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water Bottom watering and automatically watering

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pwb

If i use bottom watering and make som "pool" that i put all the pots in. Could i then fill it with water, let the water stay there for some time (5-10min) and then let the water drain out. Would that be a ok way to do it?
 
pwb said:
If i use bottom watering and make som "pool" that i put all the pots in. Could i then fill it with water, let the water stay there for some time (5-10min) and then let the water drain out. Would that be a ok way to do it?
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Yes
 
I had a lot of my seedlings (2-3" pots) sitting in a tray and kept about 1/2" of water in the bottom.  They seemed to do fine for the time they were there and it made watering them a lot easier.
 
I think as long as the pots are deep enough to where you aren't drowning the roots, it should be ok.
 
pwb said:
If i use bottom watering and make som "pool" that i put all the pots in. Could i then fill it with water, let the water stay there for some time (5-10min) and then let the water drain out. Would that be a ok way to do it?
Click to expand...
 
Flood and Drain - exactly what you just described :)
 
You are better off to top water if you trying for perfcetion due to better aeration of the soil/coco if using Fytocell, rockwool, perlite/vermiculite mix this is irrelevant due to their vastly superior air ratios (Fytocell is always 40% air even when fully saturayed). Top watering draws fresh air into the root zone more efficiently due to gravity action rather than bottom watering which works via wick action.
 
BUT excellent results can be had from bottom watering and is often far far less hassle this is why I used to grow most things like this.
 
fytocell? what is this?

they sell something called Sure to Grow here in the states... is this the same deal?

unless its cheaper than rockwool, id stick with the latter.
 
Sure to grow and fytocell look the same but are totally different products about as similar as compost and coco. I personally love it rockwool is unsuitable to how I grow and I like the backup fytocell gives (You can water fytocelleither 24/7, multiple times a day or every 2-3 days and still see excellent results which covers dripper blockages or pump breakdowns.) it's also excellent to mix in compost as an improver. unsure the price difference between rockwool and fyrocell but it's infinitely reusable which levels costs off. I find my yields improve 10-20% on first reuse (Mycorrihzae becoming established) but then level off I replace 20% media every time.
 
I only replace media on sign of infection.
 
Unfortuantely Fytocell is impossible to source stateside.
 
interesting. i thought the stuff was biodegradable? does it not decompose under normal conditions? if so i take issue with infinatly reusable :P .
 
it sounds like you use some sort of shreded medium?  if so i can see how one could reuse it.
 
however, im in love with rockwool slabs... if im ever making a decent income, id love to be 100% rockwool with drip to waste  fertigation.
reusing slabs, regardless of their biodegradability is problematic for a number of reasons... however im thinking that one could shred and stuff into tubes made from polyethylene? 
 
id like to try that at one time with rockwool slabs. im thinking a mechanism similar to an insulation blower could be used to shred and spray used rockwool slabs into a sock filter. you could place a vortex separator in between this sock to collect debris.
 
ANYWAY all that aside, do you have any grows or what have you, that you could link? id love to learn more about this stuff.
 
queequeg152 said:
interesting. i thought the stuff was biodegradable? does it not decompose under normal conditions? if so i take issue with infinatly reusable :P .
 
it sounds like you use some sort of shreded medium?  if so i can see how one could reuse it.
 
however, im in love with rockwool slabs... if im ever making a decent income, id love to be 100% rockwool with drip to waste  fertigation.
reusing slabs, regardless of their biodegradability is problematic for a number of reasons... however im thinking that one could shred and stuff into tubes made from polyethylene? 
 
id like to try that at one time with rockwool slabs. im thinking a mechanism similar to an insulation blower could be used to shred and spray used rockwool slabs into a sock filter. you could place a vortex separator in between this sock to collect debris.
 
ANYWAY all that aside, do you have any grows or what have you, that you could link? id love to learn more about this stuff.
Click to expand...
It's an expanded resin NOT shredded plastic (I don't think it's plastic based but I can find out my friend is the UK representative for the company but don't let that bias you ha ha, check out my grow), no it does not decompose under normal conditions (I've had some outdoors 5 years+) but it is white the top goes green (Not an issue) I remove the top 10-20% and replace every grow I believe it healthy to always renew a bit of medium just in case :).
 
If you were UK side I'd send you bag to try.
 
I'll get some pics of it monday it's quite unique stuff, it's around 20% more expensive than coco in the UK to guage price.
 
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