Simply depress two segments at each time when you want a flood to occur as with all areas of hydroponics your timing will depend on the details of your set up.
Flood and drain hydroponics how often to flood.
Assemble the frame and reservoir tank of the bottom part which is leveled to the floor or ground of your chosen location.
As a result roots can sometimes block the feed pipe.
In a flood and drain system plants are grown in a growing tray that is regularly flooded with a nutrient rich water based growing solution.
2 points 7 years ago edited 7 years ago.
After a short period of flooding the solution is.
To keep roots away from the tube and get even growth rotate the inner pot by 45 a quarter turn in the same direction every 2 3 days.
If your climate is hot and dry flood it more frequently than if the weather is cool and humid.
Larger fruiting plants also need to be flooded more often than smaller plants those without fruit.
Flood and drain systems fill and empty through the same tube.
This is ideal for modern analog timers which are normally separated into 15 minute segments.
Ebb flow systems generally flood through an overflow set approximately one to two inches below the top surface of the grow rock media.
For instance if you are growing large plants in clay pebbles in a hot dry atmosphere with powerful lighting and longer day time you may need to flood and drain 9 10 or even 15 times a day.
You may need 1 2 flooding in the night if you have a longer dark period and in summers.
To build flood drain hydroponics you begin at the bottom.
How deep should i flood.
Place the tank into the bottom frame and cover with the lid.
Depending on the diameter of your piping and the flow rate going to the beds your mileage may vary.
The goal is to flood the plants for about one half hour drain and then re flood them again before the growing medium dries out.
This provides the plant roots with a constant feeding from the damp nutrient saturated growing medium.
Make sure you use the copper root control discs provided with your iws flood system too.
The drain should be the quicker of the two.
Check out fast growing hydroponic plants here.
For a bell siphon bed i ve seen anywhere between a 12 25 minute flood drain cycle.