Why is ebb&flo hard?

[lyfr]

I keep reading from many how hard it is but I have yet to have a major problem in 4 grows. I've had mites once(clones),thrips once, which have nothing to do with grow method...and a mag. deficiancy once, which ill agree was a hydro thing.
reading all the threads about transplanting, overwatering, underwatering, fungas gnats(i think their a soil thing), the MG time release nute nightmares has me scared to do a soil grow. i hear the flavor is better with soil but after my last hydrogro i dont know.
i'm asking for yuor horror stories with ebb&flo so i can both see what ive avoided, and make sure i continue to. this might be kind of a strange thread but im kind of a strange person with kind of a strange buzz on!

 

[smokybear]

I've read of lots of problems with this particular system but I believe that most of the problems were user-related errors. I wouldn't be afraid of doing a soil grow though. Much easier than hydro. Dont use mg soil. Use some pro mix and you will have excellent results. Just my thoughts. Take care and be safe.

 

[lyfr]

Dont use mg soil.

no doubt smokey, after lookin around here i wouldnt use MG to grow crabgrass outside! i'm coming to realize that i think its easy cause its all i've known...and i actually did some research here first. so i guess my point is, when MP has your back, its possible to use any method sucessfully, as long as you let the peoples help(read,read,read!). so thank you MP peoples for making my life*(which is my grow) much easier. i love easy!

 

[NorCalHal]

Your pump timer going out, not feeding your plants for 2 days, ALL DIE.
Your Pump going out, not feeding for 2 days, all plants die.
Your res going low, so when you flood, it cavitates, when it goes to flood again, it doesn't, because it is air locked, your plants die.
Your feed hose falls off, your pump kicks on, it makes "rain" in your room and your electical power strip gets wet, deforms and almost catches fire.

You read that more nuits are better, you make a "hot" res full of new juice. You feed, plants get over nuits, and die.

You drop your joint in the res when you are checking out your girls....

You just wanted horror stories man, I have alot of good ones too.
Ebb & Flow works GREAT! It is basically what I do. To ensure you get a great taste. Feed the last 10 daze or so with nothing but PH'd water, no nuits. "Flushing the plants out". When you hit the girls with water the last 10 days, the bud SWELLS up and ripens perfect.

 

[Pothead420]

in my opinion there are so many more variable in ebb and flow. if your away from your room for a weekend and a pump dies most likely when you get to the room the'll be wilted beyound return. also when using rockwool its a consant checking p.h, lots of growers not familiar with how the system works mess up there first couple crops. i wouldnt suggest anyone get into ebb n flow unless you have years of growing experiance even then a beginer moving into hydro should start with the simplest method master that learn the touchiness of hydro that sytem is DWC or the bubbler method its very low maintainenc and plants grow phenominal in them when u get the nutes, airflow, and all the other factors rite. all in all its very simple its how i started and got a few more peeps to swicth to it and they love it to. now im using hydrofams drip system 8-individual buckets with drip rings and a master resovoir thats also easy uses hydroton as a medium and there reusable its alot faster growth than DWC so it takes more nutes but that to me is a simple system to use because i already learned all i need to now on mixing nutes from working with the DWC i grew for years in hydro without a tds meter just feeding it every other day but now with a tds i can feed every time consitant and it shows the plants are responding.

 

[doctorvapor]

i'll be using ebb and flow for the flowering part of my grow.
im using a drip system for veg.
no real problems other than some small newb mistakes i made.but its a learning process.i don't want it to be somthin i only check on once a week or somthin.i love this stuff.i check ph every 12 or so hours just to be on top of things.i guess what im trying to say is im no slacker when it comes to this.so im doing ebb and flow.i have seen it work great.i'll spend a year or so learning everything i can about growing,so i can grow for life.

 

[NorCalHal]

Pump problems are easily preventable. As long as you have a quality pump, and secure the hoses, you should have no issues.
The GH Hydro farms are fun too, but I hated those rocks. A horror story from the hydro farms is having a hydroton rock go into the bottom and plug the return, thus flooding out your whole system to the floor. Those damn rocks are the perfect size on those fittings.

 

[lyfr]

You drop your joint in the res when you are checking out your girls....

almost did that one, nice stories(to learn from) i hadnt even thought of a few of them, thats what i'm aimin for, prevention by knowledge! thanks everyone

 

[lyfr]

my routine is pretty much light comes on, i check ph/ppm and top off res. Then use my drill will a streched out hanger thing to stir solution. look at leaves for negative signs(bugs etc). change out res every 7-10 days(the meters decide), which takes about 45 min. i start with a gal. pure in res. and mix each nute/additive with a gallon of water(individually) before adding to res. I usually only have to adjust my ph once per res change on the third or forth day. . .and thats it. if i could do somethin better please let me know!