Setting up my first flood table this weekend and have some questions

GadgetGuy · Dec 2, 2015

Hello, been growing in soil for around 7 years now and just wanted to try something different. I've been doing a LOT of reading and researching and now I think I'm just driving myself crazy :woohoo

Here is what I have (well some of it needed to be ordered and will be here in a few days).

4x4 Secret Jardin tent, 2x600w VIPAR LED lights, 3x3 Active Aqua flood table, Active Aqua 50 gallon res, active aqua flood and drain kit w/hose, 4 medium air cylinders, 2 bags of the larger size Growstones, dual output Active Aqua air pump and a 400 gph Active Aqua submersible pump.

My plan is to run 24 5" pots and do SOG. Basically put rooted clones in rockwool into the pots with the growstones and put them into flower after they reach around 4"-6" tall. I planned on using the square pots that active aqua makes but have concerns about the roots making their way into the table and catching too much light etc. Is filling the table around the pots with hydroton the preferred method to battle this (and algae)? Another idea I got from reading up on icmag was to make a lid from 1/4" plexi (or similar) and use round net pots to keep the roots sheltered (paint the plexi etc).

Flood times. What is a good starting point with tiny clones and growstones?

I've been trying like ballz to find a thread that was basically titled "Ebb and Flow table for beginners" so if anyone knows of such a thread and could link it that would be spectacular. Ive read through millions of threads on all the sites and I can't seem to find that type of instruction manual lol.

Thanks for listening....

Lester Beans · Dec 2, 2015

Hi there,

Sounds like you ha e the equipment you need. I normally put the plants in the basket filled with the grow rock (hydroton). One thing you want to do is wash the new hydroton very well and let it soak for a few days in ph'd 5.8 water.

Once the plants are in their pots with grow rocks, cover the table with plastic or whatever works for you. I prefer panda plastic, white side up.

I like to flood the tables 4-5 times a day. The duration of the flood being roughly 15-20 min.

Do yourself a favor and buy some Hygrozyme. This is an enzyme that keeps the res and table nice nice. I would never grow without it, that's the most important additive in my opinion. I use it at 6ml per gallon and have never encountered root root while using it, even with res temps near 80. The optimal res temp is between 65-70f. The Hygrozyme is expensive, but its nothing compared to the peace of mind of not having the plants all die halfway through flowering from root rot.

As for the res, I fully change out the res every week. I add my additives and then add my base nutrients until I reach my desired ppm/ec. Then I pH the res to 5.8. I will let the pH rise to 6.2 before readjusting. The optimal situation will be the pH rises and the ppm/ec drops. I top the res off with pure water and reset pH throughout the week.

Feel free to pm me if you are confused about anything, I would be glad to help.

Good luck with your grow!!

yankeetransplnt · Dec 2, 2015

For sure cover the res....that panda plastic works..when I had E+F tables, I covered with a foiled foam board from THE hardware store....foil side toward light and cutouts in that to accommodate some net pots with clay ball type medium....this also act as a nice insulate for every thing below it....cut the holes right and it also holds your net pots firmly....easy and cheap to replace for next crop....YT

GadgetGuy · Dec 2, 2015

Thanks Lester. I actually have some Hygrozime that I used in my aero cloner which I may fire up again. The res temps shouldn't be an issue through winter, but come spring I'm moving to a house with a much larger spot and things will be easier. I should be able to get 2 of my first hydro grows in before that. Thanks for the info on the ph swing too. I forgot to mention I got a good Hanna meter that tests EC/PPM/temp/PH. I may have to get water at the grocery store as it's R/O and I'm on a well in the rocky mountains so probably very hard water.

I'll try not to pester you but if things get out of hand I'll pm you.

LostTribe · Dec 3, 2015

Lester Beans said:
Hi there,

Sounds like you ha e the equipment you need. I normally put the plants in the basket filled with the grow rock (hydroton). One thing you want to do is wash the new hydroton very well and let it soak for a few days in ph'd 5.8 water.

