My first (very basic) setup...with questions

[granth]

I have my nutrient tub at the bottom, empty as of now, but it's there with my grow pots up above. I have some clear tubing to run up to the pots for water input and will improvise a drain system with whats left over. My net pots are not in place yet either....i'm planning things out right now.

Obviously I have planned for a flood/drain setup but am debating on switching over to a drip system. My concern with the drip system is, how do you regulate flow and is it by timer like the flood/drain is? would securing a wooden dowel or similar with the drip tube secured to it be enough for placement?

[NorEastFla]

Originally Posted by granth

[IMG]I have my nutrient tub at the bottom, empty as of now, but it's there with my grow pots up above. I have some clear tubing to run up to the pots for water input and will improvise a drain system with whats left over. My net pots are not in place yet either....I'm planning things out right now.

Obviously I have planned for a flood/drain setup but am debating on switching over to a drip system. My concern with the drip system is, how do you regulate flow and is it by timer like the flood/drain is? would securing a wooden dowel or similar with the drip tube secured to it be enough for placement?

Hi Granth, good to meetcha.

First, you need to lose that clear tubing. When you mix Light, nutrients and Water together, you get algae growth. Your tubes will fill with Algae real fast.

Black tubing is a very good idea. Make sure you get some that is food grade. You don't want to be subjecting your food crops to chemicals that can cause real and dangerous problems to your health.

The same for your reservoir. Make sure no light at all can penetrate it.

If you decide to go with drip, any method you use to make the drip heads stay put will work. The plants can't see them, so you can make them as ugly as necessary. hehe

Good luck! Let us hear any problems you have and between all of us here, you'll get a solution!

[granth]

the clear tubing will be covered with black plastic sheathing like one would cover wires with, it is just not pictured. I got this tubing from lowes. The containers are all HDPE2 recyclable yet still food grade. I use these to make Mead, or "honey wine" in, so I was sure they are food grade. I have two 120 gph pond pumps as well and a 2 head air pump with 2 air stones to match. Is there a benefit to the drip over the ebb/flow? or vice/verca?

In addition, on a few of the "illegal" hydro sites they find that crushed lava rock once rinsed and washed well is just find for potting material so I plan on using that.

[NorEastFla]

Originally Posted by granth

the clear tubing will be covered with black plastic sheathing like one would cover wires with, it is just not pictured. I got this tubing from lowes. The containers are all HDPE2 recyclable yet still food grade. I use these to make Mead, or "honey wine" in, so I was sure they are food grade. I have two 120 gph pond pumps as well and a 2 head air pump with 2 air stones to match. Is there a benefit to the drip over the ebb/flow? or vice/verca?

In addition, on a few of the "illegal" hydro sites they find that crushed lava rock once rinsed and washed well is just find for potting material so I plan on using that.

I'm glad you've already thought of the ideas I had.

Lava rock works great. It's inexpensive and available in almost every town.

You'll need to put it into a tub outside and rinse it very, very well. It's full of tiny particulate and dust. Both the dust and the particulate will foul your pumps and shorten their life span.

In a comparison between Drip method and Ebb and Flow, (Fill and Drain), the Ebb and Flow wins hands down. Both are good, but the only hydroponic system to beat out Ebb and Flow is Aeroponics.

There's lots of reasons for this and I'd be glad to expound on it if you like.

The book I suggested in another thread here is an extremely good idea for everyone who is into hydroponic gardening. It's so good and packed with such valuable information that I can't go on enough about it.

Yes, it's expensive. About $45 bucks, but worth it. It's a book you'll go back to for information a thousand times while using hydroponics.

It has great information about both Drip and Ebb and Flow systems in it.

Please, do yourself a favor and buy that book. You'll love yourself for it.

[GpsFrontier]

I would also sanitize the lava rock by soaking it in bleach water (after a quick wash) for about an hour, then rinsing it well. I also agree with the back tubing (I know you have that planed), also I would light proof the buckets and reservoir if they are not already for the same reason.

