Hello everyone, Ebb Flood and drain grower

[KCCO 77]

Hey there I hope all is well. Still watering once a day?
Those plants r pretty big and flood and drain is normally a timer set to flood. This pushes stagnant oxygen from inside the cube. When the water / mix drains it draws fresh oxygen into the cube. This is a very important part of flood and drain

I run clay pebbles now in my set but I have used the 4 inch rockwool.

91F49202-F8E5-4949-95B8-338F7E554718.jpeg

• KCCO 77
• Mar 24, 2019

13F66F10-A791-47E5-ACF7-A35E9C0476CE.jpeg

• KCCO 77
• Mar 12, 2019

Here’s how I run now and I flood every 2 hrs for 2 and half minutes.

You t getting good dry back in your tray this is also a very good thing.
Your plants needs change as they grow in terms of watering and finding balance between how many times a day to flood with getting good dry back on the tray is money.
play safe and enjoy

 

[GoogleGenie]

Hi guys.

Welcome @behnam9537

I don't do flood and drain, but I'll try and help if i can. Early on it certainly looked like you had some Mg deficiency going on, but I see you managed to address that

I go the other way and tend to favour feeding light. The rise in PPM coming out could be a salt build up in the rockwool itself, or it could be the plants are taking up more water and leaving nutrient behind. I wouldn't be too concerned. They don't look over fed to be honest. Perfectly healthy. Maybe favour a lighter feed until your run off drops a little. It's the salt build up in the cubes that you want to be careful of before you flip. That's last thing you want to have to deal with in middle of flower.

Do you ever let the cubes dry out completely?

 

[behnam9537]

Hey there I hope all is well. Still watering once a day?
Those plants r pretty big and flood and drain is normally a timer set to flood. This pushes stagnant oxygen from inside the cube. When the water / mix drains it draws fresh oxygen into the cube. This is a very important part of flood and drain

I run clay pebbles now in my set but I have used the 4 inch rockwool.

91F49202-F8E5-4949-95B8-338F7E554718.jpeg

• KCCO 77
• Mar 24, 2019

13F66F10-A791-47E5-ACF7-A35E9C0476CE.jpeg

• KCCO 77
• Mar 12, 2019

Here’s how I run now and I flood every 2 hrs for 2 and half minutes.

You t getting good dry back in your tray this is also a very good thing.
Your plants needs change as they grow in terms of watering and finding balance between how many times a day to flood with getting good dry back on the tray is money.
play safe and enjoy

Hi KCCO

Thank you for this information, helps alot and yes I still do once a day watering just because my cubes are 6" by 6" and takes long time to get back dry, Also I don't have massive roots to water more than one time a day. By the way you did a very nice job on those massive roots looks great

 

[behnam9537]

Hi guys.

Welcome @behnam9537

I don't do flood and drain, but I'll try and help if i can. Early on it certainly looked like you had some Mg deficiency going on, but I see you managed to address that

I go the other way and tend to favour feeding light. The rise in PPM coming out could be a salt build up in the rockwool itself, or it could be the plants are taking up more water and leaving nutrient behind. I wouldn't be too concerned. They don't look over fed to be honest. Perfectly healthy. Maybe favour a lighter feed until your run off drops a little. It's the salt build up in the cubes that you want to be careful of before you flip. That's last thing you want to have to deal with in middle of flower.

Do you ever let the cubes dry out completely?

Hi Google Genie:

I did let them to dry out completely about 2 times then I found out that I didn't have to cause it makes everything worse because of the salt that remains in the cubes even if they go completely dry (Please Correct me if I'm wrong). Since I flushed them out with RO water and Cal-Mag they look much better, Also I think CO2 tank helped me alot to bounce them back,

Thanks,

 

[behnam9537]

Hey there I hope all is well. Still watering once a day?
Those plants r pretty big and flood and drain is normally a timer set to flood. This pushes stagnant oxygen from inside the cube. When the water / mix drains it draws fresh oxygen into the cube. This is a very important part of flood and drain

I run clay pebbles now in my set but I have used the 4 inch rockwool.

91F49202-F8E5-4949-95B8-338F7E554718.jpeg

• KCCO 77
• Mar 24, 2019

13F66F10-A791-47E5-ACF7-A35E9C0476CE.jpeg

• KCCO 77
• Mar 12, 2019

Here’s how I run now and I flood every 2 hrs for 2 and half minutes.

You t getting good dry back in your tray this is also a very good thing.
Your plants needs change as they grow in terms of watering and finding balance between how many times a day to flood with getting good dry back on the tray is money.
play safe and enjoy

Do you think I should start watering them times a day or so? I just feel that they don't get enough dry to handle 2 times watering a day. After 24 hours of watering when I lift the cubes they're still heavy!!

Thanks,

 

[GoogleGenie]

Hi Google Genie:

I did let them to dry out completely about 2 times then I found out that I didn't have to cause it makes everything worse because of the salt that remains in the cubes even if they go completely dry (Please Correct me if I'm wrong). Since I flushed them out with RO water and Cal-Mag they look much better, Also I think CO2 tank helped me alot to bounce them back,

Thanks,

Ok cool. That's what I was going to say, to make sure they are always moist, but you know already

 

[KCCO 77]

Do you think I should start watering them times a day or so? I just feel that they don't get enough dry to handle 2 times watering a day. After 24 hours of watering when I lift the cubes they're still heavy!!

