Ebb and Flow, COCO

[akimbo420]

Anyone have any knowledge or pictures to share on automated bottom feed coco (50/50 perlite)

 

[dankworth]

Topfeed drain-to-waste with 20% runoff each irrigation is generally regarded to be a superior nutrient delivery technique for coco.

 

[kushtrees]

Used to do it about 2 years ago. I was too lazy to set up a drip. It doesnt work as well as top drip but it does work. I would only flood 1-2 times a day and you have to flood awhile to make sure the whole pot gets saturated or you'll have weird salt build ups toward the top.

I had about 60 plants a table also so it was a sog in 1g smart pots, I wouldn't use normal pots so the coco doesn't fall into the table a ton. Personally if I did it again I'd set up a drip, if that's not possible make sure you have wider than tall pots and do sog

 

[deep buddy]

you can... but why?

seriously though i do have a buddy doing a flood and drain with smart pots. and it does work, he uses H&G aqua flakes and the rest of the lineup as per chart, doesnt use ph or ec!!!!!! and does ok, esp. for the amount of work he puts in! i think the drip clean has a lot to do with it.fwiw

 

[Resinable]

I know of two different growers who swear by ebb and flo for coco, they've been running it for years and won't consider changing. One uses GH three part for base the other changes it up. It works great for large scale grows from an ease of use and reliability standpoint. One person just turns a giant room into a flood and drain table; you only need to flood to a depth of two or three inches; their plants look happy. They don't have to worry about clogging lines, uneven watering, tripping over irrigation lines and they can easily move their plants around. One downside is this system requires a large res.

 

[Red Reign]

I ebb and flow in veg. It works great. I top feed by hand once a week with plenty of run off to keep salt from building up. I top feed through 1/4" lines, recirculating, in flower.

I also have a 2'x4' tent that I test seeds/new clones in. Ebb and flow both veg and flower. Again, I just top feed by hand once a week to reduce salt buildup.

 

[Peacheater81]

I used to e"&f now I drip. I think you get a better root ball from the drip. Aqua flakes is the way to go for E&F

 

[bobby]

Anyone have any knowledge or pictures to share on automated bottom feed coco (50/50 perlite)

Ebb and Flow works great with coco. Use CAP's ebb and gro system...or flood a table. Anything works because the coco wicks up really well depending on your blend.

If you want to flood a table, use smart pots so the coco doesn't fall out and clog your pumps.

But the bottom line is that coco wicks great. I recommend using canna coco straight up without adding anything.

 

[Peacheater81]

I used to do this with aqua flakes and the rest of the h&g line. you can do well this way. Make a tea once a week to flush pots. Do pH. Use canna coco and fabric pots. Keep res under 70 if you can.

 

[Peacheater81]

I use to freeze 1 gal water bottles to put in res to keep cool

 

[Peacheater81]

I used a 100 gal res for a 4x8 but you could get by with 70 gal

 

[LexLuthor]

Good info in this thread.

How long would you have to flood?? Until the top of the coco became moist??

 

[cctt]

Make sure the coco is not sitting in any standing water during the drain phase. Some systems (like modular (bucket) ebb/flow) leave a water pool at the bottom when they're not flooded which doesn't matter if you use hydroton as intended, but coco will never drain properly this way.

 

[Phenom]

I know this is WAY old but look at how far we've come!! I'm actually going the lazy/cheap ebb and flow route until I can afford to pipe in Floraflex lines and do it right.
Question, a well respected mentor agreed Ebb and Flow is inferior due to salt buildup but has run it with great success. I mentioned a top flush and it made him think at least. I noticed some mention using a tea.
I am running Jacks Hydroponic and Cal nitrate with epsom salt as a base with this or that PK supplement which is likely not happening this round. I want to know what teas, benificials etc work well in ebb and flow.

 

[XxTheWolfxX]

I know this is WAY old but look at how far we've come!! I'm actually going the lazy/cheap ebb and flow route until I can afford to pipe in Floraflex lines and do it right.
Question, a well respected mentor agreed Ebb and Flow is inferior due to salt buildup but has run it with great success. I mentioned a top flush and it made him think at least. I noticed some mention using a tea.
I am running Jacks Hydroponic and Cal nitrate with epsom salt as a base with this or that PK supplement which is likely not happening this round. I want to know what teas, benificials etc work well in ebb and flow.

For ebb and flow you can use recharge, white shark, hydro guard etc but you should top feed them by hand every 2-3 days as microbes have a hard time surviving in water. You can use hydro guard in your Rez. Try and stay with salt based nutes in ebb and flow I do use some supplements that have organic compounds in them like floraliscious plus, flora blend which do well. I recommend both recharge and hydro guard. When using recharge or white shark the ph in Rez will drift to where the plants need so if you see ph dropping a few points or raising a few points just leave it as long as it’s in the right range (5.5-6.5). When mixing adjust ph first and then add the bennies and let them go to work. Hope this helps.

 

[WaitWut405]

I run ebb and flow with 50/50 on a 4x4 and 8x4 table watered 3x a day rn.