Hydroponic watering times

[Damian Thorn]

hey guys..

about to start a new op..kinda on the big side....soo im trying to get all my loose ends tied up.... and im asking about watering times for ebb and flows tables... i know when useing hydroton its about every 2 to 3 hours but what about when your using a mixure of 50/50 chunky purlite and the diamite silica stones... ? any thoughts...clone up to flowering?

also as apposed to to day time and night time flooding less or more?

 

[Cannabinoid]

hey guys..

about to start a new op..kinda on the big side....soo im trying to get all my loose ends tied up.... and im asking about watering times for ebb and flows tables... i know when useing hydroton its about every 2 to 3 hours but what about when your using a mixure of 50/50 chunky purlite and the diamite silica stones... ? any thoughts...clone up to flowering?

also as apposed to to day time and night time flooding less or more?

Well if you are using "perlite" (haven't used the diamite) then you can certainly delay the watering cycle over the hydroton balls. In the past I mixed the hydroton balls with perlite and STILL watered with emitters every 2 hours. I feel the hydroton balls on there own get too dry, causing the roots to die, especially in peak weeks of Flowering.

The main thing with grow mediums is while you do want to get air to the roots, you don't want them to have too much air that they will dry and die during the delay of your watering cycle. When I first started growing, I started with Rockwool, then went to the mix I mentioned above, and have now gone back to Rockwool 6x6x6. I still water every 3 hours with cubes, if anything, to help stabilize the Ph since cubes have a tendency to have Ph imbalances.

As far as flooding during night, I NEVER water at night. Its simply a waste of water and food...

 

[PitViper]

Ran my table every 15mins day and night worked fine.you can run it every half hour if you like.

 

[Damian Thorn]

ahh good insite..ill be doing ebb and flow..with the rocks and purlite..seems to start every 12 hours then every 6 hours...

 

[mikej]

i'm using a mix of pea gravel and clay pellets and i water every 6hrs. not sure if its correct but they are growing

 

[PitViper]

the flood cycles are determinate of the media used guys....rockwool holds alot compared to hydroton or some other media

 

[bud-wizer]

im using rock wool cubes aswell and i was wondering for how long and how far between should u water ? i hav had it set to water them for 15 mins every 15 minuits . is this ok or would i b beter off changing it to water for an hour every 2 hours ?

 

[jjcabmkr1]

i had pea gravel in a aquaponics setup and the gravel was leaching into the water raising the ph way high
you can check for leaching by testing it in vinegar if it bubbles its leaching

 

[Gozgrow]

Sorry sorta of an old post, I run a 6" tube NFT system, 3" net pots with rapid rooters in hydroton. I water 15 min every 3 hours. And works out so far petty good for me. Entering second week of flower on my first grow. Part of the reason I've gone to every three hours is I designed this system and it has many flaws. Round surface of tubes hard to seal, and pump in the nutrient chamber. So every three hours gives pump more time to cool off. After this grow I will redesign this system with fence posts which are square easier to seal around pots, make system a lower profile, move the pump out of the chamber and light proof the chamber.

 

[MKrop420]

I would start from clone every 8 hour after transplant. Decreasing by 1 hour every day, depending on the strain you will be eventually watering every 2-3 hours. I also skip a watering cycle once a night to allow the root to search for water(grow downward). Watch the leaves closely and determine if they need more or less water. I water every 2 hours around the clock in hydrocorn and my plant love it. Its really hard to over water with ebb n flow. You can even cover the tray and with some hydroton to allow root growth into the tray.

 

[DanHass]

I have been using perlite for over three years and would certainly recommend that to all. I use hydroton balls to delay the water cycle and keep it to every two hours. My friend had used just them for peas and the roots died in a fortnight. Although the roots need a regular supply of air, the tricky part is to prevent them from drying from in between the water cycles. As a rule I maintain the same cycle day and night and my plants seems to be doing fine. And remember you can never over water them, silly.

 

[Riskyplay11]

Ok I am new to hydro I am running an oxygen pot ebb and flow using lava rocks as my medium. I haven't had very good veg cycles since moving to hydro....I have them in 5 gallon smart pots so I go from my Ez cloner straight into my 5 gallon pots. I then flood every eight hours or 4 times every 24 hours for 15 mins. After 5 weeks I have very minimal roots, not even showing from the bag, and my plants are not very big. Is my watering schedule to little or to less?? I am lost, even when I grew in soil I had roots coming out of the 5 gallon smart pots after 3 weeks. Any help would be so greatly appreciated

 

[YAYA420]

I too recently transplanted my 5 week vegged seedlings from 3 gallon soil to 3 gallon Hydro ( rockwool popcorn). I am used to hydro and just experimented with soil but too messy and no control if something goes array. But I used to water 1 time a day with 6x6x6 Rockwool cubes. Watering once a day ( 20 sec watering per block by hand) gave us great results. But now that I am using 3 gallon pots, seems like they are very heavy with water still and I dont want to risk overwatering. The plants seem to droop when I fed them everyday. Should I hold back to once every OTHER DAY since the pots are much larger?

 

[adakfooks]

I too have just switched to a flood and return system, i have started a FB group Multiflow Hydroponic…I am having the same trouble as you guys,but i think I'm working it out, come on over to me group and we will learn together. Lots of pic.