Ebb&Flow Bucket system. Should i go from feeding 3 times to 4 times a day@ sompoint?

Ebb&Flow Bucket system. Should i go from feeding 3 times to 4 times a day at some point?

Im on day.... 17 i think. and from veg to now they have been getting fed 3 times a day. I would think, during some point in flower that i would maybe want to give them an extra feeding. 4 weeks in? 5? 3? lol i dunno man!!!

first off, nice ladies you got there!

have you checked the clay pebbles just prior to a feed? if you can burrow down a bit and see if they are still moist or not you will have your answer. feeding an extra time wont hurt plants with nice established root systems but may not be necessary. you can also cloesly look at and feel the foliage just prior to a flood cycle. if the foliage is the least bit limp or at the very start of drooping then the time between floods should be shortened up a bit

im using ebb & flo tables with 5 inch pots so not apples to apples but i flood 4 times a day during lights on.

ok ya ill have to check that.

so you dont actually give the same amount of time between feedings? Like mine is set every 8 hours to feed. lights on or off.

I wonder if i should be changing that up then?

Are you using just hydroton for your medium? OHH i do have a question for you, how do you make your clones if you do?

I have tried now, in RW, and then tried just letting the cutting be held by the neoprene cover with the sprayer on 24/7. (in a clone machine, aero cloner)

I didnt really like RW because i felt it stayed TOO WET in the cloner (when using the RW i only had the sprayers on for about 3 mins like 4 times a day and the RW just still seemed too wet)

From suggestions here i did it the latter way just using the lids to hold the stem, and waited for roots. Now those clones are in the veg tent but are taking forever to start doing anything. I'm wondering if they got shocked somehow by either going from getting the roots sprayed 24/7 to NOT or from the hydroton crushing around the roots (i very carefully put them in there but still...)

The temps are a bit low too tho. i think it was like 63-65 in there last night. with humidifier going so that was about 50%.

Rant done lol..

i never feed during lights off. not much reason/advantage to doing so imo and can increase chances of root rot. not saying it is wrong, just not something i have found a reason for doing. 4 flood cycles 3 hours apart and the floods last 30 minutes (just because the trays werent quite full after 15 minutes and timers are 15 increments). in veg i give em 3 hours between floods but there are 2 more floods since day is 20 hours not 12

i bought a fancy aero cloner and had pretty crap results with it. taking 2 weeks to see signs of roots and only gettiing a few roots per clones.... very frustrating. i think my main mistake was not using a sterilizing product in the rez.

anywho, i got a couple trays of the rapid rooters and am having amazing results after ten days. heating mat under the tray and always keeping extra water in the tray so they dont dry out. very pleased with this method.

i dont like rockwool at all. either too wet or not moist enough. could never seem to get things to grow well in it. meanwhiile, i see plenty of growers use it with very high success rates

temps that low will for sure slow/prevent root formation. gotta get the water temp up in low to mid 70s. are you using any products or just straight water?

Myles117 said:

i never feed during lights off. not much reason/advantage to doing so imo and can increase chances of root rot. not saying it is wrong, just not something i have found a reason for doing. 4 flood cycles 3 hours apart and the floods last 30 minutes (just because the trays werent quite full after 15 minutes and timers are 15 increments). in veg i give em 3 hours between floods but there are 2 more floods since day is 20 hours not 12

i bought a fancy aero cloner and had pretty crap results with it. taking 2 weeks to see signs of roots and only gettiing a few roots per clones.... very frustrating. i think my main mistake was not using a sterilizing product in the rez.

anywho, i got a couple trays of the rapid rooters and am having amazing results after ten days. heating mat under the tray and always keeping extra water in the tray so they dont dry out. very pleased with this method.

i dont like rockwool at all. either too wet or not moist enough. could never seem to get things to grow well in it. meanwhiile, i see plenty of growers use it with very high success rates

temps that low will for sure slow/prevent root formation. gotta get the water temp up in low to mid 70s. are you using any products or just straight water?

Click to expand...

When using the cloner? I was told to not dip in any roting solution or anything and use ur tap water and thats it. What i did tho was (in 6 gallons of water in a tote) added 6ml of aquashield, and 6ml Rapid Start. No PH'ing. And ur right it took about 10 days and when i transplanted it was probly at like day 14 15 somewhere. With roots about 6 inches long tho.. Not too bad.

