coco coir cubes/perlite ebb flow help

[inmyforest]

so I have a HTG big boy ebb&flow 55gal res 6 3 gal pots and a 5gal control bucket the hose is 3/4 to the sites and 1/2" return to res.

obviously it uses 10l nets that sit in the 3 gal sites, only thing is when the drain goes there is still a remainder of water in the 3gal sites as well as run off into the control bucket that just sits.

so what I want to do is use 5 gal smart fabric smart pots instead of the 10l net pots and directly insert them with the coco/perlite mix was going to use 75coco 25perlite but the chunks seem to hold water very well so maybe more toward a 50/50??

as for the bags i want then to drain well enough that the roots still get air pruning rather then have to check them, cut them wtv my only concern being the sitting water in the bottom woudl it be better to let the roots have access to this by leaving the bags in it or woudl the space created by lifting them above the water so the air pruning effect is preventing root rot?

any opinions are appreciated :)

 

[Seamaiden]

Bump! Someone help this cat out?

 

[seebobsled]

I run the ebb n grow 2 gallon pot system with hydroton only and I find that my experience, it is from the remaining water getting too hot and losing oxygen causing rot. This round I insulated my bucket's to help alleviate that.
My experience in my DIY Aero cloner and deep water culture systems has proven roots can be directly submerged into water and still thrive if they have enough oxygen.

If I was to do a chow mix I would put 3-4 inches of just hydroton on bottom to not over soak the base. Lot of people are using chow mix these days. Great place for your good bacteria and fungi to populate in!

 

[cctt]

Coco wicks very well. If any part of it remains submerged it will never properly drain and you'll never see full vigor. A hydroton layer will prevent this just fine, and allow the roots to continue growing into the water, or an air layer will also achieve the same by pruning them (unless it's sufficiently enclosed that humidity remains high enough - then the roots will happily grow through the air to the water below). Choose whichever makes sense for your setup.
Personally I don't like that water layer in a coco-based ebb/flow and try to avoid dipping into it - without the frequent flood/drain cycles of a faster-draining medium than coco it will not be replenished often enough to keep DO levels up. If you like you can run airstones to each bucket to alleviate this, but I prefer just avoiding it entirely - the plants don't need it.

 

[inmyforest]

all right so what I had done was cut the net pots bottoms off 3" and turned them upside down. tho there is only i think a 1/2" of standing water really. Also i was reading that 3" of perlite as a base would create a res* for the roots if I was to not use the net pot bottoms. Back to the upside down nets creating space, mind you these are air pruning smart bags i am using in this set up i was attempting to use air pruning in combination with this system. But hearing about temps makes me wonder if that would be good or bad at bottom of pot, then was going to use some kind of vented c channel to aerate the sides. So with all that out there, I am thinking just drop the 3" of perlite (anti hydroton) in bottom of bags and do a layered % of mixes maybe.. like 3' perlite, 3/4p - 1/4coco, 1/2-1/2, 1/4p-3/4coco at top. This would also get me 3 more " of median for rooting being my 3" res So a 1/2"-1" of standing water should not be an issue as long as there is a base atleat twice that amount?

 

[seebobsled]

OK anti hydroton, perlite is fine . The ratio of coco fiber is dependent on watering timing. More watering less coco. And as mentioned the 1/2" water will keep it humid so no air pruning will likely occur.

 

[inmyforest]

so the underlying question is it better to have a layer of perlite and separation from the water(3" bottom of net pot, giving 2" air under bag, or perlite above the side drain and use the 1" of water as a res for the plants.

with a 5 week veg, in 5gal smart pots, in 3gal sites - would air pruning really even make a difference is the root mass gonna get that big to worry about or am i over complicating this I just want to try some thing different to see the results may be better who knows

e/ seems answer is just drop the bags due to the humidity? missed that b4 posting

 

[Chris10sen]

All you have to do is add some perlite to the bottom of the pots, and I would raise the plastic pots off the ground. I like to have mine around 1 inch above the level of the control. It improves drain times, and pressure to help keep some of the buildup out of the lines.