Best medium for flood and drain / ebb and flow

[Kalli]

I used to fill each 4x4 table with hydroton. Then just stick the plants right in the

hyroton no net pot or anything. It worked great but washing all the rock at the

end nearly killed me.... So I'm going to set up the tables again, and I would like

to find a medium to put in the tables thats I can either (A. throw away at the

end and buy new for cheap. B. Figure out a way to use less hydroton or a

medium that will require little work to re-use.) Thoughts appreciated!

 

[motherlode]

if you really like the dog chow you could try using them fancy airpots

 

[nightfun]

have you thought about using ocksgrow blocks? I use 4" blocks and put em on a 3x3 table (ebb&flo) works perfectly and no need for hydroton

good luck!

 

[Seed Buyer]

Just put the hydroton in net pots. Filling the entire table is a huge mess and not really necessary. If you are concerned about the roots then get a GH coco root mat to line the table with.

 

[Aerojoe]

I'm not sure why your filling the whole 4x4 w/ hydroton? I think if you switched to pots and hydroton you'd cut your workload by 1/4 just by the amt. of hydroton you used to have to deal w/. I think the results will be great. Unless there's a reason you want to have a whole bed of hydroton? btw what's your method of cleaning them?

 

[Ganjafarmer562]

Rockwool

I have used Rockwool "hugo's" that are 4x4 blocks. you can still use a small layer of hydroton on the bottom for the roots if you wanted but there are other options also.

 

[ptg701]

I use 4" Rockwool cubes on Coco mat.

The mat is covered with Panda plastic with holes cut for the blocks to set on.
The roots grow straight through the coco mat and form a root mass that fills the whole table.

I oxygenate the water in the reservoir, like in a DWC, so the root mass stays clean and white.

It makes the system into a hybrid E&F/SWC.

It is the most productive E&F I have used.

When the grow is finished, I discard the blocks and mats.

 

[motherlode]

I use 4" Rockwool cubes on Coco mat.

The mat is covered with Panda plastic with holes cut for the blocks to set on.
The roots grow straight through the coco mat and form a root mass that fills the whole table.

I oxygenate the water in the reservoir, like in a DWC, so the root mass stays clean and white.

It makes the system into a hybrid E&F/SWC.

It is the most productive E&F I have used.

When the grow is finished, I discard the blocks and mats.

great way to IMO - works incredibly well with a top feed system too

 

[hiboy]

if ya want to spend the dough, get some 8" RW monster cubes, and place them on coco matts the 1" size , not the 1/4" ones. I have done it all with rw, and the 8 s are the best. Or a 4 on a 6 then the coco matts.
simple and effective
hb

 

[Cagedxj]

I run 1 or 2 Gallon square pots Plastic or Geo Pots with Tupar Soilless medium and do awesome everytime and easier to deal with PH ect. But I also have some 4" Cubes in the tray and they are not doing as well but I see great results both ways. I like spending 10$ for 2 CUFT and fill 18 or so one gallons

 

[dankworth]

I have no ph fluctuation when I dtw. Perfect feeding every time. No returning pathogens to res.

Less problems.

 

[St3ve]

I have used the hugo blocks (they are 6" not 4") with great success, but I got away from them because I hate disposing of them. If I was to do it now I'd use an airpot or smart pot with grow rock.

 

[inthosegenes]

I use 4" Rockwool cubes on Coco mat.

The mat is covered with Panda plastic with holes cut for the blocks to set on.
The roots grow straight through the coco mat and form a root mass that fills the whole table.

I oxygenate the water in the reservoir, like in a DWC, so the root mass stays clean and white.

It makes the system into a hybrid E&F/SWC.

It is the most productive E&F I have used.

When the grow is finished, I discard the blocks and mats.

ptg701,
I really like this set-up. Tried it once with some success until I noticed a root aphid issue. Those fuckers made me wary of replicating the set-up again. I originally speculated that the RA could have come in through the coco mats but I think that it was more realistically the foreign plants. I'm thinking about going back to it as the root mass was insane. How often do you need to flood? Just air stones for oxygenation? Any other tips to keep the roots healthy in that system? Thanks in advance.
gene