How long should ebb and flo pump run during the day?

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S

space101

99
8
So I have setup a custom DIY ebb and flow tray and res system for my growboxes. I was wondering what is the best interval of time to flood the tray?

Should the timer come on like this:

24 HR day, 4x a day, 15 mins each cycle.

Or

12 HR light cycle, 4x during the cycle, 10 mins each cycle.


I'm thinking that flooding the tray during a 24 hr day 4 times a day should work.

I just dont want to overwater or underwater the plants.

Whats a good baseline?
 
T

tyson

17
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I think 3-4 times a day for 15 mins is a good baseline, Im sure someone will answer with more spot on info but it sounds right to me g.l.
 
B

been

Guest
Ah... hydroton. :poolparty I flood every 2-5 hours lights on. During 12/12 I hit em once in the middle of the night.
 
L

likeakite

36
6
One thing to be aware of is that as the girls get bigger, the root system will likely grow outside of the pot. Thats ok, actually a good thing, but you need to make sure those extra roots stay wet/moist so they dont dry and die off. If those roots stay wet, they can actually make a thick mat of roots in the bottom of the tray, and more roots=more plant=more roots=more plants.
 
S

space101

99
8
Ah... hydroton. :poolparty I flood every 2-5 hours lights on. During 12/12 I hit em once in the middle of the night.

and how long are they flooded for? 10 mins, 15 mins, or longer?
 
L

likeakite

36
6
Its all on a timer here. Set to run every 4hrs. In this system, it takes 3 minutes to fill the tray, the pump shuts off, and it drains via gravity back thru the pump in about 5 minutes. We used to run a similar system that took about 7 min to fill, and 10 min to drain. It dosent really matter long it takes to do the filling or draining{within reason}
 
mace

mace

457
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I always ran mine 5 mins into lights on to start, 4 feeds total. last feed about 1 hr before lights off.

15 min floods**edit**
 
F

FastForward

1,989
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It depends on where you are in the cycle..... 3x a day in early flower, as much as 8 or 10 times a day when they really get eating (obv. strain dependent).

I hope you don't mind, and apologies if I'm wrong, but if this is your first grow I'd strongly suggest you try coco instead - especially if it's summertime in your part of the world. Starting ebb and flow in summer for a first grow is frankly dumb - I should know because that's exactly what I did my first grow - and it didn't go well!! Trust me....coco in pots is the greatest (imho) and unbeatable for newbies. If you're not, please ignore :)
 
P

poedizzle

74
0
I run an ebb and flow with 4x4x4 rockwoll and i leave my pump on 15 min a day 2 times a day..
~POE~
 
S

stardust

74
0
Hi again, Do you by any chance know how long and how many times it would be for Drain to waste system? Im in the 3rd week of flowering Caseys and Master Kushes (with a few others OG-Rom, HinduSkunk, some Purps...)
My reservoir is 40 gallons and I've been feeding the girls right when their lights go on for 2 min then every four hours for one minute. The last feeding is half the ppm because i have to add fresh water and I heard it helps cleanse the exess nutes..---maybe i shouldn't do it daily? will the roots be shocked too much from the ppm fluctuation?? anyway GenHydro expressed every 3rd feeding was good to rinse---
I did the math and each plant get about .25gallons once, then .125gallon the next three times. I monitor that they are heavy and the croutons (4-6cups) on the base of the two gallon containers are nice and wet all day...
Would you recommend them to be watered just once a day, maybe add more growdan croutons so that each plant can absorb and hold more fluid during the day?

also..When are my girls considered "ripening" stage rather than "blooming", My strains take 10 weeks to ripen and on friday they should be on week 4 of flowering...I need to know when to slow down the feeding or just use water the last two weeks right?? helppppp... thanks for any advice is very welcomeeee...!!!
peace
 
