simple ebb and flow question..doh..

[inreplyavalon]

HI folks. I am setting up a new space and had a few simple questions. I have read all over the DIY section and just seem to be missing something.

I want to set up an Ebb and Flow. I already have 6 4x4 trays. I plan on using containers inside the tray, filled with soil to start, and maybe one tray try some hydro medium.

Can i use one large resevoir to fill all these trays? And do i need a controller unit to do it? Or would i just put six pumps in the res, and set them all at different times? Or is it better to have 3-6 seperate resevoirs?

I am confused and have been researching this for a few weeks. The more i learn the more i get confused

Thanks for your help.

 

[Bush Grower]

Well... first of all, you don't want to use soil in any of the trays. It is going to gunk up your nutrient solution and your lines, and ruin your pump.

That being said in my opinion hydroton is the best hydro medium becaue it provides more air to roots.

And yes you could use one big reservior to run all of those trays. But, 6 4x4 trays can hold A LOT of plants... so I'd suggest a huge 55 gallon drum or rubbermaid if you choose to hook them up to 1 res. In my opinion, 30 gallon would be too small and you'd be topping it off all the time.

Also, I'd only use one pump... just use T joints to hook up all the trays.

Peace

 

[mikecar312]

you should have a res size of 35-40gal min per 4x4 tray. i have 3 3x3 trays connected to 1 70gal res and it needs to be topped every 5-7 days. you can choose to have one res, but then all your plants are getting the same nutrient (not good if you make a mistake or run a perpetual or have a nute sensitive plant or whatever). if you just started, you should get several reservoirs preferably one for each tray or one for every two trays so you can experiment with different nute mixes and mediums.

i'll agree with bush and say soil isn't the ideal choice. i would go with hydroton as well. i don't agree with a 55 gal drum, if you want to do just one reservoir - i would get at least 115gal res for all 6 trays and 6 pumps and run staggering times for each pump allowing one tray to fill and drain before the next pump starts. or preferably 2 or 3 separate res (70gal or 115gal) with 3 trays connecting to each of them. 6 trays uses a lot of water.

stoney419 uses a 4x8 tray (like 2 of your 4x4s put together) and a 70gal res. he says he needs to top off daily because the 70gal can't really support the 4x8 tray.

ebb n flo is pretty easy - flood and drain. a lot of common sense involved and a lot of different ways to do the same thing. don't be confused or get overwhelmed, you're making it harder than it really is!

 

[Bush Grower]

Yeah.. I was just kind of throwing that number out there mike... I didn't put too much thought into it as I've never ran that big of a system before. Thaks for the input!

 

[inreplyavalon]

Right on people. Thanks for participating in this discussion. I hear what your saying and understand the problems with soil. My problem is i have never done hydro and am not in a position to have anymore large learning mistakes. I had a pollination problem last year.

How about the set up mentioned but instead of using ebb and flow, do a top drip feed setup. Basically just run a dripper to each plant in the tray and have that run to waste. With soil i would probably only have the timer happen once a day during the heavy growth and even less most of the time. I am really just trying to automate a little. Practice for an eventual hydro setup...

(This garden is going to be less plants than one would think(but bigger), because i am a medical caregiver and follow the laws in my area.)

Thanks again for sharing your ideas with this rookie!!

 

[Maculele]

Just go hydro, you won't have massive learning mistakes as long as you school yourself properly and use common sense. I think that you've got your head on straight as far as the system goes, but go for a couple 55 gal. drums, using Ts as BushGrower says, and use a medium that you're comfortable with after reading about your choices. (hydroton, rockwool, coco are a few to start with) You can go for a drip system as you were saying, or flood and drain. Anything you do won't be very complicated, to be honest. The only things you should be thinking about is how you're going to take care of all the lighting, cooling, and understanding that you're pretty much about to take on a full time job. I wish you luck, and I'll keep up with your threads and offer anything I can. Just keep reading, keep reading, keep reading... That's how we all got here

 

[accessndx]

I used to have 6 4x4 tables. 4 Tables were supplied with 1 70 gallon reservoir. The other two which were used for "flushing" were supplied by a 30 gallong resevoir. I don't remember how it was all hooked together, but I recall using 1 or 2 pumps for the large reservoir and 1 pump for the smaller one. Each table had either 5 or 6 inch square pots filled with hydroton. The clones were started in rockwool and then put right into the hydroton. I kept the reservoirs clean and refilled them every 2 weeks (with top offs in the meantime). Things went rather smoothly. If you understand soil, and have grown plants in it....you really won't have much of a problem with hydroponics. The main difference is what the plants are sitting in (hydroton/rockwool)...and how they are fed (ebb & flow, drip, aeroponics, etc.). Ebb and flow has been pretty easy and has always provided excellent results. I would deeply encourage you to get on that boat and master the entire approach. There's tons of good people here to help you with the specifics. Good luck M8.