First Ebb and Flow Grow

Hello everyone

This is my first hydroponic grow. I’ve decided to build an ebb and flow table that is little less then 2ft x 3ft. I’ve set it up so I have 4 pots with a 5 inch diameter. The pump is a dehumidify pump that has a rating of 200 GPH with a 10 foot fountain. The 24 inch flexible air stone will provide oxygen. A digital aquarium thermometer will keep track of water temp.

General Hydroponics has setup me up with the Flora Threesome and pH adjuster. The digital meters for pH and TDS will keep optimal nutrient uptake as long as I keep checking and adjusting them. Hydroton is the medium used for this grow, once the plants overgrows their 5 inch pots, the table will be filled entirely with Hydroton and the plants will be in their permanent seating.

I have setup a 2ft x 3ft x 5.5ft grow room with 150cfm for intake and outtake. The entire room is lined with Mylar. With the hydroponics system in play the dimensions changes to 2ft x 3ft x 4ft. The lights I’ll be using is my trusty 250 watt HPS w/ remote ballast and my (4) 4 foot dual 40 watts fluorescents (320 watts). Digital meter keeps track of the temp and humidity.

Germination is done the old fashion way with 2 paper towels, 2 Styrofoam plates, and a plastic bag. Set in a dark 90F place. This method has never failed in the past. Once they get over 3 inches it will be time to place them in the Rockwool (soaked pH 5 overnight).

I have grown many times before but this is my first hydroponics setup. I’ve grown lots of Nirvana’s strains like their classic Skunk#1, but also Northern Lights Pure Indica, Bubblegum, Misty, and Blueberry. This grow I will be trying out Nirvana’s Bubblelicious Feminized and Nirvana’s White Rhino Feminized.

If I missed any information please review my checklist below.

Ebb and Flow
Tray – 50L
Reservoir – 100L
Pump – 200 GPH 10ft fountain
Fittings – ½ inch main line and overflow line
Pots - (4) 5 inch net pots with neoprene inserts and covers
Oxygen– 2 ft long flexible aerator
Nutrients – Flora 3 part system ½ strength
Adjuster – General Hydroponics PH up and down
Medium – Hydroton clay pellets

Lights
250 watt HPS remote ballast
(4) 4 foot dual 40 watt fluorescents

Area
Empty – 2ft x 3ft x 6ft
Loaded – 2ft x 3ft x 4.5ft
Reflector – Mylar
Structure – ¼ inch underlayment board with 2x2 studs

Ventilation
Intake – (2) CPU computer fans
Exhaust – 150 CFM bathroom fan
Internal – Cheapo oscillating fan

Schedule
Vegetation – 18/6 light cycle
Flowering – 12/12 light cycle
Watering – 1 hour fill every 2 hours

Method
Technique – Netless ScrOG with training
Topping – The FIM technique

Transition
Seedlings – 1.5 inches Rockwool cubes
Vegetation – Hydroton filled 5 inch pots
Flowering – 50L Hydroton filled tray

Testing
PH – Checker digital meter w/ pH 7.01 calibration solution
TDS – Primo digital meter w/ 1382 PPM calibration solution
Environment – Digital meter of temperature and relative humidity percentage
Reservoir – Aquarium digital thermometer











Any comments are welcome!!!

The seeds have germinated and I am a head of schedule. I had 100% success rate with the paper towel method. The seedlings have been carefully put into the Rockwool (pH 5.5 soaked and rinsed) and tucked into their Hydroton homes.
I cover each of the pots with neoprene inserts and lids to keep out light. The reservoir is covered in Mylar to resist heat and bounce light. I set the pH of the reservoir to 5.87 and added 1/8 strength of nutrients.
The hydroponic system is performing perfectly.
Until next time….Peace everybody!

The roots are starting to develop and growing out the sides and bottom....They are starting on their 2nd and 3rd set of leaves.

I got a reverse osmosis filters to settle my hard water problem (250 ppm from the tap). As of now the water is sitting at 490 ppm.

I also ordered a grow tent 2’ft X 4’ft 5.5’ft to make this grow as easy and as portable as possible.

I decided to get the extra additives from General Hydroponics – Floralicious Plus and Liquid KoolBloom. Floralicous Plus will be incorporated in the next feeding week.

Temperatures are maintaining 85ºF and the water temp is maintaining at 75ºF. The flood and drain scheduled has been altered to ½ hour to every 2 ½ hours.

All the photos are Bubblelicious except for photo number 3.

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Today I have setup the grow tent. I am impressed at how easy it was to setup. This space has maintained a temperature of 80ºF and reservoir has a temperature of 72ºF. The pH of the water is 6.08 with 390ppm.

I decided to fill the tray with Hydroton and submerse the net pots into the medium because of the rapid root growth. Plant growth has done exceptionally well and will be put on stronger nutrients tomorrow.

