Trying to decide between these two hydro systems - PLS ADVIZE!

  • Thread starter Ganjaninja
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Ganjaninja

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Greetings farmers!

So a friend and I are building a grow room.

We want the biggest plants possible, so trying to use the best system.

There's going to be room for 12 plants total, and we want each to have it's own bucket with a pot in the lid.

Option 1) Ebb & Flow buckets with a central big reservoir.

Option 2) Bubbling Buckets, where each bucket has it's own pumo that creates the bubbles for the roots.

Can anyone tell us if either one of these is better for some reason?
It seems option 1 would cost less to build...but I'm not sure if the trade off is smaller plants.

Hoping for some advice from a hydro pro :harvest:
 
TrichromeFan

TrichromeFan

1,850
83
Option #1. Less problematic to run. Easier to maintain. Much less chance of rot.
 
tortuga1503

tortuga1503

442
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E&F w/hydroton and big ass air pump is pretty forgiving as long as your on top of it. Big air in the rez = no root rot
 
motherlode

motherlode

@Rolln_J
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I fucking hate dog chow - seriously hydroton is a pain in the ass

I would go drip to waste in coco if I was helping somebody set up hydro for the first time

coco is way more forgiving

or even a recirculating top drip with rockwool

if you do decide to go eff/flow in rock look into hygromite
 
tortuga1503

tortuga1503

442
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Ya ML hydroton is a pain in the ass but works great man. Have you used hygromite? The rocks are pretty cheap so I don`t mess with the bottom of the the pot I just chuck the rocks tangled up in the roots.
 
J

Jalisco Kid

Guest
I would get bigger containers and run a 60/40 chow mix dtw. JK
 
S

strictlyOG

76
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use coco and throw those bad boys in garbage bins! i would throw a 1000watt on each plant and watch those suckers GROOOOWWWW!!!!
 
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Bobby Smith

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I fucking hate dog chow - seriously hydroton is a pain in the ass

I would go drip to waste in coco if I was helping somebody set up hydro for the first time

coco is way more forgiving

or even a recirculating top drip with rockwool

if you do decide to go eff/flow in rock look into hygromite

I'm setting up a media-less E&F setup for my mothers after getting tired of clogging up the bathtub drain with hydroton for the last time - got all the shit I need for it (5" neo inserts, a Botanicare lid drilled with 5" holes, etc.) but have been too lazy to set it up (I like playing with my new toys :lock:).

Lets me flood with much more frequency and GET RID OF HYDROTON FORVER!

It's gonna be pretty sick, and OP, it's certainly an option for you if you hate hydroton as much as I do - there's a guy at IC running media-less Ebb and Gro buckets.

It's the "middle ground" (IMO) between E&F and DWC.
 
W

weedfarm

130
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Option #1. Less problematic to run. Easier to maintain. Much less chance of rot.

I agree


i dont know why people spaz about hydroton so much. I have used it for years. I ran a large (30K, nowadays that is getting to be small) commercial op with it. I just pulled plants out, shook the rocks out and reused the rocks. I used hygrozyme to deal with dying roots and never had root issues

At one point I was real anal about washing it, but slowly I just cleaned less and less and finally stopped cleaning it at all.
 
F

FatherBong

1
1
I use ebb and flow buckets with hydroton and have not had issues.
 
Luke Harrison

Luke Harrison

39
6
size of plant has more to do with the plant then the system. ebb n Flow is the better choice if your not expericened at growning less chance of over nuteing and root rot.
 
skwirlgirl

skwirlgirl

150
18
hard to beat the forgiveness of E/F and 'rocks'...sure it's a pain but it's just a price some of us put up with. I used to whine about them and my freinds quickly scolded me about how lazy I'd become and how much I was making compared to whatever crummy job I could be doin'. I STFU...haha

To answer the question I'd say big oss' ebb pots with some big oss' Sour Diesel plants and a minimum of plants to lights..Be prepared for a long veg time...
 
motherlode

motherlode

@Rolln_J
Supporter
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I dont see these forgiving qualities of rocks that everybody speaks of - they build up salts faster then rockwool even and if your pump goes out your fucked compared to slabs where you have at minumum of 36 hours to catch it

imagine not feeding your dog chow grow halfway through flower for 24 hours
 
B

Bobby Smith

1,378
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I think the big benefit of rocks is that they're virtually impossible to overwater, whereas a wet medium like rockwool can easily hold too much water and drown roots (for people who don't know what they're doing) - if both are done right, you're gonna get faster growth out of hydroton because it's a more active system.

Of course, the benefit of being able to feed more and not drown roots is weighed against the downside of a pump going out and plants drying out and dying faster than they would in rockwool or coco.

Everything's got pros and cons; I'm personally done with all mediums until further notice :)
 
motherlode

motherlode

@Rolln_J
Supporter
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yeah Bobby - your right about the overwatering - I guess its easy to overlook that as its never been an issue for me and if it was I cant remember that far back - lol

I have done the dogchow ef tables and I didnt get any better growth or performance than in cubes being top fed

I just couldnt fathom re-using the hydroton like I had intended when my buddy talked me into trying it

it would have been more like removing the rocks from the roots then the other way around
 
W

weedfarm

130
0
I dont see these forgiving qualities of rocks that everybody speaks of - they build up salts faster then rockwool even and if your pump goes out your fucked compared to slabs where you have at minumum of 36 hours to catch it

imagine not feeding your dog chow grow halfway through flower for 24 hours


done it many times by accident. 2-3 days. One time I left a room with close to 1000 plants unwatered for 4 days, and only a handful died.

Obviously not optimal, but not catastrophic.


I am not saying hydroton is better than RW, I have never grown in RW. Just some of the things being stated are not true
 
motherlode

motherlode

@Rolln_J
Supporter
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really so halfway through flower you didnt water for 4 days and only a few died and none of them were stunted?
 
tortuga1503

tortuga1503

442
18
I just chopped my Diablo`s and didn`t water them for 3 days. I was waiting for them to start drooping but they didn`t I got tired of waiting so chop chop. I`m not saying you wouldn`have major issues if a pump broke on you. If I was worried about a $20.00pump I would justdrop another pump in the rez. I have2 pumps in my rez filling my tray at the same time. I only do this so the tray drains quicker when the pumps shut off. My hydroton is easily cleaned if the hydroton is allowed to dry out. Shake the root ball and they start falling out. I usually chuck the chow all caught up in the roots,but can easily be cleaned. I`ve been guilty of overwatering the RW. Now that I know not to love my girls to much I prolly do alot better in RW blocks im sure. Almost impossible to overwater the rocks though. I water my girls every 3 hrs from week 4 on. Big air pump in the rez with rocks, root rot is a non issue. I loveThat.
 
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