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Did someone say DIY mobile ebb and flow?????

fuzygrowth

Active member
thats right guys, you can build this style table very cheaply. i'm always telling people about these "Super Tubs" one can buy at lowes, but no one seems to care, so here's to show you what you can do with them.


i built this table to keep a few mothers , it's been my experience that each strain needs it's own table and reservoir. Originally i was going to build a rolling table out of 2x4's and some plywood, but this really good deal crossed my path, and so i jumped on it and bought a couple of these carts from a factory closing down. it would have cost more to buy the casters new then it was to buy the whole rolling cart.







the top shelf was taken off and the inner walls were coverd with panda film using 3m adhesive spray, that stuff is awsome. obviously you could use mylar or what ever, if you built it from scratch you woulden't even need the walls going up like that but you know, it should just be stressed that anyone could build this in any which way , the tubs are the key.




here are the tubs, these guys are from lowes, they cost 13 bucks, you can't beat that!! they measure 24x36 and can be used as a res or table, in this case both.















next you'll want to drill a couple of holes, the first on your table so that the tubing can go through, and of course one in your tub .








if you want the whole thing to be mobile you can build a 2x4 frame so you can put your lights attached to the rolling table, that way you can move the whole thing any where in the room. then you place your hooks and such for holding the lights .








in this table i'm not relying on an overflow valve, just put your pump on a timer and figure out how long till it fills to a certain point. of course you can use the overflow though, just drill 2 holes and use the apropriate fittings.
and you are pretty much set. it's that easy, hopefully tomorrow i'll have some more pics with the lights on and the plants in place.

here's the finished product, almost finished, lights aren't on yet :) . good luck building your own, remember tubs are the key to cheapness .


 

THCzr

Member
definately cool mang, i like how you have a little extra wall for the reflective material and stuff.. good work hopefully that rez is easy to access tho?

personally i grow in ebb/flow nothing like this kind of thing here , but may i ask what your reasoning is for no overflow drain?

your rootmass is going to have some effect on how much water it will take to fill up your grow table and how quickly it will fill up your pots ..... in otherwords firmly rooted plants have hard rootballs that water doesnt soak into as quickly as empty / freshly transplanted pots .... so either you gonna have to watch this very closely or you're gonna end up with overflows imo..... for the benefit you recieve , it's really not much more work to just drill another hole and put a peice of hose in there or something, you dont even need the fancy shcmancy ones from the hydro store, just my opinion tho man.



THC
 
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The Dopest

[THC] True Hippie Coonass
Veteran
hey fuzygrowth :wave:

i'm always telling people about these "Super Tubs" one can buy at lowes, but no one seems to care

i care fuzy, i saw where you reccomended them on another thread and had to tell 2 friends about them. one guy is in the planning stages still the other guy couldnt sleep for being so excited to go to lowes the next morning... :pointlaug i wouldnt mind settin up a closet or two with these they are so simple. they work perfectly for him, here is a link if you want to see them in action... :woohoo:

http://rapidshare.de/files/32954336/ebbandflow_0001.wmv

btw i can give yall the rundown on quick fittings and parts used. this setup was so inexpensive and easy, i want to thank you and im not even running them. super thanks and K+ :joint:
 

fuzygrowth

Active member
Dopest : that is awsome, it makes me really happy to know someone else out there was able to find these tubs. sometimes hydro can be restrictive to some folks with little cash and they settle for really rigged up systems. these tubs are just like any other hydro table so really your not comprimising at all, your buddies set up looks sweet.. hmmm.. video's ..... something to think about.

THCzr : reason i'm not using an over flow is for a couple of reasons, biggest one is i didn't have one sitting around . I've used a table for like a year now with out using overflow
see that white table over to the right, never had an overflow in it.




it doesn't fill all the way, you only want it to fill about 1/2 . these super tubes are 8 inchs tall, no need to flood a 6 inch pot 8 inchs, and normally only flood it 3 or 4 inchs anyway. so there is plenty of head room for it to not over flow.
 

fuzygrowth

Active member
here are some pics of the set up completed with plants in um.










you can see how the whole thing is a stand alone unit with ballast attached along with electrical, just attach extension cord and you are ready to go. g'luck, i hope someone out there gets some use out of this.
 

BabyHughie

Member
DIY ebb and flow rocks man :headbange

Im a couple weeks out from the end of my first ebb and flow and I can tell you that I am converting my entire grow to ebb and flow now its so easy. This is truely the way to grow for the lazy stoner (like me). :D
 
7

70s_PotHead

Or a busy one like me who is gone allot for a few days at a time and needs a simple low maint. but effective system. I love E&F. I've done soil, Tubblers DWC and drip buckets but this is the one for me :wave:

70s :joint:
 
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G

Guest

Hey Fuzy - what kinda timer are you using for your flood pump? Only reason I ask is I would need an overflow as my timer only turns on/off for 15min segments. I assume you are using one with more control?
 

fuzygrowth

Active member
hey rackin... using a digital timer from home depot, they cost about 15 bucks or so. you can control up to the minute, in this case the pump runs for 4 minutes and fills the tub 1/2 way which is all i need, so it comes on for 4 minutes every 2 hours. g'luck
 
G

Guest

Thx for the reply FuzyG... sorry to nag with more but my current layout is causing MAJOR issues with roots clogging drain/fill lines and I'm really looking into yours as my solution!