Peace everyone!

It’s the start of my favorite month, October… all the ghost, ghouls, and goblins come out but honestly it’s the time when the trees start changing and the weather is tolerable once again.

On this fine day of October I have started training all of the plants. I used some stiff wire to make clips to hold the main stem down in place just above the Hydroton. When the plants get older the clips can be removed and the stem should stay at the same height. I also added Floricious Plus to the tank water. The pH is set at 5.7ish with a 531ppm rating for the 12 gallon reservoir.

I am convinced I have been wasting my time growing in soil, I cannot believe the incredible results with the ebb and flow system. This has put me 2 weeks ahead of schedule which means I can get a nice complete canopy. The roots and foliage growth rate is rapid and the stems are broad and sturdy.

1st 2nd 3rd photo – Bubblelicious
4th photo – White Rhino

Today felt like a good day to update. I have started the rigorous training program with these girls to ensure every last lumen will be put to use. They may look a little funky but I assure you that they love being bent over and having sun in places that usually don’t shine.

Every day I have to reset the training net because of the rapid growth. The process is kind of lengthy because of the constant bending and tucking and making sure real estate is available for all the new growth.

I have been experimenting with ozonated water and the effect on plant biology. So far the ozonated water has not hurt the plant or taken any nutrients from the water supply. However, the ozone that leaked from the generator got sucked into the intake of the ventilation. So there was a slight ozone problem on the leaves of the plant. This also resulted in the death of my air pump because the ozone ate it from the inside out.

To avoid such problem I will have the ozone generator on a timer to give spurts of ozone instead of constant ozone. This will also get rid of excess plant smell that seems to get stronger every day.

A new week of nutrients has been added to make a 600ppm solution with a pH of 5.6. No mold, no algae, no fungus, no film, the reservoirs is extremely clean (the ozone is doing its job!)

As always
1st, 2nd, and 3rd – Bubblelicious
4th – White Rhino

Day 30 of Vegetation

Today it has been a month since these girls were born. Yesterday I drained the reservoir and cleaned all of the grim off. I reset the res with RO water (13gal) pH to 5.4 and it sits at 600ppm. Just 2 more weeks and these girls are going into flowering.

I built a bubble cloner with a 14 gal Rubbermaid container and (5) 14in air stones with two air pumps. I will be building a propagation tent very soon once the panda film arrives. I will be taking cuttings off of my best Bubblelicious and my White Rhino just before they go into flowering.

Once harvest is close in sight, I will take about 8 clones from each of the 2 mothers. They will go in the ebb and flow table in a SOG style. This process will start every 45 days and last up to 65 days overall. This will give me a nice perpetual harvest every 2 months.

Here are the pics
1st 2nd 3rd – Bubblelicious
4th – White Rhino

Hey nice Set up! looks like you will reap the reward of your hard work!

Thanks ch4, I love the grow tent it keeps my temps at 76-79ºF when lights are on and 71-73ºF when lights are off. The hydroponics system was well worth the investment too, I would never go back to soil. Can't wait to be smoking on some of those bubblelicious buds!

I have been busy over the past couple of days setting up the new propagation tent. The ladies have been grown like crazy and will be induced into flowering tomorrow.
This is my first attempt at cloning and I have setup a cheapo aero cloner. I took 8 Bubblelicious and 3 White Rhino clones and popped them into the cloner last night.

So far the clones are doing well and haven’t shown any signs of wilting. They are suspended just above the water line.

The cloner’s water read 78ºF with 5ppm reading and a pH of 6.8. (Straight from the RO machine)

I found a grasshopper in my garden today, I’ve never had this happen and am unsure if this is OK?!

hey man,

I am about to run a grow extremely similar to yours soon. i'm pullin up a chair for this one. sending dank vibes

Subscribe! How much do you think you'll yeild out of this crop?

I really wanna know more about the ebb n flow setup, I've been waiting for someone to run one of these. BTW, your my hero for using it instead of building the same setups 100s of people already have.

+Rep

grilloid - Hey man, This is the first hydroponic system I've used and it works wonderful! Good luck to you!


No Smoking - Glad to have ya on board...Prob get about 4 to 6 oz.


PotFarmerJoe - Ebb and flow is a little more expensive because of the hydroton...but it is worth the expense.

I will never use soil, and probable will never use anything but Ebb and Flow.

I've read a lot of problems with dwc so I decide to go an alternative route.

If you got question, I can answer them.


Thanks and Good luck guys

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yeah im trying to make a ebb and flow set up myself... i have done dwc and wanted to try something new.... idk if u can help but maybe someone else can.... i need to know how big of a water pump i need.... im only ganna have a 10 gal tank or maybe a little bigger and grow container that is like 7 gal but have no idea how big of a pump i need.....