DreamwalkerJ

DreamwalkerJ

424
93
Hey I know this is really old but JUST IN CASE you still need help, I just joined the site but have been growing for 15 years and I've been gen hydro nutrients for a while. I use the flora series. OK so. First of all, drain-to-waste is only for soil or coco and if you're in coco, you should have a 20% runoff every irrigation. But if you're using ebb and flow (or any hydroponics), even if you're using coco coir as your grow medium IN hydroponics, you use the "recirculating" charts. As for gen hydro's recommendation to use only plain water every 3rd feeding or so, that's only for drain to waste (soil or coco) in recirculating systems (hydroponics) you fill your reservoir with nutrient solution and then you keep checking your pH/ppm/ec and once your ppm/ec rises enough, add fresh water to the res (it means the plants are drinking more water than they are eating nutrients). Change your res every 2 weeks and whenever your plant changes stages (veg/bloom/aggressive bloom/ripen) THEN you use ONLY fresh water with no nutrients for the last 10 days to flush the nutrients out before harvest. I know this is a really late answer but ive grown in soil for a while and now in modular ebb and flowbso if you're still interested in growing and need advice, just ask. If you're good and you got everything running nicely, then I'm happy for you and wish you many bountiful harvests.
 
DreamwalkerJ

DreamwalkerJ

424
93
Hey I know this is really old but JUST IN CASE you still need help, I just joined the site but have been growing for 15 years and I've been gen hydro nutrients for a while. I use the flora series. OK so. First of all, drain-to-waste is only for soil or coco and if you're in coco, you should have a 20% runoff every irrigation. But if you're using ebb and flow (or any hydroponics), even if you're using coco coir as your grow medium IN hydroponics, you use the "recirculating" charts. As for gen hydro's recommendation to use only plain water every 3rd feeding or so, that's only for drain to waste (soil or coco) in recirculating systems (hydroponics) you fill your reservoir with nutrient solution and then you keep checking your pH/ppm/ec and once your ppm/ec rises enough, add fresh water to the res (it means the plants are drinking more water than they are eating nutrients). Change your res every 2 weeks and whenever your plant changes stages (veg/bloom/aggressive bloom/ripen) THEN you use ONLY fresh water with no nutrients for the last 10 days to flush the nutrients out before harvest. I know this is a really late answer but ive grown in soil for a while and now in modular ebb and flowbso if you're still interested in growing and need advice, just ask. If you're good and you got everything running nicely, then I'm happy for you and wish you many bountiful harvests.
EDIT: ALSO about the ripening, there are 2 ways. Watch the pistols (the little white hairs) they will start to turn orange and curl up as the plant is maturing. BUT if you want to harvest for POTENCY, then you watch the teichomes (crystals). Get a little 60x jeweler's loupe to magnify the trichomes. You will see clear stalks with little clear heads on them. They look kinda like mushroom or like something a little more.... phallic. They start as clear little spikes then they grow the heads on them and will turn from clear to a milky white. That is when major cannabinoids are developing. NOW is the perfect time to harvest. If you wait,the trichomes will start turning from that milky white to a deep amber color. This happens as the THC breaks down into CBN (I believe) which cause more of a "couch-lock" type feeling. So now you can harvest at a time that suits your personal tastes. If you really dont like the very cerebral, "heady" type of high as much, then let the trichomes mature to a light yellow instead of harvesting when they're milky white. NOTE: 3 types of trichomes have been identified and some will be an amber color from the start and stay that way so make sure your trichomes are turning amber and not growing amber. (There are also tiny small flat bright red trichomes rich in CBD that stuck to the surface but they are rare. Scientists now believe that it's these different trichomes that determine a strain's cannabinoid count (ratio of THC/CBN/CBD/CBG ect...) remember, there are 113 different cannabinoids in cannabis and more terpenes than that. It is the combination of these 2 things, which cannabinoids and which terpenes and in which amounts, that determine each strains individual effects. Even though it's late, I hope this info helps you or anyone else that reads it for that matter.
Happy Harvests - J
 
wwfjdraw

wwfjdraw

3
1
Please someone help, I am doing clones in the AQUADUO 10 FILTER by ELIVE TM...

My question is should I even use a timer or just let this thing keep running 24/7 at 80 Gallons an Hour?
 
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