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Setting up a flood table , Disabled Vet need help

Riviera123

Active member
Hello and happy thanksgiving ! I️ love Botanicare nutrients and had great results in hempy buckets . I️ am a disabled vet with back problems so I️BOUGHT a flood tray . The table is botanicare 2x4 size .its a flood and drain type its 22X44X7 INCHES . I fell in love with a setup they had set up in store with tray built into a table made with pallet wood and no tent. The young man
Man working there said i dont need a grow tent. He also encouraged just using t5 lights instead of 400 w hps
A ready have. Then it dawned on me the odor from flowering spreading throughout my whole bedroom growing with no tent sleeping in there. I have a 4” fan and filter but will that do for the whole room. Then i thought about light interuptions in flowering. So should this go in a tent and how big of tent .i want a good height and the resivor i intentend to use is aprox 30 “ high ruff tote trash can that i used for blumat before in soil. So what would be the best options to choose ? Tent or no tent ?
What size tent for that table I️ can make a lower resivor . Is drip better than flood and drain method. I’m thinking of 50/50 coco and grow stone mix in plastic pots would smartpots be better. Thanks
 

Desert Hydro

Active member
Veteran
all the points you made are valid. i wouldnt flower with t5. i dont know why he would advocate skipping a tent. tents are great for small grows.

looks like your table is just smaller than the measuremnts of the actual tent size which is great. i have a couple tables that are slightly bigger and wont fint in your average tent. they were made before tents got popular i guess.

just do an exact fit tent. drip uses less water than it would take to flood the whole table to depth and also helps flush the nutrients downward and avoid salt buildup.

dont stress about the pots too much. just do what you can for now. you can use the black and yellow totes from the big box stores for a res but wrap it with strong tape to help brace the sides. real res are expensive.
 

Bush Dr

Painting the picture of Dorian Gray
Veteran
I'd agree with DH about the lights and tent, also using drip lines

Use 100% coco, it's simpler and better

The "young man" in the store meant well, but obviously has never grown
 

gaiusmarius

me
Veteran
yes use coco, much easier and less labor intense, less prone to problems.

coco slabs are not even very heavy and you can place 4 clones on each slab.
 

Bobby Boucher

Active member
You are going to need a way to light proof your plants completely during their dark cycle.. This is usually accomplished using tents with light proofed intakes and outtakes.

I have some pretty severe neck and back issues, and getting in and out of tents doesn't help any. I use 3'x3' tents for individual plants under 600w, and being able to reach the back of the tent without having to get in and out of it has taken a pretty large strain off of my neck. It's still straining, but considerably less than when I kept multiple plants inside of larger tents..

Ideally though, you would dedicate an entire bedroom or closet to your grow, leaving enough clearance on all sides of your canopy to manipulate yourself around it, so that getting in and out or around is as easy as opening and closing a door.

If you have a floor drain in your basement.. that helps too. Grow there. And get a wetvac (with a drain on the bottom) if you don't already have one. Life saver.
 

Riviera123

Active member
Thanks

Thanks

Ok so tent is the way to go 2x4 concerned about heat problems in tent with 400 w hps of course going with a say 17 gallon tote like the ones with yellow top at Home Depot but wont I loose about 30 inches with container / flood table and frame pots that would only leave me 30 inches minus room with hps . Most 2x4 tents i see are 60 inches high . Just stick with my hps save money there, couldnt i just put the flood table on a Actual table, put the tent on top of the table and use my the 20 gal rough tote underneath table thank you all so much
 

Riviera123

Active member
Coco and nutrients

Coco and nutrients

Which coco would you go with the bricks or the stuff inn bag
and should i use special nutes with coco
 

gaiusmarius

me
Veteran
tents are a pain to work in. if you have the option of using a whole room you will be happy to be able to get to the grow from all sides. also tents limit your vertical room and compress the heat exchange room. tents are good if you have no way to make your own box because it needs to be removable fast. if you have a legal space or a dedicated room, i wouldn't use a tent.

best results in coco come from coco specific nutrients. i'd use canna coco slab or something equivalent. they steam clean the coco to get the salt level right down and kill all pathogens and pests. this gives you a good start. specially as they inoculate it with beneficial s that naturally flourish in the coco.
 

Riviera123

Active member
Thanks

Thanks

Thanks for your reply . I️ dont really have a dedicated room and containing the odor as well as light control is a need .im looking forward to getting set up.
 

Riviera123

Active member
Is this coco slab you are referring to this loooks like a slight learning curve may be involved
 

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gaiusmarius

me
Veteran
its really easy and instinctive. you can also hand water coco in pots. but maybe a soil growis your thing. coco is easy and very satisfying as you get the advantages of hydro with the simplicity of soil. just that you have a tank with a pump leading to drip lines. so instead of you having to water it will run on a timer and all you have to do is keep the tank full and at the right nutrient strength (ec level) which is regulated by the amount of nutrient solution you use, then there is the ph which generally requires a few drops of ph minus per 10 lt of water to keep the ph inside of the 5.7 to 6.0 level it likes. sounds complex, but it really isn't and thats it. if you do chose coco, there is a tons of info in the coco section here.
 

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