2x4 Flood & drain container and media contemplation

Duhh said:

I appreciate your help thundercat, I've looked at some of you threads and oh boy are you prolific, it's great to be able to get info off someone with so much experience.

When you cut the bottom branches off your vegging clones just before flower, did you use those for new clones? Is that a good idea or does clones of clones of clones etc, create problems on growth and yields? Did you just keep a mother plant and use that? Thank you!

Click to expand...

I kept small mother plants in my veg tray in the same 6 inch pots. I used LST to shape them and keep them small, and I took clones every 2-3 weeks so they constantly got cut back. I would usually replace my mother plants with a fresh clone every 9 months to year to make sure they stayed healthy so my clones were healthy.

Thundercat said:

I kept small mother plants in my veg tray in the same 6 inch pots. I used LST to shape them and keep them small, and I took clones every 2-3 weeks so they constantly got cut back. I would usually replace my mother plants with a fresh clone every 9 months to year to make sure they stayed healthy so my clones were healthy.

Click to expand...

Thank you thundercat.

Hey have you ever heard of using higher PK to help with root development in coco? Like a pk additive. I'm getting a bit confused about how to get good roots in coco. I've got some cuttings in coco and I've never had a big root mass.

Duhh said:

Thank you thundercat.

Hey have you ever heard of using higher PK to help with root development in coco? Like a pk additive. I'm getting a bit confused about how to get good roots in coco. I've got some cuttings in coco and I've never had a big root mass.

Click to expand...

I’ve never ran coco, but I don’t recall ever reading about a specific need for pk boost with coco.

Thundercat said:

I’ve never ran coco, but I don’t recall ever reading about a specific need for pk boost with coco.

Click to expand...

OK thanks.

What lights did you use for the veg tray? Thank you!

Duhh said:

OK thanks.

What lights did you use for the veg tray? Thank you!

Click to expand...

I vegged with a couple different lights over the years. I had a 2x4 8 bulb t5 floro unit for the longest time. I also used a Dyi compact florescent unit that had 8 bulbs, worked great for clones.

Thundercat said:

I vegged with a couple different lights over the years. I had a 2x4 8 bulb t5 floro unit for the longest time. I also used a Dyi compact florescent unit that had 8 bulbs, worked great for clones.

Click to expand...

Hey thank you!

I was thinking t5's.

What sort of florescent tubes did you use in the DIY one? Wattage and K/colour temperature?

Do you think using 11cm x 11cm x 12cm, 1 Litre square pots with hydroton would get the same yields you spoke of in the flood and drain table when you used 6 inch net pots with hydroton? They're a bit smaller but more could fit into a tray, would the plants being closer together and in a smaller pot affect the yield you think?

Duhh said:

Hey thank you!

I was thinking t5's.

What sort of florescent tubes did you use in the DIY one? Wattage and K/colour temperature?

Do you think using 11cm x 11cm x 12cm, 1 Litre square pots with hydroton would get the same yields you spoke of in the flood and drain table when you used 6 inch net pots with hydroton? They're a bit smaller but more could fit into a tray, would the plants being closer together and in a smaller pot affect the yield you think?

Click to expand...

they were actually compact spiral floro bulbs I used on the dyi light. They were the 26w and a mixture of color spectrum. I usually bought daylight style, with more white/blue to the spectrum.

the pots I used weren’t net pots fyi. They were just 6 inch square plastic pots with drainage holes in the bottom.

I don’t think I would try to do this style grow with anything much smaller then the 6 inch but you can try. The plants still need enough space to develop a strong root system. It might work just fine, maybe slightly smaller plants and just more of them.

Thundercat said:

they were actually compact spiral floro bulbs I used on the dyi light. They were the 26w and a mixture of color spectrum. I usually bought daylight style, with more white/blue to the spectrum.

the pots I used weren’t net pots fyi. They were just 6 inch square plastic pots with drainage holes in the bottom.

I don’t think I would try to do this style grow with anything much smaller then the 6 inch but you can try. The plants still need enough space to develop a strong root system. It might work just fine, maybe slightly smaller plants and just more of them.

Click to expand...

OK thank you! I was going to use 13 cm square pots, 1.5 liter but then I thought maybe smaller wouldn't be much different. You say 6 inch square would be what works for your results you mentioned that sounds good.

I've been using those spiral cfl lights you mentioned as clone and seedling lights, yeah they're good.

