have an experience with this?

[FLOWERING ANNUALS]

I have had my tables in action for 2 years now. I used to run DWC which had huge root balls. A few cycles ago I noticed that I was not getting great root balls due to light burn. I started covering my tables with Mylar. Yes the roots have grown much bigger and they look healthier. I do not get any burn on the bottoms of the leaves.

 

One big concern that I had was will they get enough air flow under the Mylar canopy. I have not had any issues yet. I have seen air-lines through the groves in the trays before but I have not tried this myself. Anyone have an experience with this?

did u notice any difference in yield from larger root balls?

[Dman]

I wish I had more data. There are too many variables on yield. I'm not very consistent on height when they go into flowering. I also run a few strains at a time which is a Nemesis of Ebb & Flow. I'm working on a mini ver. of Ebb-a-flow which is a 1-6" net pot self contained system. This way you can control single plant Nut intake and feeding times rather than whole tables.

[FLOWERING ANNUALS]

Well its up and running.Res temp has been staying right at 65 morning and night.everything is looking healthy!

[FLOWERING ANNUALS]

So I got it up and running on saturday.monday night I noticed the water looks a littl murky.The ph has risen to 6.5(was set at 5.5 after fill),and ec has also risen slightly.I was just wondering if this is a concern? If so what can be done?Any info would be appreciated!

[Dman]

pH should be adjusted once a day. Res should be changed once a week for high level use once every 2 weeks for lower ie: 4-6 plants. Is the murky res in the bloom or Veg room? Do you have enough air stone's in the res? If it's slime to the touch it needs to be changed. Bloom will get that way if your using a full line of Nut's just keep that water aerated and moving. Not much of a concern only if you let it continue.

[Nix]

Could be cyanobacteria. You could replace the res every week but I personally am too lazy for that. I add compost tea to my res (I use RDWC though, not E&F) and never change it once though the entire grow.

Edited December 13, 2011 by Nix

[FLOWERING ANNUALS]

pH should be adjusted once a day. Res should be changed once a week for high level use once every 2 weeks for lower ie: 4-6 plants. Is the murky res in the bloom or Veg room? Do you have enough air stone's in the res? If it's slime to the touch it needs to be changed. Bloom will get that way if your using a full line of Nut's just keep that water aerated and moving. Not much of a concern only if you let it continue.

for this hydro project the plants will not move(lights will change).right now they are in veg.does not feel slimy.i have 4 huge air stones with a large 4 outlet gen hydro air pump.I am using the full line of Dutchmaster nutes including zone which is suposed to keep res/rooting area clean. thx for response!

[Dman]

Make sure you use CleareX or equivalent. Salt build up is inevitable in tables. Once a month works for me. I run the table for 10-15 mins then flush everything. Never any issues.

 

 

Botanicare Clearex Salt Leaching Solution Quart

 

Clearex® is an isotonic drenching solution that unlocks the ionic bond between the nutrient and the soil or soilless grow substrate, correcting the problem of nutrient salt toxicity and lockout, allowing plants to excel again.

For hydroponic systems use with every one or two reservoir changes. Use 1/2 to one ounce per gallon of water and pour one-to-two quarts of solution per plant site with minimum 80-90% run-off. Pre-Harvest treatment, discontinue fertilizer regime 2-3 days before harvest. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons of Clearex per gallon of water. Water as needed.

Contains specific electrolytes and selected mono and disaccharides, fructose and sucrose that give high energy and amplifies metabolic compounds to the plant

Pre harvest treatments can allow for enhanced flavor and increased yields in fruits, vegetables and culinary herbs by flushing out excess chemical nutrients.

Use 1/2 to one ounce of Clearex per gallon of water and pour one-to-two quarts over plants every 7-21 days in Soil Gardens and Containers

[FLOWERING ANNUALS]

IT IS NOW SMELLIN A LITTLE FUNKY. WTF?

[FLOWERING ANNUALS]

res was full of slime so I drained and filled it early.During res change I made a skirt of panda film around the table to block any light to res.Now a week and a half later everything seems fine.Plants are growing a little slower than expected but look healthy.Slime now only on table where light can reach.It makes it 9 days before slime in res so I think i'll be fine.I'm thinkin next run I will leave clones in aero cloner for a week or 2 longer with veg solution to grow them a bit bigger before moving to table.Any input on that would be appriciated!

