soil in ebb&flow?

[jakew215]

you dont have a problem with the drip always being in one spot? seems like one part of the root system will get water more then the others. i guess the soil kinda saturates it all, like the wicking from the bottom.

 

[leadsled]

you dont have a problem with the drip always being in one spot? seems like one part of the root system will get water more then the others. i guess the soil kinda saturates it all, like the wicking from the bottom.

Good point. I was concerned about that in larger containers so I planned to have 2 lines to each container.

you can always add a "t" and another line if you want more saturation. The soil (or coco) does wick up the moisture.

I use an 1800gph pump for a 4x8 (or 2 4x4) tray with drippers, the water does cover a good area of the pot by spraying out the drippers. Plus once the top is wet the water also flows around to cover more of the container.

 

[antimatter]

you dont have a problem with the drip always being in one spot? seems like one part of the root system will get water more then the others. i guess the soil kinda saturates it all, like the wicking from the bottom.

no it wicks, I got some containers that are 18" wide inside diameter I use drip rings on those with 3 emitting points for better spread but a 5 gallon bucket doesn't need it.
For top drip hydroton grows in 5 gallon buckets two drip lines and two pumps is good for safety if one pump fails.

 

[ScuzyRoach]

hey guys i just set up a drip system and have been having some problems. it seems that the pump never is primed and ready to go when i start it. i have an Iwaki 1/4 hp pump which is supposed to have high pressure. when it pumps it does 30 gallons to 15 plants in like 7 minutes w/ no restrictors on the ends. I have a simple drip line filter connected in between the pump and intake end of the pvc (which has a back flow preventer on the end). i put that on thinking it would keep the pipe full to the pump until the next run. i guess the water is just emptying thru the drip line and drying out the pump. how can i put something on the line or where should i put the pump (up higher than the res. or should the pump be lower than the res.) sorry to be a dip shit but i've always hand watered. i have pvc running around the inside of the back wall w/ 3 stations for 5 plants each. once the pump goes everything is fine. major problem is where to put the f'ing pump. here are a couple pic. sorry to jack the thread.
pump is inside of room below water line in res. outside of room , pic below.

 

[jakew215]

hey guys i just set up a drip system and have been having some problems. it seems that the pump never is primed and ready to go when i start it. i have an Iwaki 1/4 hp pump which is supposed to have high pressure. when it pumps it does 30 gallons to 15 plants in like 7 minutes w/ no restrictors on the ends. I have a simple drip line filter connected in between the pump and intake end of the pvc (which has a back flow preventer on the end). i put that on thinking it would keep the pipe full to the pump until the next run. i guess the water is just emptying thru the drip line and drying out the pump. how can i put something on the line or where should i put the pump (up higher than the res. or should the pump be lower than the res.) sorry to be a dip shit but i've always hand watered. i have pvc running around the inside of the back wall w/ 3 stations for 5 plants each. once the pump goes everything is fine. major problem is where to put the f'ing pump. here are a couple pic. sorry to jack the thread.
pump is inside of room below water line in res. outside of room , pic below.

i would think it needs to be lower than the res...

why not use a submersible?

 

[ScuzyRoach]

I was thinking that same thing myself. I bought the pump some time ago and never got around to using it. Fatman (if you know who he is) gave me that wonderful bit of book knowledge on another site which has caused me hrs. trying to fix this shit. I am getting a submersible tomorrow and i think my worries are over. Thanks for confirming my late night stoner decision.
Peace

 

[jakew215]

no problem my friend...

so after more decision making and thinking i need to pay so more bills instead of splurging on some more lights and what not.

just gonna get a single magnum and a 4x4 bed with 24 plants scrogged under like a 5.5'x5.5' screen like that sort.

i think i could yield around a pound and a half. maybe right around a pound my first run using it, maybe after that ill expand but think its best to do a smaller setup for now...

what do you guys think? should i make a 5x5 bed for the magnum and put a few more plants in there? i have 11.5'x18'x7.5' room to work with next run, im moving into a bedroom.

