first hydro set up

ya i looked in the bucket i think a slight shim per bucket would ensure all water returning to the control bucket as long as you said the plants are slightly higher then the control bucket ofc

theses look interesting also edited in above
hxxp://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/ebb-and-grow-inner-bucket-replacement-pi-4701.html?image=0



so are the CAP ebb bucket fill/drain holes at the very bottom of the buckets as they look in a pic i just seen

Yes. They have them so they say CAP.
Ensuring all lines are flat or as flat as u can get them helps alot too.
LH.

oh k ditched one of the net pots pushed the 5gal smart pot in the 3 gal cont fits perfect caught some of the run off material just under the net as intended,,,but talk about more root room when you removed that net pot it doubles in size almost.. so at that point started adding new water & more median to that smart pot, trying to determine how high up the 3 gal pot you want it to flood? instructions said flood for 20min drain for 40 seems a bit much to run little pump for 40 mins to drain maybe 18gal?


also i have these 6 in 2 rows of 3 with one soon to be 2 4't5ho lights is a window box fan on low ok for sprouts or is that to much wind?

I bet there's alot more room.
My system is "preset". N I do believe its 2-3 inches from top it fills too.
I would flood for 15-20 mins n drain it as fast as it can be. I think mine takes 3-5 minutes to fully empty.

I've got 1/2" lines but soon to be boring out the holes n making it 3/4 in. A good system other than the cap ebb is the Titan ebb.
There 3 gal 3/4" n square pots.

That may be a lil too windy for em but check it n see. If u got douts. Alway put something in front to slow air down till the get bigger. Or put them further away.
LH.

ok so some good info there ty

ya i have 1/2 return as well I do not like this, I definatly do not like the little return pump that need to be upgraded to a larger one with 3/4, the 1/2" tube like folds in half falling into the res.. any way.

ya I like the idea of the no net pot i'd say it gives you an easy 50% more space and I go the bags (5Gal not 3) with the handles they come right to the top of the 3gals and handles you can just fold over, but great is you move to another tent or wtv. I am flooding a little under 3" maybe have to check that, just ran it manually, filled it last night with tap water, well only enough water to fill the 6 pots and control bucket still don't see the sense of fully filling it for 6 plants OO

If you are using coco you definitely won't need to fill completely as the coco will wick it up. I haven't used this method before but just figuring, I would let it fill the pots to about 1/3 of the bottom of the bags so that the coco will be able to wick it up a little easier. You will most likely have to do some experimenting with depths and times to find what the plants like best.

Sounds like you got a kinkin hose.
If u can I'd put a 90 in your lid hook the pump to the 90 in the bucket n hose out the to. This will berid your hose bend n make a secure non kink bend for u.

Hushpuppy.
Don't wanna step on your toes but if ones to do multiple feelings. I would figure a full fill n quick drain will allow feeding water n air.
But not totally saturate the coco to the point it's sogged for the next run.
But this I'm not 100% sure on. So I'd have to go with you n say play with it.
When I get my system running again I have no choice but to fill to the predetermined level. Lol.
LH

ok, just so we are clear hush you agree with ditching the 10"net pots and lining the 3gal with a 5gal grow bag and filling it to the top with the coco & perlite. I bought the last 4 bags of coco guy said it is flying out the door so that is a good sign. I have only filled one so far want to be sure of this before wasting time and effort to make more mix and pull all the pots. It makes total sense to me once i see how much more room it gives. I layered teh bottom of teh 5gal bag with hydrotron 2"


yes have plenty of time to adjust timers and water flow/drain glad to be at this point and have lots of time for adjustments

LH- ya my system i have a float shut off that is adjustable so can control the flood lvl. could probably make one out of the plumbing of a toilet from hd or lowes (really hate these 3/4 drains in the sides way off the bottoms of the 3 gal. defiantly out the bottom would be better)

once flooded to what ever lvl how long is it left there or do i drain it immediately once it hits said lvl. as I think thats what instructions had said 20 mins fill 40 drain but assume thats for a full 55gal system. have to figure that out.

hmm the standing water at the bottom of the 3gal in my system appears to be an issue, because if the bag is totally filled it will always be wicking up that 1/2" of water or wtv ( so woudl never get a full draining) but on the other hand if it was just the net pot the roots woudl eventually grow to that water any way right? so does all teh median hurt or help the situation?

i was thinking of cutting the bottom of the net pot off turning it upside down and using it as a base spacer to separate the grow bag, roots from that 1/2" of water

-LH ya I need to grab a few 90 degree fittings your right

I don't know how to "multi-quote" so....

I've never used Coco, doesn’t it retain moisture? For how long? To keep the smart pots off the bottom of the 3 gals how about a few pieces of rigid Styrofoam? It's inert and won't affect your nutes at all.

When I run my system(same as yours) Fill takes around 20 mins, I leave it full for 30 mins, then drain, 3-4 times per day depending on size/age of plant and how much the plants take up.

