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Thread: DIY Ebb and Flow Advice

  1. #1

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    Default DIY Ebb and Flow Advice

    Hey people I'm gonna be growing a few white widow autoflowers, im gonna grow 2 of them in soil like I normally do but I wanna try hydroponics so I made a DIY ebb and flow system.

    I dont really wanna spend any money on the project incase hydro is not for me so the setup is kind of jank.

    I only have 30 minute intervals on my timers so I'm planning on 30 minutes on, 2 hours off. Always off when the lights are off. The reservoir holds 3 gallons of water total.

    Im going to add more gravel to it until its full then put the germinated seed about 1 inch above the water line and mist it until the roots are below the water line.


    Will this setup will work?

    How far should i put the germinated seed above the water line?

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by lerfds; 16-04-21 at 11:28 PM.

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  3. #2

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    Many use 24/0 for autos. What light schedule are you planning?

    From what I've read of ebb and flow, they get flooded at regular intervals, including lights on as the media, usually clay pebbles, dries out very quickly.

    Why don't you want to flood during lights on?

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  5. #3

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    Hey thanks for the reply, Im planning on 20/4 the entire grow.

    Ive read that people dont usually flood while the lights are off since the plant will be resting and not uptaking any nutrients. The aquarium gravel is still pretty wet after 4 hours, I will have to keep an eye on it at first for sure.

    I might just have it run during the night cycle too if it seems a bit too dry.

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  7. #4

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    With 24/0 there isn't going to be a night cycle.

    As it's a single plant test run, it can be done without a pump. Have a jug/bucket/whatever a little bit larger than the pot. Pot inside jug, pour in nutes until the pot is ALMOST submerged. Come back in 15 to 30 minutes and empty the jug back into the res.

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  9. #5

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    Ive heard autos will be ok with 24 hours on but Im a pretty strong believer that they need a break from the light, basically a time to rest. I figured 20/4 is a nice compromise.

    I need the system to be somewhat automated as i wont be able to take care of it manually that frequently. The pump im using actually works great, the whole system seems to be working great.

    My main concerns really are if there will be enough space for the roots to do well in this thermos filled with aquarium gravel, and how far the germinated seed should be planted above the water line.

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  11. #6

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    Ah, 20/4, I misread. fwir, there are some autos that don't like 24/0 but they will let you know that by drooping for a few hours a day.

    Once the seed has sprouted, some of the tap root will be submerged, it's part and parcel of flood and drain. From pics I've seen, the flood gets close to the top of the pot. If the timing is ok, the roots won't be wet long enough to drown and if the media doesn't dry out, neither will the roots. You'll be trying to create a swamp effect. Apart from the actual flooding, the roots won't be fully wet or fully dry but growing in the sort of mist that happens in a swamp.

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  13. #7

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    so basically i dont want the young taproot from the germinated seed to get submerged at first, i wanna plant it like 1 to 1 1/2 inches up from the water level?

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  15. #8

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    I'm not sure on that. You certainly don't want it to dry out, there needs to be some moisture. Will a taproot drown from only 30 minutes of being submerged? idk. Anyway, it won't be long before the taproot is longer than an inch.

    Any reason you decided on ebb and flow? It's not that popular with percy growers nowadays as when done right it's an expensive system more suited to the big boys. Or are you planning more on the lines of drip feeding?

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  17. #9

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    I actually set this sytem up free since I already had the pump, airpump and stones, tubing, plus most of the dry fertilizer salts I needed from my planted aquarium.

    I like the concept of ebb and flow, It seems clever and effective to me. It has a consistent draw of fresh air by the receding water line every drain and nicely oxygenated water from the airstones every flood, I dont think the plant will have any oxygen complaints. Its actually also a very simple design and from what I've been researching it is good for diy due to the high success rate of diy systems.

    While my design is far from ideal, I dont see any reason why it wont work. Im hoping the fact no posts are showing up saying "oh that trash wont work lol" is a good sign!
    Last edited by lerfds; 18-04-21 at 01:10 AM.

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  19. #10

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    Ebb and flow has been described as 'set and forget'. The systems I've seen have a main res and a control res. The control res and the pots are plumbed together at the bottom. So they are all at the same level of nutrients. Nutes are pumped from the main res into the control res, which has 2 float switches at the top and 2 at the bottom. The float switches are connected to relays to give a latching arrangement, same as happens with a marine bilge pump to avoid hysteresis problems. After the pots have been flooded for the correct time, nutes are pumped from the control res back to the main res. Adding more pots is easy enough as long as the main res has enough volume.

    You might find that aquarium gravel is to heavy for the roots. Clay pebbles are a pain to wash and that has to happen before and between grows but they are preferred to gravel.

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