Whats your favorite grow method and why?

[Mutt]

8kw....think ebb n flo with large res's be only way to go.
but my favorite is organic. still learning LO but man once you got it chimed in no checking except PH upon nutrient mix. but hell grows its own with little maint. Plus all i have to pay for is elec. my soil and ferts are free just add water

 

[trichnut]

my concern with ebb and flow with 2 gallon buckets or 2 gal smart pots is that im not sure that the plants will have enough root space to allow 18 of them to fill a 4x8 grow area. iv seen succesful ebb and flow systems with 32 plants per 4x8 with coco pots. they flip to flower in nearly half the time (2 weeks) and water once a day. more smaller plants that get watered more often, and you get a quicker harvest time... this all sounds great except it would put me over my plant limit.
however i have been thinking about the ebb and flow bucket system.

 

[TURKEYNECK]

Fellas, Fellas.....

Now, I agree that DWC is a GREAT way to grow hydroponicaly. I have done it also for a few years. BUT.
This cat is talking about 8000watts and running 72 plant sites.

DWC would be way too much work to maintain. Plus, at the end of the show, the cleanup and flip of the room would be alot of work.
72 buckets?? All the hydroton that goes with it? PITA.

There is much easier ways to grow at a larger scale with comparable results.

Exactly.. Im using DWC for mothers.. but even 8 or 10 buckets would be too much like work for me.. using tables and E&F or Drip is the way to go IMO..Expecially if you plan on having 72 plants! can you emagine changing all those buckets in what is sure to be an atleast semi-confined area..not to mention all the extra buckets you'd need...:holysheep:

 

[NorCalHal]

my concern with ebb and flow with 2 gallon buckets or 2 gal smart pots is that im not sure that the plants will have enough root space to allow 18 of them to fill a 4x8 grow area. iv seen succesful ebb and flow systems with 32 plants per 4x8 with coco pots. they flip to flower in nearly half the time (2 weeks) and water once a day. more smaller plants that get watered more often, and you get a quicker harvest time... this all sounds great except it would put me over my plant limit.
however i have been thinking about the ebb and flow bucket system.

I fill a 4x8 with 18 plants and my canopy is FULL. Veg time and patence man.

 

[trichnut]

I fill a 4x8 with 18 plants and my canopy is FULL. Veg time and patence man.

What pots are you using? And just coco and pearlite for the medium?

 

[NorCalHal]

2 Gal pots with shreaded rockwool for medium. I think you can use another medium and be just fine. I happen to work with rockwool and don't have many issues, so I stick with it.

 

[Bleek187]

im a fan of DWC for small grows.. i have 2 400w HPS side by side and the plants are in 2 15g tupperware things.... works pretty good...


When i do a big grow such as you are speaking of, i will go with Ebb & Grow

Ebb & Grow is the same as ebb and flow but this setup uses 5 gal buckets with 3 gal buckets inside.. the 3g bucket holds the grow medium and the plants are planted into this... this bucket has holes drilld in the bottom so water can drain into the lower section of the 5 gal bucket.. you can have as many buckets as you want in this setup all hooked up to the same res, which makes keeping PH and nute levels for all the plants the same and where they need to be... ok so you got 10 buckets setup, the buckets have fittings in the bottom that a hose hooks up so they can be all linkd togather.. all of these buckets are then linked to another 5 gal bucket that is a "controler" bucket... this bucket has float switches in the bottom and at the top and the whole thing runs off a timer.. about 4 times a day the timer kicks on, the controler bucket is empty and the float switch is open so it kicks on the water pump.... the water pump pumps water from the main res, a 55gal drum or something like it, into the controler bucket.. this bucket fills slowly and sence they are all linked togather all the buckets with the plants in them fill up also as the water levels off over all 10 buckets and the controler bucket.. while they are filling up with water it pushes the gas that the roots put off up out of the buckets and soaks the grow medium... when the water hits the float switch at the top of the controler bucket the pump is cut off and a small pump inside the controler bucket is cut on... This pumps the water from the controler bucket, and all the other grow buckets, back into the res.. When all the buckets are empty and the float switch drops at the bottom the pump is cut off and the process is over... so you dont have to check ph or ppm 209840932840243 times ... just check the res every now and then and make adjustments... =)

Sorry this was so long google "Ebb & Grow" for more info and pix.. peace