As to the roots reaching the water thru the net pots, you're correct. And the roots sitting in that bit of water probably doesn't hurt them, I just don't care for it myself. The one advantage the net pots provide is, you can inspect the roots.
The biggest disadvantage of net pots is lack of stability for large plants. I prefer to grow fewer, but larger plants. If I were to get busted, knock wood, I'd rather get caught with 6 big plants than 20 little plants, the legal hazards are a consideration for me.

hmm ya the styrofoam sounds like a good idea. i like the idea of a complete drain with the bags because then you would be getting the air pruning effect i assumed? originally i was gonna run the pots in the bags which would restrict root growth to get that effect any way. (this way also i have the bags suspended under the pots so i can pull the pot right out of the bag and the bag is above that undrainable water)

also leaning toward a heavier perlite mix then the 25% i have now the coco seems to retain water real well

how high do you flood the 3 gal buckets for the 30 mins?

i flooded around 8am now it's 12pm bottom of bucket with not net pot obviously is wet still other net pot beside it still seems damp thru

took a few dry pieces soaked them and have em in front of a fan see how fast it dries, and one not near a fan
e/ 45mins later still soaked
e/ 2hrs drying out pretty good now in front of fan other still a bit wet

So lets try n figure out first why is the water not draining completely out of the buckets.
Do you have them 2" off ground this will help.
Along with a 1/4-1/2" piece stuck under the one end to tilt towards hole will wrk to.
But there's no reason it shouldn't drain completely having them 1-2" off ground.
If you can adjust your float to suck that lil bit out that might help.
But it sounds like the water isn't draining that lil amount to leave some water in lines but non in pAils.

In my system it's been set n done. Basically plug n go. Which was nice. No fooling around.
I built a 3 gal ebb system n put net pot lids on. Didn't like that.
Nor did I like the fact the roots just hanging there drying out between feeds.

As fir the wicking part river rock will solve that. N easy to clean
But after drainage the coco is going to drain for a bit
So that will add more water into the bucket. But it should drain out n gravity back to controller n it should kick on n drain back to res.

I've been playing with 1 bucket n flooding it n seeing how it drains n what not. Seems the pot will drain for 20-40 minutes after. Of coarse it took longer after it was flooded more. But it did drain complete.
So I figure with 6 buckets the first 10-15 mins of "coco" drainage should be as if it was filled n on drain cycle.

I personally like to feed more a less time then feeding longer less.
That's me. I had 40% promix 10% hydroton 50% perlite n was able to flood frequent.
I've noticed with the coco it does stay saturated like "soil" n in a short time it fluffs up n looks "dry" again
I'm new to coco so that's my down side.
But def can help u with your system. Lol. Post a few pics on how it's set up plumbing controller n keys get this figured.
LH.

LEFTHAND said:

So lets try n figure out first why is the water not draining completely out of the buckets.
Do you have them 2" off ground this will help.
Along with a 1/4-1/2" piece stuck under the one end to tilt towards hole will wrk to.
But there's no reason it shouldn't drain completely having them 1-2" off ground.
If you can adjust your float to suck that lil bit out that might help.
But it sounds like the water isn't draining that lil amount to leave some water in lines but non in pAils.

Click to expand...

The hieght of the 3 gallon bucket in relation to the controll bucket won't effect the 1-2" of water left in the 3 gallon, beause the hole for the 3 gallon bucket is not in the bottom, it's in the side, 1-2" from the bottom, that's why you always have water in the bottom. A shim under the bucket opposite of the hole would drain some of the exess water, but would also reduce how deep the water level inside the bucket could be. I fill mine 2-3" from the top and the hydroton goes all the way up yo the rim of the bucket. The top 2-3" of hydroton doesn't get wet thereby avoiding green slime on the rocks.

Ahhhhh ok cubby. I follow you. That's my bad.
There's the dif from my system where's the hole is in the side at the bottom there's like a lil cut out to allow this drainage.
I was thinking the same along with there's a lumb numb or loop in the tubing.
That's a different story. Lol. But I solved er with filling it.

How does that system wrk. Gro wise. The 2-3" of pooled water bothers me.

I would be hesitant using coco in that if its going to wick up anything it's draining. But like cubby said if you can make a stand in there to plop em on. This will help the drainage. I don't like the fact of standing water though.
Some testing will def help. But you will defiantly have to start slow. To see how they react.
LH.

Ya I have them on a shelf and the control bucket top is 2"higher then the 3 gal pots on its own stand.i think with a little shim and some sort of insurance buffer like I was saying the bottom of a net pot upside down or the rigid insul. I think the net pot may be better less foot print for residue build up of nutes or wtv.

This was all just thrown together to get testing the end plants are sprouts atm. I do have 6 plants all in dirt in almost tempted to transplant to the hydro they are clones of the randoms in my tent. At this point I want this all dialed in even if it costs a few plants in process so its ready for the good gens

I would say do it. But the soil will hold a lot more water then coco I would figure.
N give you a false result. Now if there in a lil dirt or recently xplanted n some to most of the dirt. Can come off. Do it up.

But before that either full drainage or something for the bottom has or should be figured first. Then once that's figured then plants. The. Figure that then hopefully you get the results you want n able to have a good/decent run when needed.
LH.

Yes they have all been recently moved lose soil could probably get most dirt out used lots of perlite in soil any way

gonna go asses the drainage

Well then. What r we editing for. Lol.
LH.

So did a little transplant 3 plants all different size root systems and sizes. Largest roots went all the wat to bottom of full 5gal bag. Removed 2 other pots for the material so not to have to make more atm.. Shimmed the biggest 2 plants 1/2" to drain better left smallest root system pot flat so to try to keep it wet higher. No idea on fill time. Drain time was recorded as well as ph and ppm of transfer. Lots of pics but windows vista is giving me a the user profile service service failed the log on user profile can not be loaded ��

fill height was 4" from top and watered down from top as well to full saturate it for over night. There is one pot in a bg half full of mix left in the flat water will see how wet it is in am as well

Ok ok. Nicely done.
I am with you on the over night 1 feed maybe do this for a cup,e days see how they react n start upping your Feeds per day. I don't like hearing you for one sitting in water. The coco will wick that up n my guess is its gonna be soaked in am. But I hope I'm wrong. Lol.
If I'm not gotta figure something out.
LH.