Once the plants are in their pots with grow rocks, cover the table with plastic or whatever works for you. I prefer panda plastic, white side up.

I like to flood the tables 4-5 times a day. The duration of the flood being roughly 15-20 min.

Do yourself a favor and buy some Hygrozyme. This is an enzyme that keeps the res and table nice nice. I would never grow without it, that's the most important additive in my opinion. I use it at 6ml per gallon and have never encountered root root while using it, even with res temps near 80. The optimal res temp is between 65-70f. The Hygrozyme is expensive, but its nothing compared to the peace of mind of not having the plants all die halfway through flowering from root rot.

As for the res, I fully change out the res every week. I add my additives and then add my base nutrients until I reach my desired ppm/ec. Then I pH the res to 5.8. I will let the pH rise to 6.2 before readjusting. The optimal situation will be the pH rises and the ppm/ec drops. I top the res off with pure water and reset pH throughout the week.

Feel free to pm me if you are confused about anything, I would be glad to help.

Good luck with your grow!!

What he said!

Lester what does the hygrozyme do? I recently grabbed some cannazyme for a problem with a very large root mass that was transplanted roots were starting to look bad, normally just white. Here this stuff is supposed to breakdown dead roots while promoting a better root growing environment....says its safe with sm90 which I use from time to time too especially in summer with higher rez temps.

Lester Beans · Dec 3, 2015

It does the same as you described with the cannazyme. I do not have experience with cannazyme but heard it works well. Hygrozyme is an enzyme that breaks down old root matter and keeps the root zone nice nice. So basically same as that description.

Hygrozyme has been around for years. I use it in my nurseries as well.

jesbuds · Dec 3, 2015

Don't overthink things, F&D is quite simple. I personally don't use air stones in any of my F&D setups anymore. Found with air stones there would be some light sliminess on parts of my setup, without it stones it seems cleaner and the water is aerated each time I flood. No change in plants, simpler setup, overall easier for me. Just something to think about as you get into this more, there is no 'perfect' or 'right' way, just your way.

GadgetGuy · Dec 4, 2015

Thank you everyone, you have been very helpful! When I get it fired up and have plants in it would it be more appropriate to start a thread in the hydro forum or here since I'm "new" to hydro?

sturgeongeneral · Dec 4, 2015

Ebb and flow is very easy, not really any moving parts, just the pump. I run a 3x3 ebb and flow as well but instead of the stones i run rockwool. I use my city tap water amd its pretty hard. Tons of cal mag in it lol. Only thing i do is have to adjust for ph when i do res changes, besides that it doesn't swing much.

LostTribe · Dec 5, 2015

Lester Beans said:
It does the same as you described with the cannazyme. I do not have experience with cannazyme but heard it works well. Hygrozyme is an enzyme that breaks down old root matter and keeps the root zone nice nice. So basically same as that description.

Hygrozyme has been around for years. I use it in my nurseries as well.

Thanks lester thats what I thought I had read.

Interestingly I have also considered opening a nursery or growing produce vegetables for sale locally. Hows it going for you?

Peace and Happiness,
LT

GadgetGuy · Dec 6, 2015

Ok, so I can return the 4 airstones and don't have a problem doing that if you guys think everything will be fine without (I've read numerous times that I don't need to do this). My water pump came with the venturi kit that aerates the water as it pumps. Would it be beneficial to use that? My thought on the air stones in the res was that it would help keep it stirred in essence so there wouldn't be salts sitting in the bottom of the res so things may be more available. I have a terrible habit of over-thinking things if you can't tell....

Also, my grow tray has a low spot on one end of it obviously so all the water will drain out there. I plan on making my stand in such a way it leans in that direction a little bit. on the opposite side of the tray, there is another spot where it's obvious you can drill more holes but it's not set as deep as the other side. Should I have it fill from the high side and drain from the other or can I do both from the low side of the res?

jesbuds · Dec 6, 2015

Air stones/pumps are cheap, try both ways and see what you like. What I found is just from my own experience, yours can always differ. Or start with one way, run it for 2-3 months and switch up if it's still in the back of your mind, see if you can see any changes. If you can't, it's an unnecessary feature that complicates your grow and you can move on to other tweaks.

