Best system for being gone 5 days at a time

It wont be long and life is going to get in the way of my growing, i will likely be gone 5 days, home 2. Been trying to come up with something so i can at least do one grow at a time, while only being home 2 days in a row a week. I have experience with dwc and rdwc but stopped hydro and went with all organic in soil with drip system and handwatering. I have decided, neither of these are going to work well being gone 5 days at a time. Im wondering if ebb and flow flood trays would be my answer. The only issue i can see is controlling ph, but might be able to get a ph doser/controller. Any input or experience with growing this way would be greatly appreciated, i realize how quick things can go wrong with hydro or growing in general. I have been doing it now about 5 years. What i have to work with.
2 4x4 tents
1 4x8 tent with height extension
All tents are lit with mostly cxb3590s and a couple veros and 3070s. I do have my old hids and an induction lamp if temp are ever too low in the winter but environment has been dialed in perfect in the winter and hydro res temps will stay cool on thier own with the res on the floor, out of the tent. Bluemat guardian ph/ec meter.
Plan is to keep a mother plant or two in one 4x4 in soil with drippers and dimmed lights, lower stretch easy growing strain, i have dynasty-salmon river og starting right now and have time to run 1 or 2 more strains from seed before i need to be fully automated. 2nd 4x4 for a veg if it is even needed.
4x8 tent with two 3x3 trays, will a 4x4 tray fit? It looks like the outside diameter is bigger. I have no experience with flood trays. Res change every time i get home. Is an auto ph adjuster needed? Or are there nutrient that would suit my needs. I have a tons of gh 3 part leftover from when i did rdwc, like a gallon of micro and 2 gallons of bloom.

I'm surprised to hear you say that a soil based drip system is an issue with 5 day absences.

I'm running a traditional flood/drain tray and just found out that I'll be gone for 5 days in a few weeks and I am not thrilled. It will definitely need some degree of love by day 3 maybe 4...I really didn't want to need a top off res.

Major Blazer said:

I'm surprised to hear you say that a soil based drip system is an issue with 5 day absences.

I'm running a traditional flood/drain tray and just found out that I'll be gone for 5 days in a few weeks and I am not thrilled. It will definitely need some degree of love by day 3 maybe 4...I really didn't want to need a top off res.

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The drip system i am using is blumats, it definitely increases yield but seems to need constant adjustments expecially when i fill the res. I also hand water about every other day just to wet the top layer of soil. Maybe i will look into another drip system. And like i said I have no experience with flood and drain, but i suppose you still need to have the system topped off. How big is your res? And tray? Maybe a big enough reservior and a 3x3 tray in a 4x4 tent with 4 plant scrog. I can do a whole run before end of january that way and measure the water usage, then fill a 2nd resevior and put in on a timer to refill the res after 2 or 3 days and set up and overflow bucket. Its either i figure out something that works or I have to quit growing for 1-2 years. So even if i am only using a single 4x4 tent i want to keep something going. Thanks for your thought.

"need constant adjustments especially when i fill the res" Is there any regulation of the water pressure from the res? I've only admired blumats from afar, but have drip systems in the veggie gardens and a pressure reg is part of the package. How big is your res?

like this https://www.homedepot.com/p/DIG-25-psi-Hose-Thread-Pressure-Regulator-D46/100180295

Banana444 said:

The drip system i am using is blumats, it definitely increases yield but seems to need constant adjustments expecially when i fill the res. I also hand water about every other day just to wet the top layer of soil. Maybe i will look into another drip system. And like i said I have no experience with flood and drain, but i suppose you still need to have the system topped off. How big is your res? And tray? Maybe a big enough reservior and a 3x3 tray in a 4x4 tent with 4 plant scrog. I can do a whole run before end of january that way and measure the water usage, then fill a 2nd resevior and put in on a timer to refill the res after 2 or 3 days and set up and overflow bucket. Its either i figure out something that works or I have to quit growing for 1-2 years. So even if i am only using a single 4x4 tent i want to keep something going. Thanks for your thought.

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I have a 2x2 ID tray in a 3x3 tent with 5 plants and a 17gal HDX tote as a res. I'm ~3 weeks into flower and I'm ~3 days from a res change and I just checked out the res, which is about 5 gal shy of where I started. My pH is good but I am running a bit hot on EC today so i'm going to top off with some 1/4 strength nutrient water.

i've done auto-feed, drain to waste hempy buckets and waterfarms currently and have been gone up to 2 weeks without an issue.

