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Multi-flow/Ebb&Grow Users: TIPS&TRICKS

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DHF

Thanx Burned out.......

Guys.........If Ms Weekend is rockin dah Casbah then follow suit.......

I never trusted manufactured parts/components that determined the life of my setups thus all my failsafe devices put into play cuz I didn`t go to my grows but once a week but I`ve always been a DIY kinda guy........

It`s all about trust and faith in your equipment but if you live with your grows then it`s all good ........I had too much ta lose and never shit where I ate and grew elsewhere but that`s just me........

I couldn`t afford flooding or failure.........

ET told me the new float switches are better these days but I`ve seen many many posts about flooded rooms from feed pumps not being killed and that`s where my absolute failsafe device of an industrial float switch wired back to feed pumps that would kill the pump regardless of the rootzones getting bigger and filling up more of the volume of the bottom bucket...........

My 2 cents...DHF....:deadxmas:
 
drymouth

drymouth

Member
Thanks a bunch ms_weekend, I'll take your word for it.... I've decided to run with the old loop tuh loop and see how that works, I got 48 unused buckets I can re drill 3/4" lines on, I'll just swap em out if 1/2" aint cutting it.
 
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pimpjuice

Member
I've been building up some of these systems for a few people and have gotten to take a look at the greentrees brain bucket, I could see how that style switch could be problematic ; could totally see gunk buildup fouling them. The horizontal switches seen like they wouldn't fail very easy at all you'd have to work at it. They work great with 3 gallon buckets and 5 gallon smartpots as liners, filled with straight coco. No need for double buckets with the smartpot liners, they prune the roots.
 
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BudBoi

New member
Hi everybody, let me start by saying excellent thread, i have for the last couple of weeks been setting up a room with a HomeBox XXL tent (1.2 mtr x 2.4 mtr). In the tent i will be using a 10 site IWS system (http://www.iwssystems.co.uk/flood.html).

Hopefully i will be finishing off over the next couple of days and have a couple of questions that i need answering before i can put my little ladies in their new home.

They are currently sat in 3" rockwool cubes, and i am going to be running the system with clay pebbles, with the cubes sat just above the flood line. My questions are...

How many flloods should i be doing during veg of 18/6 and how many times in 12/12, and should i be flooding through lights off? also, when should my first flood start in relation to the lights coming on, and how long before the lights go off should my last flood be.

I have read the earlier posts which gave peoples specs and their setup info but as they differ i was just looking for a safe option as im worried about drying the roots out if i dont flood frequently enough.

Many thanks in advance for any help you can give me, Cheers D.

hopefully if i get chance i will start a grow diary and let everyone see how i do.
 
Mist

Mist

Member
Well you, as you said in your post, will find many different opinions on what is the the best feeding schedule for this type of system. And many growers will vehemently argue with anyone who doesn't do it "their" way. But I have seen excelent results with several different feeding schedules. I personally feed for 30 minutes every 3 hours around the clock in both vegg and flowering. There are a few others who do the same and then there are those who only feed while the lights are on. And also quite a few that onle feed 2 times a day and that is it.
I think that alot of it will depend on the strain and you may have to let your plants tell you what they like and go from there.


Happy Growing.
 
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BudBoi

New member
Cheers mist, i will be putting them on tonight so have got the rest of today to work out how im going to do it, thinking along the lines of every 4 hours to start them and then maybe think about shortening it if they look like they can take it.

anymore ideas would be greatly appreciated, cheers again D
 
Mist

Mist

Member
Every 4 hours should be fine. I would suggest a 30 minute feeding over a 15 too. I think it gives the plants more time to actually absorb more nutrients. With a 15 minute feeding the sites have only been totally filled for about 5 minutes and then it is draining back out again. My plants seem to be liking it fine after 3 grows with this system. Maybe it is the DWC grower in me coming out, LOL.


Happy Growing.
 