Let me know if I have this right on your design (if so I think I'm hitting the store immediately to transplant in hopes of saving these):

Lowes tray - single fill hole drilled
I assume your fill tube is 5/8 funny pipe, are you using a screw-plug to attach it to the buttom of the tub (only found these at hydro stores, lowes seemed to just look at me when I inquired)? Or was that what the 3M picture was for, to show you just shoved the hose in and glued it?
-EDIT: Noticed the 3m is probably showing what holds the panda paper on. (doh)

Plant pots - look like maybe 1gallon/2gallon square pots filled with hydroton and net pots to support the actual plant which also contain hydroton? Completely guessing here while zooming in on your photos

Were the square pots picked up from lowes as well or did ya have to visit a hydro store for em? (dumb but) Did ya just drill a bunch of holes in em to let the water flow in when filling? If so, how high up the sides did you drill?

How in the name of all that's holy do you keep the roots from growing out of these containers and into your flood tray/fill tube? Mainly talking about flowering time. I've managed to used 1.5gallon pots with hydroton during veg, but about 6weeks into flower and forget about it - roots are growing into EVERYTHING.

Just wondering how I can adapt this design to a 4 x 4 x 8 closet. Looks like it would make it with the tray just sitting on the rez but I need to nail down the actual plant containers to prevent the damn root problems I have run into.

Thanks for your help! Awesome Awesome design! Makes all my previous/current ones seem seriously over-engineered!
 
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fuzygrowth

Active member
hey man, the pics pretty much show the whole design, the drain/fill fitting is just that, from a hydro store, specifically in this case it's A.H . fitting ( http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/customkititems.asp?kc=HPMAHFK&eq= )

. about the pots... they are just regular square pots often used for sogging. they are 5.5 inchs square, they already come with holes drilled in the bottom and thats all you need, the nutrient solution will go into it no problem. the roots normally don't ever really grow outside of the pots, and if they do it's minimal, you can always just snip it off if it becomes a big problem ( they grow back :smile: ) . you can get the square pots online or at most hydro stores. oh yea, they are probably only like 1/2 gallon or so, ebb and flow you really don't need large containers with huge root systems as the plant does not need to search for food. i find that a flood every 2 hours works out well, even in dark, how i've always done it and never had any problems.

in a 4x4 you can have 2 of these tubs with plants in um and share a res using a third tub or have a res for each table. i should point out, when using as a res you need to keep it from bowing, it will bow, to solve this i just poked a hole on each side of the tub and tied 1/4 inch rope across, any strong string should do. you can get like 50 feet of 1/4 braided nylon rope for like 4 or 5 bucks at lowes.


edit : ps. there are no netpots in the square pots, just fill about an inch or two with hydroton, place your clone in the middle and while holding the clone there fill around with hydroton, thats it.
 
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ethereal

Warrior
Veteran
edit : ps. there are no netpots in the square pots, just fill about an inch or two with hydroton, place your clone in the middle and while holding the clone there fill around with hydroton, thats it.
chunky perlite would work too...way cheaper!

be good fam.
 
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bartender187

Bakin in da Sun
Veteran
great thread brotha, saved me an arm and a leg. 13!!!! thats a steal... they retail for 20-30 at other online retailers...... undercuttin the competition by half... Here is the link to the Super Tubs at Lowers Online Store....

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=19252-000001569-ST3608

I went and looked for nearly an hr for these puppies at my local lowes couldnt find em, and no one was of any help.... Figured out the Item number from the webpage call up the same lowes turns out there at 6 of them in stock somewhere in the store,,,,, lol.... they said they would call me back when they found em. rofl... so big they cant even sell you the shit you need.

Maccout also makes these concrete mix pans... lil bit smaller, practically teh same thing... 7$ 26"" x 20"" x 6""

http://www.amazon.com/Maccourt-Prod...5-8620149?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1178670593&sr=1-14

UPDATE: It took them FOREVER to find those bitches.... Went back today after not hearing back from them... Sat there while the lady called all over the store looking for them. Finally said fuck it and told her I would find them myself.... 45min later............. FOUND THEM! Sold by the concrete isle for mixing concrete in. : )
 
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G

Guest

my wife is still afraid of hydro. And i want her to be able to do some, with the minimum fright factor.

she's not afraid of a commercial timer: she likes that dial & *it comes on, stays on how long you say* action.

Im seeing.. in my future....
tubs;
a water pump...
a drain .
a timer...

I see it... a little drain so it can over flow;
a 30 cent elbow; 24 inches of tube for that, 18 for the primary drain....

I see me, dialing her in, on how long to let them stay flooded..by nothing more than how long that pump runs...

I see in my woman's future, joy at using hydro...

you're the freakin man, fuzy. I've seen e&f tubs before somehow.. this crystalized it thanks.
 
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