E&F - Mediumless?

[newbie2006]

Hello,

I just finished my first grow in ebb & flood -type of hydro.. Went well, the growthrate isn't quite up there with NFT that I am used to, but not far behind.

And now I am looking at the amount of LECA/Hydroton grow rocks that I should clean up from small amounts of root matter, WHOAH!

I have an extra bag of the rocks to fill all the systems up..

However, from my local growshop they want 50 EUR - 65 USD for a 50 litre bag of these small brown diamonds, so running a bag every project raises my production costs a lot.

Has anyone ever done an almost-mediumless E&F grow? I mean, I plant in rockwool cubes, so put those on to the table that I would have lined first with foodsafe capillary/rootmat and that would be it?

Would it work, I know then I should flood really often (like 3 floods an hour, 5min per flood), but is there someone with experience about things like this; Can this be done? What would be the drawbacks and advantages gained?

 

[GP2B]

E/F systems started with Rockwool cubes prior to hydroton rocks so why not?

 

[pezmasterelite]

Hi,

I grow most of my medicine with E&F tables. I use 4" rockwool cubes with nothing else from time to time. You can get some serious harvests from just 4" cubes. You can add like 2" of hydroton in your tray to help have more root space. You can also use delta slabs which are big slabs of rockwool.

Those three methods are what I use a lot, but the bare 4" cubes can get serious harvests.

Hope this helps,

Peace

 

[Tarus Bulbar]

Hey bro!! U should check out CHEEBS E&F Mediumless grow
Its what ur lookn for I think!!
Cheers

 

[one Q]

Yup CHeebs. hes doing a Mediumless ebbngro too

 

[newbie2006]

pezmasterelite: Thanks for the encouraging reply! I was planning to put maybe 2cm (3/4 of an inch) layer of hydroton to the bottom. Any other tips, and how often do you flood your mediumless tables?

My cubes are only 2" (10cm), so I figure these won't do? Nearest growshop is a _LONG_ way away from me, so I'd rather like to try to make it with these..

I cannot found this Cheebs guys grow topic. Can someone post a link?

Thanks everyone for your replies!

 

[one Q]

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=192442&highlight=mediumless

check his sig for more

 

[pezmasterelite]

Hey man,

It shouldn't really matter what size cubes you have as long as there is hydroton or something similar for the roots to grow in.

One idea is to just cover the tray in mylar so that light does not hit the roots, then you won't need anything. Although, 2" cubes may become unstable when flooded without anything holding them in place. I think the plants may be top heavy later in only 2" cubes

I flood my 4" cubes 1-2 times a day until the table is at the overflow level. When I used 3" cubes with hydroton I think I watered 4 times a day. Maybe with your setup 4-6 times a day depending on your lights and airflow.

The easiest way to tell when to water with a hydro setup is to lift the cubes. If they are bone dry they weigh almost nothing, it is time to flood. Then do so until things are almost submerged or as best possible. Repeat as often as they dry out. You cannot really overwater rockwool as long as it dries out in between waterings.

I hope this helps man, I would check out that other guys(Cheeb?) setup, it seems really nice. Kinda like a mix of DWC and E&F!

Peace

 

[Bob Smith]

To go truly media-less, root your clones in a bubble or aero cloner.

Buy one of these:

http://www.greendoorhydroponics.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1240

Get the matching netpots and neoprene inserts to hold your plants.

Flood every 10-20 minutes (your usage may vary).

Now you're truly media-less.

Good luck.

 

[Bob Smith]

Lol, so after washing hydroton in the bathtub and the shower once again draining slow as shit last night, I'm taking my own advice - my 2x4 Botanicare lid (drilled with 8 5" holes), 5" netpots, and 5" neoprene inserts will be available tomorrow.

My cloning and flowering are without media, and now my mother tray will join them as well.

No more washing hydroton for me, ever

 

[hydr1]

I use hugo blocks on coco mats

 

[newbie2006]

Going with...

Going with...

Ok the project has started...

The frankenstein is alive..

Three 65L ebb&floods (each with a growing table about 58x58cm 12 cm deep)

One 730w LG plasma (4500k model) to give light

Lucas formula + some additives as nutrients

Barneys' LSD, Whitelabel Super Skunk, White Widow x Zamal and MK-Ultra x Trainwreck as strains

10 Day veg then 12/12

About my 37th project so far (note; My nick is a distraction.)

Getting there because of you mates, thank you all!

 

[bendoslendo]

This guy started one, but postponed. He has other mediumless experience though, might shot him a pm.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=192442

 

[Bob Smith]

Ok the project has started...

The frankenstein is alive..

Three 65L ebb&floods (each with a growing table about 58x58cm 12 cm deep)

One 730w LG plasma (4500k model) to give light

Lucas formula + some additives as nutrients

Barneys' LSD, Whitelabel Super Skunk, White Widow x Zamal and MK-Ultra x Trainwreck as strains

10 Day veg then 12/12

About my 37th project so far (note; My nick is a distraction.)

Getting there because of you mates, thank you all!

So are you truly without media or are you doing a standard E&F setup?

Regardless, thanks for reminding me why I hate hydroton so much and how I've been meaning to go without it for a while.

 

[newbie2006]

I just cut back on the hydroton use, because I was too afraid of what was going to happen..

Planted in 10cm rw cubes, which sit top of one layer of hydroton, e.g. one rock deep

I figure I have to get some of that mat I used in NFT from the shop and then I can truly go with only it as "medium", but now I just wanted to get everything going again and I am not visiting the shop anytime soon..

Thanks for everybody on this thread, I really appreciate your time that it took to reply.

Plentiful harvests,

-newb06

 

[!!!]

Well if the price of hydroton is keeping you away, rockwool is going to be way more expensive.

A great medium is rockshale. It doesn't roll around all over your house like hydroton, it doesn't look suspicious (looks like rocks) and performs as well as hydroton IMO. It's not as heavy as it looks (nearly same weight as hydroton,) but it doesn't float like hydroton.

Here's a pic of some rockshale/hydroton pots:

There is a tray cover that you can use for a mediumless ebb/flow. It consists of little holes like an aerocloner, in which you put your plants using neoprene inserts. There are a few grow logs of mediumless EF tables here on ICMag. I can't recall off the top of my head who though. Cheeb maybe?

 

[!!!]

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=137937