 

[antimatter]

buy more lights and go cheap on all the other stuff, upgrade later magnums aint cheap and tables etc. add up.

 

[ScuzyRoach]

I'd get the magnum now and cheap on the rest til next run. I just upgraded to all 4 new magnums and they throw the light so much better its just sick. They are like $60-80 more per hood but well worth it. They vent easier too since the bulb mount isn't right in the inline hole. Trust me i got $500 worth or old hoods collectin dust and $900 worth of magnums now hangin in my room. You will upgrade later anyways. Maybe you can find another newbie to buy your cheap stuff later if you decide to go that route. Its always easy to spend someone's money when it not your own. Hell maybe just do 5, 5 gal soil pots to start. you should pull about a qp per plant. then you can use that money to buy all nice shit for your larger setup next run.

 

[jakew215]

buy more lights and go cheap on all the other stuff, upgrade later magnums aint cheap and tables etc. add up.

thats the thing i still have to buy a table containers and some other things still, so if i go and buy another light, thats just more containers, and tables that ill have to get for the other light.

im just gonna do 24 plants under a screen in 3-5 gal containers depending on how many i can put in there.

think a single magnum could fill a 6x6 screen?

 

[antimatter]

thats the thing i still have to buy a table containers and some other things still, so if i go and buy another light, thats just more containers, and tables that ill have to get for the other light.

im just gonna do 24 plants under a screen in 3-5 gal containers depending on how many i can put in there.

think a single magnum could fill a 6x6 screen?

The way I look at it is it takes 3-4 months to go from clone to harvest, would you rather run your lights vertically no hoods and put the plants around the bulb save on setup costs and get 2-3x more yield because your able to afford more lights, or spend all the money on tables and hoods.

With a 6x6 you would be getting dimishing returns as far as yield quality goes people go 4x4s because they produce the best overall quality, 5x5s can have fluff on the outsides. I vote you screw the hoods get some lamp cords you can hang vertically (I like the octagon box with ihook with the lamp cord going in the side knockout + chain or mogul with a rectangle box and hanging by lamp cord) and spend the money on your environment controls for running more lights and just buy some plastic pots and some smaller drain trays you can move around.

All hoods do is add another thing in your room you gotta clean + another thing to break. The only disadvantage to vertical bulbs is you need some cheap welding glasses or some didymium safety glasses and you have to be careful not to touch your skin on them. Plants that are vegged vertically or given 2 vertical sides of light but vegged horizontally don't have to be trained into a scrog or have the bottoms religiously pruned its overall less work.

 

[jakew215]

sorry antimatter i dont really want to get into vertical yet, just dont want the power usage when i already cant cool the area i have now. no offense really just my environment cant handle a few bare 1000's

so i got some goodies today... lol

start venting my hoods should help cool it down. spikes to 87 sometimes. gonna see if i can keep it around 80 now.

http://i40.invalid.com/albums/e243/jakew88/MyGrow/SAM_0148.jpg

 

[antimatter]

The magnum will do you good I didn't realize you didn't have the ac in the budget. Nice thing about hoods is you can use all your floor space and you are not walking into barebulbs lol I seriously have almost run face first into them while they were running a number of times I actually think that for the amount I save in setup costs I may end up regretting it in the end...

 

[jakew215]

Got her all setup, hottest it got was 80 after it was all hooked up, averaging 75 though. got my fans situated well.

http://i40.invalid.com/albums/e243/jakew88/MyGrow/SAM_0151.jpg
http://i40.invalid.com/albums/e243/jakew88/MyGrow/SAM_0149.jpg
http://i40.invalid.com/albums/e243/jakew88/MyGrow/SAM_0150.jpg
http://i40.invalid.com/albums/e243/jakew88/MyGrow/SAM_0152.jpg

 

[antimatter]

They are big hoods.

 

[Octopus Sun]

not unless you want a massive amount of green algae, soil promotes algae growth in e/f.
use a drain to waste drip system in you e/f table.