As far as the flooding and draining, I have both setups. One setup has the flood tube sitting 4" from the drain in the middle of the tray (lowest point). Another setup has flood on one side of the table with drain on the other and slightly tilted. I think I prefer the tilted method so the water flows more but honestly don't see a difference between the setups, this is more personal preference and by design for the tilted setup.

GadgetGuy · Dec 8, 2015

thanks jesbuds. The airstones were cheap so I may as well run them

GadgetGuy · Dec 9, 2015

This is how far I've gotten setting the tent up. Still need to add an intake vent and clean up wires and a few other things (much less get some clones going)

So clones in rockwool. Should I flood up to the level of the bottom or the top of the rockwool when I flood? And how often (I know, I know millions of times asked and a million different answers).

Just a base line idea. Thank you again everyone.

ChasingGreen · Dec 9, 2015

subbed, loving the setup mang!

GadgetGuy · Dec 9, 2015

Thanks chasingGreen. This is my first hydro grow so any help is good help. I'll try not to fail ya!

Welded up that stand myself, it held my bodyweight easily at 185 lbs so I think it should hold the water and plants up

St. Phatty · Dec 9, 2015

GadgetGuy said:
This is how far I've gotten setting the tent up. Still need to add an intake vent and clean up wires and a few other things (much less get some clones going)

So clones in rockwool. Should I flood up to the level of the bottom or the top of the rockwool when I flood? And how often (I know, I know millions of times asked and a million different answers).

Just a base line idea. Thank you again everyone.

I did clones in rockwool for about 10 years, ebb & flow the last 2 or 3 of those 10.

(Now I'm using my ebb tables to put my soil pots in, to drain).

Anyway, flood to the top of the rockwool ... or as close as your set-up allows.

>> I like to flood the tables 4-5 times a day. The duration of the flood being roughly 15-20 min.

I did 3 to 4 times a day. It took 15-20 minutes, like the other member flood-er.

I used 6 inch cubes when I did it.

Plants like Ebb & Flow :woohoo:

GadgetGuy · Dec 9, 2015

Thanks Phatty, much appreciated
I may just keep this going as my thread once I get plants in. There may somebody in the future that wants to do this that is as anal and confused as me lmao

GadgetGuy · Jan 12, 2016

well, after some hardship etc, here I am. Afghan Kush plants that were cloned from a flowering plant. Hydro is a wild ride!

The small clones were NOT happy about vegging under the LED's so I got a T5 (I had noticed this in my previous soil grows, it just didn't seem to effect them very much).

Andyo · Jan 12, 2016

rockwool flood level

rockwool flood level

What size rockwool are you using ?
with a 3 inch square cube i flooded half of it 1.5 inches
I let the rockwool cube get good root mass first before going into hydroton also be aware the rock wool PH rises more than the hydroton.you could flush the cubes with a jug at 5.0 ph belive me theyll be at 6.5 ph to 7.0 ph from veg nutes flood at 6.0 ph
I use cut up slabs making cubes 2" x 2" wide x 3" deep for this reason

I notice your not using full flood height of your tray.Pots could be fuller.
maybe your over flow height is too low ? they sent you a standard over flow kit ?
PH in pot isnt allways what the rez PH is depending on you hydroton .
To check lift a few pots at 1 hr after drained and collect the last few drips from at least half the pots. test ph .

Ideal rez temp is 21c

.A

Setting up my first flood table this weekend and have some questions

Member

Frequent Flyer

Member

Member

Well-known member

Frequent Flyer

Member

Member

Active member

Well-known member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Attachments

Member

Member

Active member

Member

Member

Attachments

Active member