Multiple plants and different life cycles...

[Illusion]

this may be a pretty self explanatory question


I have an ebb and flow system.

If I wanted to add a plant to the system, I couldn't because the nutrient level would be way to high for a plant i just started...


In DWC if I was using individual 5 gallon buckets alone for each plant, I could just adjust it to the plant's needs... and It wouldn't matter when the plant was started.



So as long as the plant's are all the same exact age, you could put them into a system that simutaneously feeds like ebb & flow.. but can't just stick plants in there...

right?

[stinkyattic]

It depends on how tight you want to tweak your feedings.

If you are going to do things right, you have to consider that flowering is broken down into multiple stages- early flower when you are still feeding some Nitrogen, mid flower when you are increasing the P and giving your bloom boosters if you use them, and flushing at the end. You COULD run 3 tables, but no one really does this. People growing hydro on a large enough scale to consider it wold be running a singlecrop per 2 months SOG for efficiency anyway, identical clones off the same mom.

Can it be done though?
Well sure. I've got a modified NFT flowing over hydroton. It's got removeable pellet-filled 'cells', each with a feeder drip-stake. At the moment, it's running 12 cells off a 5 gallon pail res. There are plants of 2 different ages and 5 different strains. They all have different needs but I'm not trying to maximize anything really, just see what finish time is and test out some new flavahs, and I don't even measure the nutes or adjust the pH of the tap water-based nute solution (Canna Aqua is forgiving like that!). They show assorted mild fert scorch and deficiency, but are generally healthy.

That being said, that is a totally experimental setup and I would recommend a hydro grower to run SOG style for max efficiency and minimum headaches. If you want to grow a small number of monsters with individual attention, DWC can't be beat.