Thundercat said:

they were actually compact spiral floro bulbs I used on the dyi light. They were the 26w and a mixture of color spectrum. I usually bought daylight style, with more white/blue to the spectrum.

the pots I used weren’t net pots fyi. They were just 6 inch square plastic pots with drainage holes in the bottom.

I don’t think I would try to do this style grow with anything much smaller then the 6 inch but you can try. The plants still need enough space to develop a strong root system. It might work just fine, maybe slightly smaller plants and just more of them.

Click to expand...

Hi Thundercat.

How tall were the 6 inch square pots in relation to the flood table? Did they get fully submerged during flood or was there some hydroton that remained unsunk? I was thinking if the volume of the 5" pot was the same as a 6 inch pot due to it being taller, and the flood table also taller then volumes would equal out and maybe I could put more in the table. Or, use the 5" pot and veg a bit longer like 3 weeks? I dunno just thinking out loud.

Thank you!

Duhh said:

Hi Thundercat.

How tall were the 6 inch square pots in relation to the flood table? Did they get fully submerged during flood or was there some hydroton that remained unsunk? I was thinking if the volume of the 5" pot was the same as a 6 inch pot due to it being taller, and the flood table also taller then volumes would equal out and maybe I could put more in the table. Or, use the 5" pot and veg a bit longer like 3 weeks? I dunno just thinking out loud.

Thank you!

Click to expand...

My flood tray was about 6 inches deep, but I didn't flood it to the brim, the top layer of hydroton never got wet. The pots were about 7 inches tall, but usually, the plant was an inch or so settled down in. I didn't want to have much root ball trying to grow or survive outside the typical flood zone of the tray.

You can use the 5 inch pots, I would not veg longer though or the plants will get cramped. Just use more of them and if they average 5 grams lighter each it won't matter because you will have more of them.

Thundercat said:

My flood tray was about 6 inches deep, but I didn't flood it to the brim, the top layer of hydroton never got wet. The pots were about 7 inches tall, but usually, the plant was an inch or so settled down in. I didn't want to have much root ball trying to grow or survive outside the typical flood zone of the tray.

You can use the 5 inch pots, I would not veg longer though or the plants will get cramped. Just use more of them and if they average 5 grams lighter each it won't matter because you will have more of them.

Click to expand...

I found some 11cm square pots that are 20 cm deep! 2.4liters volume with at 11 cm square, Nice. I think I'm going to modify a tray to raise the sides to 20 cm, then flood the tray to near the top, defoiliate a bit like 2 weeks into flower then leave them. What do you think of that?

Also I was wondering what EC and pH you used and when. Any advice on pumps and flow rates? Would a maxijet1000 lph pump be a good recommendation? Or is that too much too little?

Thank you!

Duhh said:

I found some 11cm square pots that are 20 cm deep! 2.4liters volume with at 11 cm square, Nice. I think I'm going to modify a tray to raise the sides to 20 cm, then flood the tray to near the top, defoiliate a bit like 2 weeks into flower then leave them. What do you think of that?

Also I was wondering what EC and pH you used and when. Any advice on pumps and flow rates? Would a maxijet1000 lph pump be a good recommendation? Or is that too much too little?

Thank you!

Click to expand...

I used a couple Different pumps over the years. They were just the ones I could get at the hydro shop or hardware store in the outdoor pond section. I wanna say 5-600gph or so, but it’s been a while since I’ve bought one so I’m having a tough time remembering at this point.

I ran my ppm around 400ish in veg and 7-900 in flower depending in genetics. I set my PH to 5.8 and then let swing slightly upwards until I topped of the reservoir.

New to the forum and just saw this post. I ebb and flow directly to 4"x4" rockwool cubes. Cleanup an maintainance is super easy actually. I'm limited on space so I only do 2 plants at a time in 2x2 tent (4 to 6oz). 4 or 5 plants on a 2x4 would be simple. Rockwool is actually pretty simple to work with. They WILL build up salts when bottom feeding so its super critical to top flush about once a week. I simply go in while a watering cycle is going and use a cup to scoop water off the tray and top flush while they are watering. Easy peazy. Cotrary to popular belief it IS possible to over water rockwool so make sure they dry sufficiently between watering. other than that after a grow I simply clean and disinfect my trays and pumps and start over. never had any pests in my life except fungus gnats once when i first started because of over watering. Thats it!! Super clean and super staight forward. heres a few of my grows at least to show you I'm not a complete idiot. hahaha. good luck. Oh yea and you'll need to top off res and change water every one to two weeks. Below: Critical Kush, Glueberry OG, and Dos-Si-Dos 33.