Newbie home gardener

[solid7]

Hello. I am new to the hydroponics hobby, and am currently growing a winter crop of hot pepper, watermelons, and beans. So far, so good, using an ebb and flow system. I am using General Hydro nutrients, and a tub full of clay pellets. (no rock wool)

My question: what is the ideal # of cycles per day for this? I have seen so many different recommendations. Anywhere from 15 minutes, 3 times a day, to 15 minutes on every hour. Not sure what to make of it.

Thanks in advance!

[GpsFrontier]

Hello solid7
That's probably the most common question everybody asks at first (including me). But the realistically it all depends on many variables. The real answer is general rule of thumb, it only needs to be on long enough to completely wet the roots, and not off so long that the roots begin to dry out.

With all the variables like system design, type of growing medium, how much growing medium is used, air temp, water temp, humidity, type of plants, size of plants, evaporation/transpiration rate etc., that a general rule of thumb is the only real answer. Observation is the key to how your plants are doing. Every grower has there own preferences, that's why you see so many different on/off times/cycles. As long as the growing medium remains moist and you don't see any singes of wilting at all, you should be good. But it's in your best interest to try different cycles, observe how it affects your plants and make your own decisions on what you thinks best for them. It wont be long before you'll have a great feel for it (and even have your own preferences).

[solid7]

Thanks for your response.

I had a feeling that you might say something like this. For now, I am growing in the garage, light on for 12-14 hours daily, (110w Power Compact) with the system cycling 10 minutes on every hour, but with 3 cycles omitted. (an "every other hour" gap every 4 hours - I only have 20 slots on my timer) If nothing else, this keeps the nutrients churned up in the tub, I guess.

I may have trouble with 2 plants in rockwool, but everything else is in clay pellet only.

Will keep an eye on the setup, and change course as needed. Thank you for your advice.

[GpsFrontier]

I run into the same issue with my digital timer having limited on/off times. Mine has a total of 14 settings (7 on/off) cycles. But I also have 2 analog timers that have 48 settings (24 on/off cycles, with minimum on/off times of 30 minutes), I got those at K-mart. They are heavy duty lamp timers (15 amp), and were under $8 ea.

Also something I didn't mention that might help you is that because plants don't photosynthesize at night (in darkness), they don't drink up water during that time (no ware near as much anyway). So you don't really need to run the pump until about 30 minutes before first light, and about 30 min after sundown. As an example I have ran a flood and drain system 30 on and 30 off all day long during light. Then at night I would cut it back to as little as one on/off cycle during the middle of the night (during summer as little as maybe 2 cycles at night) just to be on the safe side.