flood an drain help

[Gaval]

Ok, i just bought 50 bc big bud seeds. I have 2 4x4 flood tables, i was wondering which medium i should go with considering im prolly gonna be killing off a decent amount of males.

 

[stormannorm]

Hi gaval,Rockwool cubes an slabs will do the trick.

Peace out
p.s check out dessertsquirels posts he's gpt th sickest set up ive seen in flood and drain.i think youd find his posts really informative

 

[grnmountainboy]

i like 1 gallon pots full of hec pebbles

 

[Gaval]

if i kill a plant thats in a slab wont the roots die an create rot for the living plants?

 

[brasta]

if i kill a plant thats in a slab wont the roots die an create rot for the living plants?

i think grodan offers Unislabs,they're mini slabs like 10"x8"x4", pretty cool
but if i was seed huntin' i would use buckets with coco or rkwl/clayballs

 

[Gaval]

so ebb n flow with coco? seems like that would cause a mess in my rez. Im pretty much growing these plants to about a foot an a half tall taking a couple clones off each an budding em. You think if i slabbed em an killed the males off while they were in bud the roots from the dead male will cause me a problem in the slab?

 

[dynamitejack]

50 plants in that space is about 3 plants per sq ft and probably 30% will be males. Leaving you with 20-30 plants to flower, I would veg in 3" or 4" rockwool cubes and flower in 1 gallon or 2 gallon smart pots filled with hydroton depending on how many plants actually make it into flower.

If you end up with more plants keep them smaller and plant in 1 gallon Smart Pots. If you have less plants, let them veg for a little bit longer and put them in larger 2 gallon Smart Pots.

 

[LikemindS]

Hi gaval,Rockwool cubes an slabs will do the trick.
Peace out
p.s check out dessertsquirels posts he's gpt th sickest set up ive seen in flood and drain.i think youd find his posts really informative

Im with storm.
I have 2x4s and am using 4x4 rockwool cubes with 3x6x36" slabs this round, flooding only every 2 to 4 days. I used to do 4x4 rw cubes on coco mat, but rw slabs are much better/bigger, looks like maybe 50% more (knock on wood). Check out DS threads on rockwool, thats how I'm growin from now on.
HappyGowin :)

 

[smalltime99]

You could always try 2gall or 3gall smart pots and use either coco or coco mix. I have seen many successful runs with this process. You could also get one of those drip lines and just top feed each plant. Just a thought. Good Luck and hopefully plenty of ladies. Peace

ST

 

[cemchris]

Coco and no it wont make a mess. Rockwool... dont you have to soak in ph'd water? that seems like a lot of work. Not knocking it but coco can be dumped in the yard when you are done. Heard that rockwool is a pain to trash. Specially when its wet. Ive been running flood and drain on 2 4x4s with coco for years now. Slabs are cool but not when running seeds. You cant move the plants. Same thing happens when you use the coco mats on the bottom of the table.

 

[cemchris]

Plus Canna makes coco slabs.

 

[LikemindS]

Coco and no it wont make a mess. Rockwool... dont you have to soak in ph'd water? that seems like a lot of work. Not knocking it but coco can be dumped in the yard when you are done. Heard that rockwool is a pain to trash. Specially when its wet. Ive been running flood and drain on 2 4x4s with coco for years now. Slabs are cool but not when running seeds. You cant move the plants. Same thing happens when you use the coco mats on the bottom of the table.

I soak my rw slabs with the same nut water that i use to flood my table.
I ring the water out of the rw and it squeezes down pretty good, leave it out for a day to dry and it goes back to weighing little. Its biodegradable and I know people who just put it in their bio trash bin, I dont. I used to put my 4x4 rw cubes onto two 1" coco mats cut down to size so i could move the plants if need be. I recently switched to rw slabs and I like them much better. I think the plants grow faster, bigger, and I water them less which saves $ on nutes. :)
I've tried lots of ways and means, but i think ebb n flow slabs, flooding only every 2-4 days is my favorite way so far. So many ways t get it done, thats why i like this site.

 

[Gaval]

well ive been running away from coco/ soil its too messy ive ran out of places to put the old soil. Ive been using rockwool for a few months now an found that if i just put the cubes in some milk crates out in the garage they will dry out pretty fast an easily trashed. I have been thinking about using slabs since my last harvest alot less cleaning on the table for sure. I had to wipe up dried out roots of it every other day. you guys think i should go with the 2 gallon pots of hydroton for this run to sex the plants and find my mother, then go to slabs with the clones considering i dont have to worry about male plants. Either way they are in 4 inch rockwool cubes at the moment till i figure out what im gonna do.

 

[dynamitejack]

Coco and no it wont make a mess. Rockwool... dont you have to soak in ph'd water? that seems like a lot of work. Not knocking it but coco can be dumped in the yard when you are done. Heard that rockwool is a pain to trash. Specially when its wet. Ive been running flood and drain on 2 4x4s with coco for years now. Slabs are cool but not when running seeds. You cant move the plants. Same thing happens when you use the coco mats on the bottom of the table.

Rockwool is the medium commercial tomato farmers use to grow hydroponic tomatoes, Rockwool is the shit... if you know how to use it.

 

[rick ratlin]

I like rw 1 inch cubes in pots filled with hydroton, but can't hate on coco or slabs. If you have to trash the male, you've only lost a 1 inch rw cube, cause you can clean the hydroton.

 

[cemchris]

well man its one of those things that has a lot of answers. I have ran coco, hydroton, dynaroks, grow stones, gravel, lava rocks, perlite and a combo of about all of those. They all work great and have their ups and downs. If you worried about waste go the silica stone or similar route. No waste just wash in a bathtub.

Yea I know bout rockwool. Never used it myself. Got steered away from the hydro growers I knew coming into the scene. It works for sure just not my cup of tea.

 

[tortuga1503]

I like 2 gallon or 3 gallon pots with hydroton depending on veg time. A little more work with washing them and potting the plants but once i`ve done this its pretty easy. I did the RW on coco matt but I was new and probably do alot better now with that set up. Its pretty hard to over water hydroton. I`m watering 8 times a day at day 65 with 1950ppm. The roots pretty much just get bathed with nutes. Fresh oxygen to the roots every watering. Flushing is fast and easy. There`s alot of benifits with the hydroton. No fungus knats if you flood and drain pots. No algie. Its good shit. imo

 

[Aerojoe]

i like 1 gallon pots full of hec pebbles

I agree with grn, I like more mediums that are more on the hydroto side, but that's personal thing.

 

[Gaval]

i decided to do 5x5x5 square pots with hydroton i was able to fit all 50 pots in one 4x4 ill post pics when i get back home. I gotta help my cousin with wiring a 8 light controller hopefully i dont get electrocuted lol

 

[tortuga1503]

Good choice. The pots are awfully small though. I like minimum 2 gallon. The roots are going to explode. When you pot the plants, I like to flood the tray while I`m potting so I can see exactly how high the water comes up in the pots. Fill with hydroton to the water line, drop the plant in there and fill with hydroton. I toss the hydroton that the roots have grown in. I reuse the top rocks because they never get wet so there good to go for the next round. I hope this helps ya
Turtga1503