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morrisgreenberg

Member
i concurr with Mr Mist, the more buckets means longer to fill, i always believed that feeding frequency should be based on plant size, also with light intensity you dont want to go passed 4hrs on a larger plant, besides whether your pots are raised a bit you should have atleast 1inch of water at the bottom of the pots, that iws system looks nice being on a platform
 
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BudBoi

New member
Cheers again for your swift replies, with regards to 30 mins feeding over 15 i'll just clarify something, with the IWS there is a TMU minutes built into the brain timer, so you can actually set the flood time more precisely. Ive timed the flood to be about 7 and a half mins from start to full level with the 10 buckets, at the min i have the TMU set at 5 mins wich is the actual time that the flood duration lasts from when the buckets have fully filled and the fill pump switches off, to the time that the drain pump kicks in, so at the min 7 and a half mins to fill, then 5 mins full flood and what ever time it takes to drain.

Ive only got it set to 5 mins at the mo as the little laides wernt looking there best due to the fact that i had them sat around waiting a little longer than anticipated in a propagator with just vermiculite... hopefully they will come back around over the next day or so and when they look like they are moving i will increse the total flood time, not sure how long too at the moment but going off what you have just said mist would you say 20 mins or is that too long??

Many thanks once again D
 
wantaknow

wantaknow

ruger 500
Veteran
hello everybody ,i am currently building a ebb an grow system with 3gal buckets ,i will be running some ak48 first then some sssdh ,using gh 3 part with big bud ,kool bloom ,cal mag ,ro water ,and plan on feeding 30 min every 3 hrs ,and i will be using perlite big and chunky for medium,has any one ran ak48 in this type of system before ?any help would be great
 
ft100

ft100

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I would guess around 32 Jack with 16 on each half. I say this cause I know 32 fit in a 4 x 8 pretty tightly. Peace
 
Mist

Mist

Member
JackCough said:
How many sites is around ideal in a 4.5x9ft tent. 1per sq ft? less more. 1800w.
Click to expand...

I have the same size tent and if you plan on putting the resovior and controller bucket in there too and will need a place to stand to check/fill/drain the rez, then I would say that 12 is the max if you plan on growing anything of size. If you are just doing plants that will finish at 24" or less than by all means cram as many in there as you can. I have 12 going in mine right now and it is just too crowded so I am going with only 8 on my next grow. But I am also growing plants that finish at over 4ft. tall.
So first you will have to see what your strain will do and then decide how many sites work best for you.
I do suggest having the resovior and controller in the tent so that you can get the benifit of having the spill protection that the tent provides.
 
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rb420

Member
I plan on doing 24 in my next grow in a sunhut silver 8x4. I will be keeping res and controller out of the tent. My planned finishing height is around 3-3.5 feet
 
Mist

Mist

Member
rb420 said:
I plan on doing 24 in my next grow in a sunhut silver 8x4. I will be keeping res and controller out of the tent. My planned finishing height is around 3-3.5 feet
Click to expand...


Use some trellis netting and put it in about a week into flowering while they are still stretching and that will keep them standing up for you. It is going to be crowded as hell with that many plants and you won't have any way to get in there to support them otherwise. Just a friendly tip.
I will be curious to see some pics of that setup.

Oh yea, I tie my trellis netting to the tent poles. It works really well.
 
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rb420

Member
Mist said:
Use some trellis netting and put it in about a week into flowering while they are still stretching and that will keep them standing up for you. It is going to be crowded as hell with that many plants and you won't have any way to get in there to support them otherwise. Just a friendly tip.
I will be curious to see some pics of that setup.

Oh yea, I tie my trellis netting to the tent poles. It works really well.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips Mist! my plan was to put those cages they use for tomatoes (maybe cut a little shorter) for support in each bucket. Also, i was going to get the "Chronic" strain from Serious Seeds. It has very little side branching, which i hope will help from over crowding too much.

For lighting, I will have 2x 1000w in the tent.
 
drymouth

drymouth

Member
anybody using the 1/2" to 3/4" barbed fitting for added flow? there basiclly barbed fitting with 1/2?? so the lines would all be 3/8"
 
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