Thanks,

It’s up to you as your plants r looking a lot better now.
You definitely don’t want to over water but looking at your tray tells me because of the dry back you’re almost on point.

Now as you say some cubes r lighter then others and this is where you need to try to get them on the same cycle.

Do you have a timer set up and a res?
If you start flooding your tray 1/4 or 1/3 way up the cube and figure out how long it takes to get 100% dry back on the tray that would be a good start. By flooding from the bottom and having your timer set you can probably get much more consistency through your cubes as long as your getting 100% dry back.

No one can say the exact formula for sure because as the plants grow you can increase the numbers of feeding. Getting the proper dry back is key and is based on how much the plants drink, heat in environment, air flow ect.

I would have to go check my journal but I think those cubes were stated on 1 feed a day. But at the end I flooded every 8 hrs. Plants love timers and pumps when married together properly because of the stability of it all.

I just feel that they don't get enough dry to handle 2 times watering a day. After 24 hours of watering when I lift the cubes they're still heavy!!

Trust your gut but don’t let the cubes dry out your plants r looking much better. If you do notice them start to loose vigour and droop you probably time to try two times a day.

Your Environment has a huge impact on these cubes.
What kind of light r you using HID or LED?
Do you have a pump and timer setup??

 

[behnam9537]

It’s up to you as your plants r looking a lot better now.
You definitely don’t want to over water but looking at your tray tells me because of the dry back you’re almost on point.

Now as you say some cubes r lighter then others and this is where you need to try to get them on the same cycle.

Do you have a timer set up and a res?
If you start flooding your tray 1/4 or 1/3 way up the cube and figure out how long it takes to get 100% dry back on the tray that would be a good start. By flooding from the bottom and having your timer set you can probably get much more consistency through your cubes as long as your getting 100% dry back.

No one can say the exact formula for sure because as the plants grow you can increase the numbers of feeding. Getting the proper dry back is key and is based on how much the plants drink, heat in environment, air flow ect.

I would have to go check my journal but I think those cubes were stated on 1 feed a day. But at the end I flooded every 8 hrs. Plants love timers and pumps when married together properly because of the stability of it all.



Trust your gut but don’t let the cubes dry out your plants r looking much better. If you do notice them start to loose vigour and droop you probably time to try two times a day.

Your Environment has a huge impact on these cubes.
What kind of light r you using HID or LED?
Do you have a pump and timer setup??

Ok great I'll try to watering 2 times a day and I'll let you guys know the result.
I'm using 4× 720w Grower's choice. It's a very bright light, my first time using these LED lights and I'm going 50% now, I had intensity burn issue at the beginning (taco leaves). I'm trying to raise it up little by little.
I have 2 Active Aqua 800 pumps( each table one pump) in a 75 gal res for both tables so my pumps are in one res, once one pump finish watering the other one start watering.
I have timers set up as well.

 

[KCCO 77]

Ok great I'll try to watering 2 times a day and I'll let you guys know the result.
I'm using 4× 720w Grower's choice. It's a very bright light, my first time using these LED lights and I'm going 50% now, I had intensity burn issue at the beginning (taco leaves). I'm trying to raise it up little by little.
I have 2 Active Aqua 800 pumps( each table one pump) in a 75 gal res for both tables so my pumps are in one res, once one pump finish watering the other one start watering.
I have timers set up as well.

Maybe just try to run the system once a day on the same cycle you’ve been hand watering and see if the cubes r more consistent and if the dry back is consistent. If you get more consistent results then maybe try twice a day when you get the light turned up.
What’s your light schedule? I’m not sure you will get consistent dry back on the second watering when the light is off. You have a lot to figure out so take baby steps.
There is a fine line and watching your cube weight and plant performance and dry back r key.
Watch a few vids of how the pros r using these systems and you may see some things myself and others have missed.

Room temp lights on and off??
Light schedule?

 

[behnam9537]

Maybe just try to run the system once a day on the same cycle you’ve been hand watering and see if the cubes r more consistent and if the dry back is consistent. If you get more consistent results then maybe try twice a day when you get the light turned up.
What’s your light schedule? I’m not sure you will get consistent dry back on the second watering when the light is off. You have a lot to figure out so take baby steps.
There is a fine line and watching your cube weight and plant performance and dry back r key.
Watch a few vids of how the pros r using these systems and you may see some things myself and others have missed.

Room temp lights on and off??
Light schedule?

Sorry for delay,

Looks like they're getting faster now as their roots getting bigger, I'm going to start watering 2 times a day.
Light schedual is 12/12 now. I'm still hand watering until all cubes get consistent dry. My room temp is 78 to 81 lights on and 68 to 73 lights off.
Q:
I watered them today with ph:5.8 EC 1.7 but my Runoff EC remained the same!! what could be wrong??

Thanks,