Ebb vs. Bubbler

bubbler or ebb/flow what one should i make?
i have enough materials to make 2 of what ever i choose.
my first hydro grow

That depends on what you want to do. How many plants in how much space? What kind of res do you want to maintain? And what kind of medium do you want to grow in? That should determine the irrigation method.

The type and timing of irrigation in a hydro system should be determined by the medium used. The denser the medium, the longer it will retain water. But that means less room for air in there. That's why dense media like rockwool and coir fiber are used, because of their good water retention, as well as the ability to maintain sufficient amounts of air even when wet.

For dense media, a drip system is best because of the water column that goes downward in a cone shape. Dripping into looser media like growrocks doesn't work as well because the water column is more like a straight-sided tube.

For growrocks, it's best to flood and drain. That pushes all of the stale air out of the rocks, and sucks fresh air in.

For no media, as in aero or NFT, the roots are bathed constantly.

For each system, you should experiment with the irrigation timing to find the optimal for your medium, so your plants always have everything they want.

HTH

thanks man, that was a lot of help. i think im going to go with the food and drain. currently i have a makeshift bubbler but it doesnt seem to work. i am looking to make 2 flood and drain systems that can hold 8 plants each. as a medium im going to get hydroton rock....

Flood systems are dead-easy. Best way to go for any hydronewb. They're easy to set up and clean. They don't have problems like clogged dripper or sprayer nozzles.

You may get marginally better performance out of aero, NFT, etc. but you can't beat the reliability and simplicity of a flood system.

I use loose rockwool floc in 8" tall, 8" dia plastic pots in flood trays. Flood 1x day @ lights on for about 3-5 min, less time for smaller plants.

The pots of rockwool hold enough water to carry the plant a day or two in case of a pump failure.

A pump failure in aero can be very problematic in short order, as you might imagine. If there's no water holding media in contact with the roots and the pump clogs/quits, the cooking time would be fairly short.

thanks for your views, it helped me a bunch.tonight or tomarrow ill start building the 2 food and drain systems.





im making two of them with two of these tubs and totes.

you think it will be big enough?

Depends on how much floorspace you have or how many plants you will be growing. The 39L tray should be big enough for 6-8 plants. The big reservoir tub you have would be able to support about 3 of those 39L trays full of plants.

yea thx. i have 2 reservioir tubs and 2 of the 39l trays. eaach tray im gonna try having them hold 8 plants each. i cut holes in the lid, and incerted plastic (beer pong) party cups / holes in them to flood/drain water for the roots. each cup will be filled with hydroton rock.
ill put pics up asap

Omit the lid on the tray which is to hold the plants. Just drop some plastic pots filled with your expanded clay pellets into the flood trays.

If there's a lid on the tray with holes for your pots, you will create a moisture trap where mould and bacteria will grow. Doesn't need to be anywhere near that wet for your plant's roots.

Make sure the pots you use for your medium are dark coloured, preferably black. Roots need to be protected from light.

Let us know how it went. More pics when done please. Thanks and have fun.