I have an 8 pod flood and drain and want to build a similar system but rather than using 8 seperate pods, I want to try 1 tank. The grow tank will sit above the resevoir tank and will be filled with clay pebbles. I will flood and drain same as I flood and drain pods. I have been warned about doing this as the roots of each plant get tangled with other plants roots but I don't think that should be too big a problem as isn't that what happens in nft? Has ayone else tried this?

hello jjt

just make sure your drain or prefably drains cannot get blocked with roots returning to the rez!

I used 3 plants per 30Litres of hydroton in 40L grow tank over a 40 Litre rez


bests with your project

wata

Thanks Wata, I am thinking of using tanks that are 1200mm x 650mm x 300mm deep. Into this tank I am going to put 100 litres of clay pebbles. Yes, I will have to take care that the roots do not block up the outlets and I intend using mesh around them to prevent this. Your grow looks most impressive and would suggest that the roots tangling together is immaterial as long as they have enough space to tangle. I want to gro 8 plants in my system to a height of about 1000mm. Do you think that I have enough space for roots or should I grow more but smaller and scrog?

Hi JJT I was thinking about making a custom flood and drain set the same way you are, but instead I was going to make a tray out of ply wood and then line the inside with black plastic pond liner then cut through both to attach the flood and drain parts e.g. the intake and outtake holes. I am opting to use large pots that are riddled with holes (can’t remember where to buy them from) instead of filling the hole basin with hydroten as this I would imagine could be costly and add to allot of overall weight. Im also considering trying to find a res that’s long as opposed to tall that way I can maximise head room for possible sativa plants, but ill still have to top the hell out of them thou.

roots tangling hasn't caused me any problems, in fact I think they'd rather stretch out than be kept in buckets

flood n drain

UK420 shop has them.

Hi ReptOiD, if you're worried about weight then I'd fill the whole tray with hydroton, even though they're porous they still displace water and don't weigh as much (so you don't need as much water to fill your tray)
and you'll have problems with alge on your roots if they're not totally covered (they'll soon spread out of those pots)
As for the height of your res tank, I did alot of research on this before I bought one...I was going to go for a "coffin tank" (long "n" low) but in the end I bought a much bigger res than I needed and put it outside the bloom room with pipes going in through holes cut in the wall of the room...as long as the water level inside the res tank is lower than the bottom of your pebble trays then gravity does it's job and drains the trays, also it's alot easier keeping your nutes at the right temperature if kept outside the heat of your lights...
good luck with em

Thanks for all of the input. I had thought about using net pots. I am thinking of using a sheet of correx with holes cut through to cover everything i the tank so as the roots will be shielded from the light just like that used in nft.