The Ebb Flow Show

[pico]

I go with 3/4" pvc. I don't have to anchor down the frames, just the weight of them holds everything down pretty good. You could always hang some weight on there if you had some plants on steroids.

Plants on steroids.......interesting

 

[pico]

I threw a few seeds in a glass of water and they cracked in like 36 hours. I will be donating a bunch to seedbay for the freebies. Deffinately anyone who grows them out keep me posted and show pictures.

 

[Haps]

I enjoyed the show Pico, thanks. Do the hydroton float when you flood, I have wondered this many times, very stoned now. Reckon you aughta know. I use them mixed with lava rock and lava pebbles, when I wash, the hydrocorn float to the top of the bucket, and I pour them off in a very cool orderly natural flow. Made me wonder about a full table.
H

 

[Red_Nine]

Haps, this is a little late, but the hydroton doesn't float out of the containers.

 

[pico]

woops, sorry I missed that question there Haps. Red Nine is right, the hydroton stays in the containers. The stuff can float, but the pots are higher than the flood level, plus once the roots set in and the weight of the plant is on there no floating. Really it only floats if there are a handfull of balls in a lot of water.

 

[Red_Nine]

it only floats if there are a handfull of balls in a lot of water.

Ha Ha, sorry pico, just thought that sounded funny. Might have to use that in my sig,lol. Good thread BTW. I'm on day 24 of my first e and f grow. I've done aero and soil in the past, but wanted to try something new. I don't switch up as much as you, but I know how you feel by wanting to always do something different. Stay safe bro, good grow.

 

[pico]

Nice, that is funny.

Trying new things is always fun. One of these days I need to make everything the same so I am more efficient.

How did your aero grow compare to the ebb and flow you currently run?

 

[Red_Nine]

Well, my aero was when I was cash cropping, but I don't do that anymore. It's kinda hard to compare. Then I was doing 480 at a time. Now I'm doing 15. But it's hard to compete with aero if it's done right. Maybe NFT from what I've seen, but never tried it. I've never seen plants grow so fast before, but it's also a pain to keep your sprayers clean, lines clean, etc.

Ebb and flow, you just have to clean a res, tray, pump, hose, pots and for me hydroton. One of these days, I'm gonna get a small scale aero-jet. Just don't feel like spending the money, and don't have time to build one myself. Plus with aero, I think I'd have too many issues popping up with something I built myself. Too many grommets, sprayers, lines, etc. Not saying I havn't seen many guys on here do a fantastic job, I'm just saying I couldn't do it right.

Right now, I'm very much enjoying my ebb and flow. Fast enough for me, my plants aren't running a race and I'm not selling anything, so I'm in no hurry. If you havn't tried aero yet, I'd recommend it to you since you like new things, you'd probably like it. I used aeroflo in the past, but would use aero jet if I bought a new one.

 

[Neptune]

hey pico, nice growshow here. I duno If I have comented but I am basically doing the same setup in 2 areas of my room right now. I find a 2 week veg with a vigerous strain (like your tabby and blue skunks) to be plenty for a 2oz+ plant at 9 per light, or 18 per 3x6 table. I am running 2 gallon perfect pots with coco, topdrip and a cocomat beneath, and also an Ebb&Grow bucket system ith hydroton. The E&G system floods 3x per day, or every 4 hours roughly and I find that to be plenty... was doing 5x and saw some drooping overwater signs.

Despite the stretch, a near 4 lb harvest is very good man, and should be the mark to hit! I have not hit it yet, but I am struggling with the GDP clone, trying to make her work desperately... damn what a bitch! OH and yeah, Floranova can be used in any system, and will give great results... coco, rockwool, hydroton, etc. It's badass simple.

 

[pico]

yeah i deffinately didn't need to veg for as long as i did. I get lazy sometimes and don't get things in to flowering when they should I have 4000w of blue skunk going right now that got way huge on me. Hard to keep up with a fast growing hydro system.

I am doing a coco top drip right now too and loving it. Same 4x 600w lights but with the tabby strain and House and Garden nutrients. Those are looking just fantastic. I agree the floranova is the shit, but I think the House and Garden nutrients might just beat them. At a cost of about 20 or 30 times more. No joke, the stuff is expensive.

I like your grow with all the different setups. That is my style. I am doing coco on 12 lights now but 3 different ways. top drip, ebb flow, handwatered beds. I still want to do another hydroton ebb flow without the coco mat and not vegging so long.

 

[Guest]

i was thinking of filling a whole tray with hydroton as well. Then covering with black/white poly and cutting slits for the plants. Seems like it would keep some of that evaporation down. Maybe next time. This time things are looking pretty good but we will see if everything fills in.

Thanks, I am feeling better. Now I need to get back to work

hey pico, did you end up trying this? i thought about it too but my local hydro shop said that the black/white poly would prevent much needed oxygen to get to the roots.

 

[pico]

No I never tried it. I don't think it would prevent the oxygen from getting in there. The plastic is just blocking out the light, not sealing out the air.

 

[Guest]

No I never tried it. I don't think it would prevent the oxygen from getting in there. The plastic is just blocking out the light, not sealing out the air.

i'll add to what you said, the water draining back out will pull air in through the same slits you have for the plants - via pressure. you would need some good top support, and root clog prevention this way because everything is just going to spread..

I used to use slabs in rain gutters, I would keep the gutters low so I could grow them larger..

 

[pico]

nice flooid. I have always had the rain gutters in the back of my mind for some sort of setup. I just want to try too many things

 

[J-Roc]

yeah pico is definatly the busiest grower on the ic
i wonder if he even has time to sit and puff one
cuz you kno whe has lots to puff!

 

[pico]

You know it has been a little crazy lately so I haven't had much time to puff. Once or twice a week recently. I get more done if I keep it mellow. When I wake and bake and burn all day a month or two goes by in a flash.

I do have a fine selection to puff on though

I went to a chali2na, zion I, Grouch show the other night. Some of those guys are from your area I think, right? 2na killed it.

 

[Guest]

nice flooid. I have always had the rain gutters in the back of my mind for some sort of setup. I just want to try too many things

I used those same beams you have, double bucket on one end, single on the other for a slant. I would seal the ends of the gutter, bolt down the gutter to the wood and use some aquarium silicone to seal it, and stuff them with slabs. The gutters are 12' and I would cut them down to 10' (with 9' of rw slab, 3 per gutter). I would use another gutter to collect all the run off back into the res. really cheap simple top-drip system. I would set up support cables anchored to the wall running along side the gutters and tie them up with tie wraps.. I did think with 2k, 4k and 6k, 4 gutters per light, 2 plants per slab so they got some veg time.

Quite honestly I'm really looking forward to ebb/flow.. seems ez pz.

 

[wreckMEplease]

Great thread and some nice looking plants...i am going to be starting my owin ebb and flow except using a controller bucket w/pots.

 

[anonymiss12345]

Seen the 'Ask Lucas' thread over at CW Pico? It will answer any question you could ever have about ebb&flow

I wouldn't mind tryin' e/f one day as well...but that would be a LOT of rock in my situation ...and speaking of tryin' new systems, I'm about to try a vert before anything else.

 

[vigilo]

final grammage?