Most forgiving type of hydro/aero system

Never done hydro/aero before. What type of system is the most forgiving or least maintenance for going on a two or three day holiday away from home? Ebb flo systems appear to be low maintenance but still unsure.

Also looking to do SOG and wondering about many of these hydro systems that have very tight cup spacing. I would like to have 1 sqf per plant bit most systems are 6" spacing off center.

Ebb & Flow in 4 inch rockwool is your best bet. you could leave for 7 to 14 days if u dont have no problems like ph that keeps rising every time u flood the table. To prevent that from happening you have to sock the rockwool for a couple of hours. some will say 24 hours... I say you soak them in water ph'd at 5.3. This will make sure your rockwool ph is low enough and ready for use and wont make your rez ph spike up too much maybe .2 to .5 max in 7 to 14 days. Ebb & Flow is the way to grow, In case of lost electricy or pump failure the rockwool will retain enuff water to stay alive for a couple days instead of dying in hours. You could ways hand water the table!

DWC is pretty damn easy too.

~ooli~

I'm a newbie and still in the middle of my 1st grow. I'm using a rainforest 66 and so far no problems. i have everything set on timers and i check it every day, but so far i haven't had to do anything except change the res. once a week.

ooli said:

DWC is pretty damn easy too.

~ooli~

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Agreed, it's pretty darn straightforward

Yeah DWC, you can get away without seeing them for a week in DWC man, i know i have b4.

DWC in my opionion is messy and not pratical.. if u ever have to box the plants it would be very hard to do i suppose... in rockwool atleast u can keep it wet... and theyll survive the shock. and as for practicality it is so not there at all. I tried it before and went back to ebb and flow after 2 weeks because cleaning the res in this fashion doesnt sit well with me. I like every nice and clean.

That is true. Unless you build a very nice setup, cleaning and refilliing dwc can be a right pain. But its only once a week. Until you start using multiple notes then it can get annoying

I love DWC. I have 4 areas that I use for flowering and if you use a couple of different air pumps in the system (not the same bucket), if one goes out the plants can survive on the air provided in the connection tubes. Also if you get a computer UPS (battery backup) the pump will stay on if your power was to ever go out. I am not sure about the messy part, I have a drain in my floor that I utilize when changing the water out. Down side of DWC is the ton of water you will go through vs. a aero system or stinbuds low pressure design.

IrishDoc said:

I love DWC. I have 4 areas that I use for flowering and if you use a couple of different air pumps in the system (not the same bucket), if one goes out the plants can survive on the air provided in the connection tubes. Also if you get a computer UPS (battery backup) the pump will stay on if your power was to ever go out. I am not sure about the messy part, I have a drain in my floor that I utilize when changing the water out. Down side of DWC is the ton of water you will go through vs. a aero system or stinbuds low pressure design.

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I've been meaning to buy a UPS for a while though, although i'd need 3 of them and i'm poor haha. I grow in a cupboard in a plush apartment so don't easily have the drain option, so i have to be lugging 40L totes of water around the place, bit annoying and not as stealthy as i'd hoped However i pay a fixed monthly rate for my water, about £12, so i never worry about the usage swings and roundabouts, i think i'd still probably prefer a nice grow room, not cupboard, to fixed rate water

I think the problem would be (if you are leaving for 3 days at a time).

That water (in all systems) evaporate. So even if your Ph is stabilized; you will have to deal with evaporation/consumption.

So if your ppm is say 500...after 3 days of evaporation it will jump up to say 800ppm. Because water evaporates but the nutes don't.

I use a flood and drain, but I would never really let 3 days go by with out reservoir top-ups. Or my plants would get burnt to a crisp.

This is especially true if you have your nute mix maximized.

Tee Five said:

I think the problem would be (if you are leaving for 3 days at a time).

I would never really let 3 days go by with out reservoir top-ups. Or my plants would get burnt to a crisp.

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I would agree, its not good to not check on or take care of your ladies over any long period of time. I wouldn't go anywhere for longer than 24hrs without either not having any plants going (unless you are willing to take the chance and lose them) or trusting somebody enough to take care of them for you.

I have hempys on drip irrigation and when I fill my 20 gallon trash can rez up it will feed my 600 watt 25 clone SOG for a week or so.

Because my rez is setup to be Non-recirculating its much more stable then any areo or ebb and flow rez.

You will not get the PH and PPM swings that you get when plants are eating out of the rez. Because Fresh nutes are pumped to each individual internal hempy rez once a day.


All you have to do is fill up the big rez with freshly mixed nutes when it gets low.

Stinkbud Aero/NFT

my ph doesnt jump much in rez but checking my ppm is something i havent done... but they grow nice so i dont think its a problem.

Xare said:

I have hempys on drip irrigation and when I fill my 20 gallon trash can rez up it will feed my 600 watt 25 clone SOG for a week or so.

Because my rez is setup to be Non-recirculating its much more stable then any areo or ebb and flow rez.

You will not get the PH and PPM swings that you get when plants are eating out of the rez. Because Fresh nutes are pumped to each individual internal hempy rez once a day.


All you have to do is fill up the big rez with freshly mixed nutes when it gets low.

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^^^^This.

Drain to waste alleviates the pH/PPM swings you see in recirculating systems.

However, I used to run recirculating E&F tables and they were pretty stable - adjusted pH/PPMs once or twice a week, took about ten minutes total per week.

I don't believe in being a slave to your grow.