Just put a 50gal drum up higher than your res that's on the floor and use a float valve to keep your res nice and full. Problem solved for any method spoken of here...

Airwalker16 said:

Just put a 50gal drum up higher than your res that's on the floor and use a float valve to keep your res nice and full. Problem solved for any method spoken of here...

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Simple and would solve the pressure reg issue 100% and let you dial those in.
Thanks Air, When I take the blumat plunge that's what I'll do.

Airwalker16 said:

Just put a 50gal drum up higher than your res that's on the floor and use a float valve to keep your res nice and full. Problem solved for any method spoken of here...

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Definetly^

You can buy a auto ph adjuster or make one as well.

Kami Samurai said:

Definetly^

You can buy a auto ph adjuster or make one as well.

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There's be no need as long as you use a buffered nutrient such as GH FloraTrio. Make up your nutrient solution in the drum and mix it well. If your PPMs and pH are where you want them, they'll stayvthat way. The only thing that might benefit you, would be a small pump, submersible would work, at the bottom to keep it all well mixed.

Airwalker16 said:

There's be no need as long as you use a buffered nutrient such as GH FloraTrio. Make up your nutrient solution in the drum and mix it well. If your PPMs and pH are where you want them, they'll stayvthat way. The only thing that might benefit you, would be a small pump, submersible would work, at the bottom to keep it all well mixed.

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I have used gh trio for rdwc, the ph was almost never stable. It would always creep up, needed to be add ph down almost daily. I wonder why. I will be giving it a try here soon when i get this next pack on seeds vegged and sexed and take clones. Going to give a flood table a try, never done ebb and flow.

Banana444 said:

I have used gh trio for rdwc, the ph was almost never stable. It would always creep up, needed to be add ph down almost daily. I wonder why. I will be giving it a try here soon when i get this next pack on seeds vegged and sexed and take clones. Going to give a flood table a try, never done ebb and flow.

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Well in RDWc, you're adding nutrient mixed water almost daily. The newly added, freshly mixed solution takes care of any swings I guess.

Question, flood tables, white or black? Does it really make much of a difference?

Banana444 said:

Question, flood tables, white or black? Does it really make much of a difference?

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Doesn't matter. White will reflect more light but will be harder to clean. Black will be opposite.

INF Flux said:

"need constant adjustments especially when i fill the res" Is there any regulation of the water pressure from the res? I've only admired blumats from afar, but have drip systems in the veggie gardens and a pressure reg is part of the package. How big is your res?

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Idk how i missed your comment, i have been using a 5 gal bucket with the blumats, and after rereading this, i see this is probably my issue with the blumats needing to be constantly adjusted due too fluctuations in water pressure. I also use 7-10gal airpots for my soil, which results in quicker drying out than plastic containers. This lets me water everyday, but requires some handwatering to keep the sides from drying out too much. I have been wanting to give hydro a go again, its been about 2 years and i have only ever done dwc rdwc, never done ebb and flow.

I have a 3x3 flood tray with drain/fill fittings on the way, hdx tote for a res, a 250gph submersible pump, 6" net pots for 5 gal buckets, commercial air pump, gh trio nutes. Not trying to buy a bunch of new equipment for this grow since i have a bunch of stuff from doing dwc, all i had to buy was the tray and fittings and somemore hydroton.

Now i just need to decide how many plants to put in the flood tray?
4, 6, 9? Im thinking 4. From my experience with rdwc I would only do 1 plant in a 4x4.

Banana444 said:

I have a 3x3 flood tray with drain/fill fittings on the way, hdx tote for a res, a 250gph submersible pump, 6" net pots for 5 gal buckets, commercial air pump, gh trio nutes. Not trying to buy a bunch of new equipment for this grow since i have a bunch of stuff from doing dwc, all i had to buy was the tray and fittings and somemore hydroton.

Now i just need to decide how many plants to put in the flood tray?
4, 6, 9? Im thinking 4. From my experience with rdwc I would only do 1 plant in a 4x4.

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All depends on how long you're willing to wait to veg. 4 plants will get you to flower a good 3-4 weeks earlier than one large one.