[Nix]

If you use this stuff your slime issues will be history.

 

http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/topic/35481-dwc-slime-slayer-compost-tea/

[FLOWERING ANNUALS]

If you use this stuff your slime issues will be history.

 

http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/topic/35481-dwc-slime-slayer-compost-tea/

this is good info but dosent sound like the same slime.this slime likes light

[pergamum362]

change res, clean it, and make it light proof.get covers for rockwool.

[pergamum362]

My link

 

See if that helps.

[projectmayham]

Hey man. Yeah flood n' drain tables are the way to go. They say its actually really natural for the plants to feed that way.

 

Organic nutes... Don't know what to say man. Unless im doing outdoors, i always stick to synthetic nutrients. Like other people have said in this forum, it gets stinky, and if your not careful it can lead to insect problems. But never the less, i do like to run some tea's every once n' awhile.

 

If your looking for some good, clean synthetic nutres though, try out supernatural's line. I've never had issues with their products, keeps the pH always right where i want it. Very simple, one part base. www.supernaturalbrand.com is the website.

 

Looking forward to followin ur grow.

[SCARAB]

OK-here is my thought. I am not a pro-this is just how i do it and it works very well. I have a 4x8 flood tray and 100 gallon res. I chill the res-the temps will creep up on you especially in summer. I run it at 64 degrees.I make my own tea-that is a seperate answer i wont go into detail right now. I flood every 2.5 hours for an hour. Since i use beneficals-there is black strap in the tea-2 Tablespoons in 15 gallons. In three days or so i go back to a maintenance dose of H202 until I tea it up again. Every two weeks i dump-flush and treat with sterilazation dose of H202, then i tea it up again in 24 hours. I run two trays with 2 micropore single wand stones each from a 200 liter air pump-it bubbles vigorously-same pump for the benefical tank when it is brewing. I dont add superthrive in flower but i do use epsom salts and jungle juice-and a custom blend of fulvic,humic,sea kelp called humovina. awesome results but you have to keep up with it. it is a complicated process but great results. I feed both trays with 2 1000 watt lights-yeah a little overkill but i believe in light in product out.

[semicaregiver]

Scarab,

 

Your set up sounds very interesting, but I am having trouble following your notes. You have used the words tray and tank to describe your set up, but at one point you refer to what I think is your res. tank as a tray. From what I can understand, your set up has one 4x8 tray and two 100 gallon reservoirs. You switch reservoirs every two weeks. One w/ active nutrients and one being sterilized and then reactivated with a new brew of tea.

 

You mention Superthrive, but say you do not use it in flower. Can we assume you use it in veg?

 

Would you be willing to share your tea and "humovina" details with us so we might be able to try your system?

 

Your entire approach to nutes sounds very non-conventional, is there a link to some background on how you developed it?

[SCARAB]

"tray" means flood tray-"Tank" is the res. sorry for the confusion. I only use superthrive in the veg. Seems like i get a lot of hermie in flower when i use superthrive (i believe from hormones) so i dont use it there anymore. 2 - 4X8 Trays-2-100 watt lights each. Each res has its own resevoir of 100 gallons each. I run one at 1000 PPM (the first four weeks) and the second at 1600 PPM the second four weeks. they both get changed out every two weeks. I dump the res-fill with clean water after a plant flush. I then do a flood with water and a sterilazation dose of H202 for a full hour-flush the plants and scrub everything up by moving plants around and rotating them. then i refill tanks-add tea-PH the res and off they go. TEA- i use a 35 gallon tank from tractor supply-it is round with a flat bottom and a big lit on top. I fill with ro water and hang a sock that i got off of amazon-400 micron- with ancient forest- above two big air stones-add black strap molasses-zho-azos-and-poultry litter-and humovina-search amazon or e bay for it-brew with air for 24-36 hours then i evenly dispense it between all 4 res-2 in veg and 2 in flower. Epsom salts get added to all tanks-use house plant formula-adds magnesium-oh yeah i forgot to mention-i strain the tea thru a 400 micron bucket strainer before i add it to res-keeps the sediment out of system in case any dirt makes it thru the sock. I will try and post some pics if i can figure it out.

[SCARAB]

no link-it is just my trial and error. it was developed by screwing up more things than a person deserves.

[SCARAB]

i believe you can see pics in my profile

[pic book]

He's thinking temp not in terms of growth of plants, but of bacteria and slime in the res.