How Often Too Flood With Flood And Drain - Hydroton

[Terpin.daily]

Whats going on people, been having a debate with the guys at the hydro store around my way about how many times during the day they would flood there tables... Pretty much i used too only flood 3-4 times a day and once during sleep for 30 mins at a time, I have been flooding every hour for 15 mins and plants have been growing great, no signs of overfeeding no drooping nothing... just finished out a flowering room with that exact setup.... i did notice that in one of my experimental tents that i have the stems were very very very hallow on the inside and was having a conversation with a customer at the hydro store and he believes that is due too overfeeding, that being said im pretty much curious too know how often you guys flood your ebb and flow - flood and drain systems per day, and for how long.... im growing in just hydroton ... no rockwool cubes or rapid rooters ... and lets say i am over feeding by feeding every hour for 15 mins and only once in the middle of lights off... what advantages or disadvantages would i run into buy lowering the feed schedule too 3-5 times a day for 15-30 minutes ? ... Thanks a lot for the input!

 

[KneeDeep34]

This is right up my alley lol... Once an hour @ 15 mins seems like a lot to me... I only feed twice a day... When the lights come on for 15 mins and before the lights go off for 15 mins... Not saying that heavy feeding is a bad thing but i can only see that being useful for large plants in aggressive veg phase. By large i mean like several feet high. I keep mine at about 2 1/2 to 3ft high before my flower schedule... Honestly, i think you will run into problems down the road with that heavy of a feeding regimen.

 

[KneeDeep34]

I might also add that while growing in straight hydroton does work, ive found that when the plants get bigger in flower, the bud wieght can cause the plant to shift when the tables flood... Its a real disheartening feeling to come into your room only to see a plant in full bloom, laying on it's side with the roots in the air... Rockwool in baskets helps anchor them down.

 

[Terpin.daily]

This is right up my alley lol... Once an hour @ 15 mins seems like a lot to me... I only feed twice a day... When the lights come on for 15 mins and before the lights go off for 15 mins... Not saying that heavy feeding is a bad thing but i can only see that being useful for large plants in aggressive veg phase. By large i mean like several feet high. I keep mine at about 2 1/2 to 3ft high before my flower schedule... Honestly, i think you will run into problems down the road with that heavy of a feeding regimen.

I might also add that while growing in straight hydroton does work, ive found that when the plants get bigger in flower, the bud wieght can cause the plant to shift when the tables flood... Its a real disheartening feeling to come into your room only to see a plant in full bloom, laying on it's side with the roots in the air... Rockwool in baskets helps anchor them down.

Thanks for the input, I currently use the baskets but without rockwool... never seen em shift like that but also could be because I’m still working on getting those fat nugs like everyone else, got some real quality product pumping out... just size of the nuggs is my only issue atm... I’m going to give it a shot feeding for 15 mins once when they wake up , once before they sleep and one right in between that... as long as I see them drinking 20 percent or more of water within the week I’m sure I’ll be getting same results if not better! Mite also try the rockwool any advantages too that besides not having to feed as much because it stores some extra water/nutes?

Also, what are your opinions on feeding once while they are sleeping? doo you think that disturbs them/ stunts any growth?

 

[KneeDeep34]

Thanks for the input, I currently use the baskets but without rockwool... never seen em shift like that but also could be because I’m still working on getting those fat nugs like everyone else, got some real quality product pumping out... just size of the nuggs is my only issue atm... I’m going to give it a shot feeding for 15 mins once when they wake up , once before they sleep and one right in between that... as long as I see them drinking 20 percent or more of water within the week I’m sure I’ll be getting same results if not better! Mite also try the rockwool any advantages too that besides not having to feed as much because it stores some extra water/nutes?

Also, what are your opinions on feeding once while they are sleeping? doo you think that disturbs them/ stunts any growth?

Honestly, they arent very active at night so feeding when the lights are off iqnt needed... If big nugs is what your after, may i recommend MaxiBloom and liquid koolbloom on your next grow? Ive always got very nice results this way. Also, google the phrase "how to backbuild cannabis buds" it will give you fat nugs bro.

 

[Terpin.daily]

Honestly, they arent very active at night so feeding when the lights are off iqnt needed... If big nugs is what your after, may i recommend MaxiBloom and liquid koolbloom on your next grow? Ive always got very nice results this way. Also, google the phrase "how to backbuild cannabis buds" it will give you fat nugs bro.

Looking all that up now, appreciate the tips man... been rocking with veg + bloom powder nutes right now, before this I used emerald harvest which was eh IMO, too much ppm and ph issues... before that was advanced nutrients line... was thinking about trying house and garden before the guys at the hydro store talkstore d me into veg+bloom and quite frankly been loving it... about to pop some Oni see co papaya punch and Afghan peaches ... let’s c how I can make of these ladies

 

[KneeDeep34]

No problem... Dutchmaster is another great product line... Maybe some pics of your grow by chance?

 

[Terpin.daily]

No problem... Dutchmaster is another great product line... Maybe some pics of your grow by chance?

I’ll see if I can get any good pics going when I get home, the ladies I got going right now are I’m a 2x4 ... picked up 2 new strains so have 3 diffrent strains in the one tent... usually keep it all the same but switched it up this time... the gorilla glue I bent and tied down and turn it into an absolute bush, only problem now is there’s too many nodes to even fit in the scrog, in turn the nuggs aren’t huge just moderate size and bunch of them, other than that the skywalker from dna genetics was very stretchy and the canopy’s don’t line up... flushing the ladies out now and completely breaking down all my rooms and going for 2 10x10 rooms under my fluence spyder x pro leds... waiting on my mini splits to come and setting everything back up and gunna pump out everything correctly, my issue with the tents are I can’t get to the back of my plants without my back killing me by the end of the session, going to set these rooms up perfectly and space everything out nicely so I can manicure, and train with a little wiggle room in between lol... as far as setting up the new rooms... I’m looking into new ways of scrogging the plants and I hear metal scrogs are pretty sweet, what’s your opinion on that?

Will def get you some pics in your PM when I get home, by far not my best grow but structure of the middle plant is fucking amazing, just went a little out of hand with nodes haha

 

[PhatNuggz]

The mount of time I flood is solely based on how long it takes for my totes to flood up to the root stem interface, or slightly below

I flood every hour, but my medium does not hold water as most do

Drop by my thread, it's kind of a tutorial

 

[G gnome]

The mount of time I flood is solely based on how long it takes for my totes to flood up to the root stem interface, or slightly below

I flood every hour, but my medium does not hold water as most do

Drop by my thread, it's kind of a tutorial

Of what not to do haha

 

[PhatNuggz]

Of what not to do haha

Most of my errors are from experimenting in an effort to fine tune basic hydroponic techniques, and sometimes, I flat screw up, but I own it

a tutorial shows both the good and bad. Many here are struggling with issues, but don't know why. My missteps can help them solve or prevent problems