# Hydro watering times for a ebb and flow setup, first grow



## Hydrochronic (Jun 20, 2008)

Hey guys. I'm just starting off my ebb and flow hydro setup and i have a few questions. i have about 10- 14 plants most at around 8-9 inches with a root system. i'm using 4 inch rockwool cubes and im using DNF as my nutrients. My question is what is the best watering schedule for my babies. the guy at the hydro store told me every 2 hours but i also told him i was growing tomatoes. right now i have it set to three times a day 8am 4pm and 12am. if anybody can give me some advice i would greatly appreciate it. Happy Token.


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## thetexican (Jun 20, 2008)

the local guy told me 2hrs off, 15min flood. and everything was healthy and green, but droopy. so i switched to 3hrs off. and they and I like it. perky. now.


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## Hydrochronic (Jun 20, 2008)

so set the timer for every 3 hours to flood for 15 minutes. Even if the rockwool is still soaked?


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## firsttimegrowerr (Jun 20, 2008)

You should experiment with it, everybody has a different feeding schedual that works best with there specific setup. I flood 1x a day for 3 min and it works good for me.


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## zedragon (Jun 21, 2008)

in a ebb&flow setup,its more to do with the exchange of oxygen in the rockwool or medium,which in turn increases the growth of the plant.
imho, if you add a air pump to your res the water will hold a lot more oxygen......which means the amount of watering be it 3 times a day or be it 10 time should not really matter,the plants should not look over watered due to the amount of fresh oxygen they get at each watering.


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## Hydrochronic (Jun 21, 2008)

Thats what i was finding that they were kinda droopy and the bottom leaves were droopy when i was watering every 2 hours now im doing 3 times a day and they perked right up i looked under the rockwool and noticed roots exploding through the bottom last night.


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## shenagen (Jun 21, 2008)

Thats one of the reasons I like hydrton instead of RW....mine can handle 5 waterings easy...although I have 2 air snakes in my flood tray that turn on when the pump turns on for a flood, so I'm sure all the o2 is whats allowing for more waterings


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## Hydrochronic (Jun 21, 2008)

huh airstones in the tray eh thats a good idea. ive got to in the tank but whats a few more! im just noticing the roots coming outta the rw the one plant has a 1 1/2 long root so far. So what do you have setup you take the plants root system outta the rw then use the clay pebbles to anchor them in. is it okay to separate the rw from the roots then use the pebbles once their bigger.


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## shenagen (Jun 21, 2008)

I think I got what you are asking.....I skip the RW completely. I wouldn't recomend trying to get the plants out of the RW it will probably do too much damage. If you want to use the clay then you should start with the very little RW cubes and once the roots poke through ...then you transplant into clay. I use rapid rooter plugs to germinate, then do a coco/clay mix in small 4 in. pots, then trans into big pots with all clay.....and then(lol) when I have a mother plant picked it goes into FF ocean forest and out of the ebb n flow table.
The air snakes really work well...the more o2 the better. Thats why ebb n flow works so well....it forces the old stale air out of the media when the table floods. When the table drains new o2 rich air is "sucked" back down into the media. So adding o2 right at the source works great.


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## Hydrochronic (Jun 21, 2008)

ya thats sounds like a pretty good way instead of waiting for the roots to poke throught the 4inch cube as well. i just picked up my lights what do you suggest i start them at? for the past week ive been running 24 hour flourescents, I just picked up a 250w ballast with a MH and a HPS bulb its just about 3 to 4 plants so i dont need anthing bigger..........for now. just personal stash. i would like to have it so when i flower them that the light runs at night for 12 hours.


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## iFeeLikeDying (Jun 21, 2008)

im also having trouble finding a watering scheduale.. i have a 4x4 tray and i have been told by fdd2blk to flood twice a day. But my plants look a little droopy and have burned tips i am yet to figure out the problem. It gets extremly hot in my room hopefuly it is just that.


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## justsmoking (Feb 13, 2010)

I too have the ebb n grow hydro system by cap and my clones are on a 15 min flood to drain two times a day 12and12 and has been for two weeks. The roots are starting to show out the inside pot full of hydroton. I'm thinking about doing it 3 times a day but I have two smaller plants and I think two more days and they'll catch up to the others than I'll do 3 times a day. There perky and great color so 2times a day is good


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