Quote Originally Posted by dichlorvos
hey just wondering if I can skip the rockwool altogether in a ebb and flow. I'd like to take my clones in rapid rooters and just bury them in hydroton in square pots and try to fill the tray completely with the pots. I want to avoid open water in the tray and keep it out of direct light and to stay away from disposing of rockwool every cycle. It just seems like you always see rockwool in ebb and flow trays. I also want to be able to rotate the plants since I can't afford a light mover, and there's no moving them in a rockwool slab. Any helps appreciated, I hope I can make the switch to hydro from soil without any stress.
hydroton can be a real pain in the ass. has to be presoaked, constant pH problems, red clay residue everywhere. if you want to use a bed as opposed to pots you might look into using a perlite/vermiculite mix. 50/50 or so is good but you can tweak it. the perlite will act as a wick and distribute the moisture and the vermiculite will retain the moisture. i've seem amazing things from this when used in beds. i've read of people pulling 3.5 lbs in 55 days with a 600W HPS!!!

although that calls for many more plants in a bed, not spaced very far apart and flowered as soon as there is a good root structure.

Quote Originally Posted by 420barista
Well I may be wrong but you sound as if your planning on going the distance with 16 plants in the 3x3 tray which for clones sounds great but as they grow i think your gonna have a problem of no light getting through the the dense foliage to the mid and lower part of the plant. You might feel the need to expand and if they are running loose you will end up damaging the roots trying to transplant. I would try 4 inch square pots filled with hydroton and the clone. And place the pots in a bed of hydroton.

And Headshake I like that method you mentioned sounds alot easier than doing it out of water.
it depends on how long he decides to veg for. if he starts with clones (or at least after his first run from beans) and lets them root well, then puts them in a bed and only grows single cola plants, SOG style, and flowers immediately after transplant he can fit a shitload in a 3' x 3' tray.

and i can't take credit for the tip, it was the goddess stinkyattic herself that posted that in a thread some time ago.

good growing!


-shake