e&f schedule

[sundancer245]

i'm in the process of building an ebb system, the one thing i havent ran across is info on how often and for how long to flood...can anyone help me with this info or point me in the right direction? would be very appreciated...cheers

 

[EvilTwin]

i'm in the process of building an ebb system, the one thing i havent ran across is info on how often and for how long to flood...can anyone help me with this info or point me in the right direction? would be very appreciated...cheers

Hi Sundancer,
Post #1...I guess a welcome is in order. You should post in the introduction thread also.

Far as your query, can't answer without more info on specifics. What media? Containers?

Using hydroton which is a very common E&F media...I did 4 floods during lights on. Some people flood during dark time too. Some use every 3 hours around the clock. It really varies.

Read E&F threads...that will give you info. Also use the search mode. Always go to advanced search mode and you can search just thread titles which really helps narrow things down.

Good luck,
ET

 

[sundancer245]

Hi Sundancer,
Post #1...I guess a welcome is in order. You should post in the introduction thread also.

Far as your query, can't answer without more info on specifics. What media? Containers?

Using hydroton which is a very common E&F media...I did 4 floods during lights on. Some people flood during dark time too. Some use every 3 hours around the clock. It really varies.

Read E&F threads...that will give you info. Also use the search mode. Always go to advanced search mode and you can search just thread titles which really helps narrow things down.

Good luck,
ET

howdy EvilTwin, thanks for the reply... i will be running 8 sites comprised of 3.2gal pots inside of 5gal using hydroton, GH 3 part flora series nutes, this system will be in a flower room running 12/12 24/7/365 i plan to veg clones taken from a bubble cloner in 5 gal dwc buckets then move them into e&f for flower...flower room is 5x8x7.5 with 2 1000w hps,veg is under a 400mh...3 435cfm blowers venting rooms and lights, one with a carbon scrubber...just to give an idea what im working with

 

[cocktail frank]

every 4 hours for 15 mins.

 

[EvilTwin]

OK Gotcha...
It's a big pot system. Lots of multiflow guys here to help you out. Sounds like a nice little op you're setting up. I would probably go with at least 3 and more likely 4 floods during lights on, but some like to add a flood during the middle of dark time. Biggest issue is that the roots should never be underwater for more then 30 minutes so you need to consider both flood and drain time in that measurement.

There's a fairly large thread dealing withlarge pot E&F. I'll see if I can find it...but just bump around and you'll see lots of discussions on the issue.

Did you build the controller yourself? What size tubing you using for the drain lines?
ET

PS Here's the thread I referenced
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=99681

 

[Kcar]

I do every 4 hrs 10 min. But I live in a humid environment.

 

[sundancer245]

I do every 4 hrs 10 min. But I live in a humid environment.

thanks kcar....




does anyone use 3.5 gal buckets for the planter bucket? anyone know how much hydroton one will hold?

 

[sundancer245]

well a 50ltr bag will fill about 3.5 - 3.5 gal buckets and i need to fill 8 plus 4 6"net pots and i only picked up 2 50ltr bags so i will have to make the 105 mile round trip to get another bag oh well what can ya do ...they recomend a 50ltr bag to fill six sites on the store bought systems that are 2.2 gal so i figured 2 bags should fill my 8 3.5 buckets and 4 net pots but it wasnt so ...close but no cigar

 

[sundancer245]

OK Gotcha...
It's a big pot system. Lots of multiflow guys here to help you out. Sounds like a nice little op you're setting up. I would probably go with at least 3 and more likely 4 floods during lights on, but some like to add a flood during the middle of dark time. Biggest issue is that the roots should never be underwater for more then 30 minutes so you need to consider both flood and drain time in that measurement.

There's a fairly large thread dealing withlarge pot E&F. I'll see if I can find it...but just bump around and you'll see lots of discussions on the issue.

Did you build the controller yourself? What size tubing you using for the drain lines?
ET

PS Here's the thread I referenced
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=99681

yeah i built it using ogre's tutorial, its got 3/4 lines on the pumps and 1/2 running from the controller to the sites...i just got done testing it it works great...

 

[B. Self Reliant]

Not really a dead set answer. . . some folks flood 3 times during lights on & 3 times during lights off and it seems to work. Some folks flood once every couple hours during lights on and then 3 times during lights out and it seems to work just as well. As long as you have a medium (such as hydroton) that allows plenty of O2 to reach the roots, I don't think it matters much, given that the actual time spent under water either way is rather minimal. Try both ways and post which is better. . .

 

[sundancer245]

Not really a dead set answer. . . some folks flood 3 times during lights on & 3 times during lights off and it seems to work. Some folks flood once every couple hours during lights on and then 3 times during lights out and it seems to work just as well. As long as you have a medium (such as hydroton) that allows plenty of O2 to reach the roots, I don't think it matters much, given that the actual time spent under water either way is rather minimal. Try both ways and post which is better. . .

i am going to be starting with running a flood evey 4 hrs... so 6 a day, 3 during lights on and 3 off... as the system is going to be running a flower room only on 12/12...so ill see how that works out as soon as the first set of plants are ready to flower

 

[EvilTwin]

i am going to be starting with running a flood evey 4 hrs... so 6 a day, 3 during lights on and 3 off... as the system is going to be running a flower room only on 12/12...so ill see how that works out as soon as the first set of plants are ready to flower

That seems like an awful lot of flooding. I'm not going to argue...but here's a sort of interesting little page about E&F that may help you.
ET

http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/fourtwenty/articles/eftips.htm

 

[sundancer245]

That seems like an awful lot of flooding. I'm not going to argue...but here's a sort of interesting little page about E&F that may help you.
ET

http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/fourtwenty/articles/eftips.htm

very good read...so its saying the plant will have little to no water uptake during the dark period...so flooding during lights out is not advisable?...my concern would be the plants sitting without a flood for 12hrs...would the water in the media and whats left in the buckets be enough to keep the roots from drying out? i would think that more than 4 hours between floods would risk them drying out between floods? i dont know as this is all specualtion at this point...every 4 hrs would be 3 floods during lights on...should i maybe run that with 1 flood in the middle of lights off? or just the 3 during lights on and none during the dark period?...what are your thoughts ET?

 

[EvilTwin]

Sundance,
I already posted my thoughts (post #5)

I've done ebb and flow on trays with hydroton...no floods during lights off...never an issue. I use 4 floods during lights on. But like I posted earlier...some people add a flood mid-lights off.

In that article, what they referred to as the "hidden reservoir" is the solution being held by the hydroton. Hydroton actually holds quite a bit. The drying out that you're worrying about doesn't happen...even in my low humidity environment.
ET

PS: The flood during lights off doesn't hurt anything...but running as many as you had planned could result in some overwatering symptoms.

 

[Kcar]

Lights on 8pm- flood 8pm - 12am - 4am lights out 8am.
No flood during lights out or just before lights out. If you flood right before lights out,
your RH will spike up

 

[sundancer245]

ok thanks guys...they are big planter buckets, 3.5 gal so lots of clay...ill just run 3 floods during lights on and none during the dark period...my lights will be on 8pm to 8am so ill do exactly what kcar said...eveythings ready now just waiting for them to be ready to go in...thanks alot for everyones help