Ebb 'n Flow vs DWC?

[GreenGold]

I am planning on building a dwc or an ebb and flow grow. I cant decide on which to do. Any opinions on which is easier for a hydro newbie? I already have the lights and the room done.

Which is more productive??

 

[potroast]

Well, hydroponics means working water. I would say ebb&flow is more productive because the water is working more. DWC is a passive system of hydro, so the water doesn't work as much.

HTH

 

[GreenGold]

Hmmm.

Everything I have read has suggested DWC because of its simplicity I guess. I still dont know which one I should build. Im having trouble finding DIY parts for Ebb&flow i.e. the tray! I cant see spending 100 bucks on a plastic tray. if someone could point me in the right direction


I will even take some advice on another type of system if anyone has any opinions (with cost in mind)

 

[oskiwosky]

go to homedepot and use a cement mixing tray in building materials. or watch youtube i grow chronc 1-9

 

[FaCultGen]

DWC all the way dude... you'll have the fastest growing plants with dwc. larger buds as well.

 

[infamouse21]

at my buddys we use drip system 4 our mother plants & ebb flow for flower.
for flower stage ebb-flow is the best it allows the roots 2 take full advantage off the water. due 2 the flooding part. with a drip system not all the root mass is getting wet. we are actually thinking about turning our drip system into ebb-flow as well so the mothers can grow faster than they are so clones are thicker.

 

[rezo]

dwc and aeroponics are the two highest yielding systems. the dwc is way easier to do. dwc and aero offer a constant feed of oxygen and nutes. a dwc plant in a 5 gal bucket or 1 aero plant produces upto 3x a plant in ebb and flow so if you are limited in space youll get more buds with less plants. ebb and flow is great just not best.

 

[sogstink]

dwc all the way

 

[WeedCreed]

holding it down for all the ebb/flow growers out there.

Ebb/Flow = little maintenance, easy build, great looking plants.

 

[GreenGold]

well I want to raise mothers and clones indoors to transport outside so would a small ebb and flow be better for the mothers? Im thinking something like the aerocloner would work well for the clones. Also can I transport clones from Hydroton to soil?

 

[KholdStare]

well I want to raise mothers and clones indoors to transport outside so would a small ebb and flow be better for the mothers? Im thinking something like the aerocloner would work well for the clones. Also can I transport clones from Hydroton to soil?

I think it could go either way, but a DWC would be cheaper, you could just get a 5 gal bucket DWC for each mother and call it a day.

If you have the little guys (girls) in a rockwool cube it would be a lot easier to move them into soil without damaging the roots.

 

[potroast]

dwc and aeroponics are the two highest yielding systems. the dwc is way easier to do. dwc and aero offer a constant feed of oxygen and nutes. a dwc plant in a 5 gal bucket or 1 aero plant produces upto 3x a plant in ebb and flow so if you are limited in space youll get more buds with less plants. ebb and flow is great just not best.

I'll take that with a bucket of salt.

Active hydro systems will outproduce any passive (DWC) bucket of nutes and roots.

HTH

 

[Tanuvan]

I say Ebb and Flow if not for the reason that pythium seems to be less of an issue since roots are not sitting in water. If you don't have a really cool reservoir with tons of bubbles, then you will be just asking for problems.

Not so much so with Ebb and Flow/Flood and Drain.

Just my 2 copper

 

[dtp5150]

ebb and flow is easier to take care of multiple big plants ( they all share the same reservoir )

instead of each bucket having its own reservoir, its much easier

 

[kabona]

at my buddys we use drip system 4 our mother plants & ebb flow for flower.
for flower stage ebb-flow is the best it allows the roots 2 take full advantage off the water. due 2 the flooding part. with a drip system not all the root mass is getting wet. we are actually thinking about turning our drip system into ebb-flow as well so the mothers can grow faster than they are so clones are thicker.

false statements...... ebb and flow is not the best and it does not take full advantage of your water... i dont even know what taking advantage of water means... but whatever it means, it is not what you want.... to get bigger buds and faster growth you want to supply as much oxygen to the roots as possible.... thats why NASA uses aeroponics, 98% of the time the roots are taking in oxygen, not nutrients. So when you look at ebb & flow vs DWC....... DWC always comes out on top.... not to mention how much cheaper it is to set up that a ebb and flow... shit you dont even need a water pump.

Just to clear it up though.. i have never used a DWC set up... i only use aeroponics... but basically both are used to acheive maximum oxygen consumption.




(btw... changing your mothers from a drip system to a ebb and flow probably wont change much....my mothers grow great on a drip system )


not bashing anyone at all... just trying to clear up some info

 

[Xan2]

dwc and aeroponics are the two highest yielding systems. the dwc is way easier to do. dwc and aero offer a constant feed of oxygen and nutes. a dwc plant in a 5 gal bucket or 1 aero plant produces upto 3x a plant in ebb and flow so if you are limited in space youll get more buds with less plants. ebb and flow is great just not best.

you got it

 

[meetzu]

Aero would have the best growth speed with NFT close behind. Neither of these systems are cheap or when DIY they aren't the most simple things to build and have a fair amount of materials (they aren't necessarily difficult to build though). You are right in assuming that DWC would be the easiest to get started in. It also has the lowest start up cost and less parts that can fail during a grow. The downside of DWC is Aero, NFT, and Ebb n Flo would all generally use less nutes than a DWC bucket because of the reduced res size needed to feed the same size of plants. Depending on how big you are going this could be a huge factor (eg. full Advanced line in a 100 gal res = some serious money for res changes whereas something like Lucas formula from GH is much more affordable and sensible for a res that size).

Maybe that helps, just my thoughts. GL

 

[Anonymouse]

If you're looking to do just a couple of plants, DWC is great. If you're looking for a lot of flexibility or want to work on more plants, get an E/F garden.

I love E/F, it's easy and gives great results.

 

[homebrewer]

My vote is for Ebb and flow for the ease of cleaning and res changes.

 

[JJFOURTWENTY]

Seriously, Ebb & Flow hands down! DWC is great and produces massive roots and all, but it all has to be done in a much more climate controlled environment. You get high room and then ultimately res temps and you're headed for a massive fail REAL quick. Or, should your air pump go out and you aren't able to replace it with another in say under four hours or whatever, you can just kiss your whole grow goodbye. Personally I want STOUT fuckin plants. I don't wanna have to worry about a record setting high temp day to invite Pythium(sp?) into the mix. I also wouldn't want a little ol' power outage to wipe out months of hard work.

Using Google, search ICmag and the Farm using terms "MPB" and "Undercurrent" and you'll see exactly what I mean. Those are Formula 1 type of grows... read: lots and lots of time, dedication, and $$$ being spent there.


For me personally it's all about the E&F, using Hydroton in heavy duty net pots and repotting to the next size up as the grow progresses.