-Gabrial House-
Today we are going to look at the advantages of setting up an Ebb & Flow hydroponic garden. Ebb & Flow also known as “flood and drain” is an effective, easy to use, hydroponic system for both expert and novice gardeners alike.
Ebb & Flow consists of a flood tray, tray stand, reservoir, and pump. You will also need a couple feet of black vinyl tube, ebb and flow outlets, and screens.
The setup is super simple. The flood tray sits on the tray stand above the reservoir. The pump goes inside the reservoir and pumps the water from the reservoir up to the flood tray a couple times a day, providing your plants with water and nutrients.
The system promotes a healthy environment for your plants. When you flood the tray, you’re bottom watering your plants. This type of watering helps develops strong healthy roots! Even better, when the tray drains the air is sucked into the growing media, which creates an oxygen rich environment for the plant. This makes for happy plants!
Wondering what growing media to use? You’re in luck – an Ebb & Flow system can easily accommodate a variety of growing media. The system is great for using anything from Rockwool to hydroton. The only thing you will change is how often you flood the tray each day and for how long.
One of my favorite growing media to use in an Ebb & Flow system is hydroton. Hydroton is expanded clay pellets that work as an anchor for the plants roots. It stabilizes the plant and gives the roots a media they can grow easily through. Hydroton does not have much water holding capacity so for this media, you should be flooding the table every two hours for 15 minutes. Keep in mind each setup is different so flood times and number of floods will vary. If you were to go with a growing media like Rockwool you would be looking to flood less often. It all depends on how much water the growing media can hold.
These are a few advantages of the Ebb & Flow system. I highly recommend it if your looking for a low maintenance setup with high yields. Happy gardening!
Rockwool says
Thanks. Very Useful Article.
Timothy says
I have a ebb &flow system.. using hydroton. Medium how do i separate watering and feeding or do i put nutrients in the water reservoir and feed every two hours
ashley says
Good Morning! You will want to put nutrients into your reservoir, but run your nutrient solution slightly more diluted, as the plants will be fed every time you flood your tray. Once every two weeks you can top off your water – just straight water or water with an enzyme product in it. With hydroton, you will want to flood your table every 2 hours or more for 15 minutes. Hope this helps!