However I do disagree about the need for using food grade plastics. Any black irrigation tubing, or vinyl tubing from Lowe's or home depot, like found in the gardening department will be just fine. The reservoir and buckets as well as any other parts don't need to be food grade either. True that some plastics are worse than others. But unless they give off a strong chemical smell, not enough of anything is going to leach into, and build up in the water (especially when you consider nutrient changes). If your still worried, take a small piece if the plastic in question and place it in some hot water, let it cool down and take a small sip. If it tastes stranger than usual, you may not want to use it. The only time food grade plastics need to be used is if you were trying to grow "certified organic" plants or produce, then yes food grade plastics would be needed. But you would also need to be using "certified organic" nutrients also. Using food grade plastics is really just a personal choice, mostly made out of paranoia (no offense NorEastFla) in my opinion.

As for the question of which is better flood and drain or drip, really depends on you. Yes both would use a timer, although you could possibly get away with not using one for a drip system (depending on many factors). I like both of them myself, but both for different reasons. I don't like flood and drain systems for larger setups that would take large amounts of water (nutrient solution) to flood. As someone mentioned nutrients cost money (water's not a problem), that is probably the biggest drawback to a flood and drain.

As for which system is better for, and/or will grow better plants has a lot of factors as well. Especially type of plants and type of growing medium used, as well as how you put the system together, and where you set the water level. Even the minimum on off times of your timer settings can be a factor.

But going by the pictures of what you are planning, I would suggest a combination flood and drain/water culture system. Mainly because of the five gallon buckets and the pots for the plants that I assume will be sitting in holes in the lids. As the roots grow down into the five gallon buckets from the pots, they will dry out if not able to get moisture in-between flooding. So I would set it up as a flood and drain, but with an adjustable water level when it drains. That way some of the roots that hang down will be able to get water all the time. I would make that level adjustable so as the roots continue to grow down they wont be completely submerged.

As I mentioned even your timer settings can be a factor. Here is an example. If your timer is capable of 15 min on and 15 off settings around the clock, the roots that are hanging down (in air) probably wont dry out that much in 15 minutes in the setup I explained. But if the minimum on off time is 30 minutes, I would be concerned about them drying out between flooding. Either way I would probably still want to make the overflow adjustable. I would still want some water at the bottom the buckets for moisture and humidity. Also if you decide to go with a drip system I would still want some water at the bottom, again an adjustable overflow.

I attached a few pictures of a easy adjustable overflow for buckets like that I have done. It's nothing more than a through hole (also known as a bulkhead fitting) with a piece of vinyl tubing stuck in it that regulates the water level at the bottom. To adjust the height, just change the height of the vinyl tubing. In case you want the water level high and the vinyl tubing keeps bending down, stick it inside a piece of PVC tubing that will keep it straight. You can also just use a piece of PVC tubing in the first place (instead of the vinyl tubing) as long as it tightly fits inside through hole. Or gluing an PVC adapter to the through hole that the PVC tube fits in, so you can easily change the tube. I can think of lots of ways to make it adjustable using the through hole at the bottom. I got those through holes at home depot next to the electrical conduit.

[granth]

That's pretty trick GPS. I will have to pick a couple up. My timer is a christmas light timer so it's only got hourly on/off from what I can tell but I may have to return it and get something with better increments.

[NorEastFla]

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

Using food grade plastics is really just a personal choice, mostly made out of paranoia (no offense NorEastFla) in my opinion.

No offense taken, GpsFrontier. After watching several people die from cancer, I try to leave as many chemicals out of my body as possible, as I believe that the base route to cancer is by putting some of the chemicals into your body that are used in manufacturing currently. There are a lot of plastic related illnesses just being discovered right now that result from chemicals leeching out of plastic into whatever is touching the plastic. I'll play it safe even if I seem a bit paranoid in the process...hehe. As long as there are alternatives available to avoid unknown plastic compositions, I'll take them.

I agree with your statements about the amounts of water necessary for Ebb and Flow. For years, NFT was the primary method chosen by most commercial growers, but with the massive outpouring of recirculating raft systems for lettuce, herbs and other leafy vegetables, the raft systems are becoming the new NFT . For heavier produce, NFT is probably the most cost effective method still.