When ur saying water temps in the low to mid 70's, is that because its now colder out? My WATER temps are at 68 give or take a degree. I heard or have been told that water temps reaching 72 is when you have more chances of crap building up and bad bacteria's growing.

I may not have been clear when i was talking about temps up there i meant the AIR temps. The air temp was like 63-65 that time i looked which means lights off have to be like 55-58 or something... which is too damn cold,... right?

All feeding during lights on then huh? i guess that does make sense tho. Would you table system and my bucket system be basically the same? as far as feeding times and what not. ?
Im gonna change to 3 feedings druing lights on only then. so every 4 hours. then ill check to see how dry they might be and see if i should add a feeding.

so you use those rapid rooters and just transplant them right into hydroton then?

ah okay, air temp vs water temp. got ya. 68 should be fine for the water

yeah im using rapid rooters and transplant righ tinto the hydroton. i bury the plug an inch or two below the surface so algae doesnt form along the top. my aero cloner is just in storage for now. i might try again just to compare.

using tap water often means you have your sterilizing agent already in the water. all my water is RO so nothing to stop the nasties from thriving.

Well i guess i also forgot to say, lol, that i used half well water and half RO. I also use RO for my vegging and flowering ladies.

I think i might try the rooters too. It may just be that its too cold in the tent but i feel like with the roots ONLY just coming off the stem with no "buffer" like RW or root plug to keep those connections of root to stem stable, that possibly they are getting crushed a little even tho im very careful. I dont know. but i do know its too cold and when i fix that i can test the others. cuz they already in the buckets so they stayin! lol

What do you like for nutes in this system? Im thnking botanicare next time i run out of the GH flora 3part. Not sure im sold on the GH for this system..

if you go with rooters and the room temp is in 60s definitely get a cheap seedling heat mat to go under the tray. it will make a huge difference in rooting success and timing.

iv used many different lines but for ease of use and bang for buck i love the flora nova. very concentrated liquid fert thats one part so no dealing with 2 or 3 different parts.

no shit ehh? i used that in my first grow in soil like 6 years ago. really liked it too but it seemed soo MUCKY and THICK isnt it? in the res.. i mean i have nice bubbles pumping thru adn a pump thats on 24/7 recirculating the water. so i suppose it wouldnt really have anywhere to sit. But rambling aside, you like it for this type of system huh? Nice, i will have to give it a try. How long have you been using it? In you successes what ppms were you sticking around throughout? Do you flush between veg and flower? oh ya and what about additives with the nova?? using any? bud booster, root accelerant, something like botanicare sweet? cal mag?

Im high bro lol

its mucky and thick cuz its so concentrated. less filler and more nutrient per teaspoon/tablespoon etc

once mixed into the water well its like any other nutrient so far im loving it in this setup. i used to use it for soil and it worked well there too. i like to keep things super simple so i dont use a ton of supplements. i use silica blast, hygrozyme, dutch master zone (to keep the rez sterile), floranectar, and my base. i am going to be testing a pk bloombooster for the first time. trying out hydroplex first.

i run fairly low numbers as far as ppm. 500 in my veg rooms and then 1000 in flower. give or take 100 ppm. i dont flush between but i do flush for a good week or two with a fresh rez and flora kleen only.

Right on. When and what is Silica Blast for? I keep hearing people using it and to be totally honest i havent really looked it up. I can read a million lables tho and everything wants to claim its great for all stages of plant growth bla bla bla..

Hygrozyme huh? I used that when i was doing soil. Just a little bit. At least i think it was that or i could have been some other zyme name.. when and how much you using that? and what for? is that kind of an equivalent to something like an aquashield?

i use hygrozyme from the time the freshly rooted clones get potted to the start of flush. helps break down dead or sickly root tissue and promotes new healthy root formation. iv been addicted to that shit for over 7 years. not cheap but its done me right hygrozyme is 100% enzyme based product with no active cultures whereas i believe aquashield has beneficial bacteria. i keep a sterile system so i dotn use any live benificials.

heres a great lil read bout silica and how plants benefit http://www.maximumyield.com/inside-my-com/features-articles/item/763-simply-silica

ill be honest havent used silica long but it isnt very expensive and seem like it may help my damn branches from bending and snapping under bud weight.

ya nice read. I see now. So you get silica blast? hmm i might have to order some right NOW lol

yeah, i grabbed the silica blast but i really don't think brand matters much

right on. ya i ordered up a gallon