I was reading something the other day and noticed it mentioned that the ebb and flow was a passive system. I thought a passive system is one which will eventually allow the plants roots to reach the res, it says once this happens you don't even need to pump the nutrient up to the planters to feed them. Anyway, I was wondering how an ebb and flow was passive, as most of the systems I've seen have such small drains that any roots trying to make their way down them, would clog the system in a hurry. Am I missing something or do I have my information backwards? (Edited by chopstick at 5:23 pm on July 20, 2003)
CHoppy, I always considered ebb n flow an active hydro system. To me the difference between active and passive systems are just that active systems use a pump to move the nutrient solution (ebb n flow, NFT etc), while a passive system uses no pump to move the nutrient solution (DWC, Bubblers etc.) I cant say if that is correct or not, but those are the guidelines I go by to catagorize active and passive systems.
Greetings, growbros, maybe the real diff IS in how the water/nutes are move. Because a an 'ebb/flow'done manually is really just a fill/drain. It's the pump pushing the goods up to the root trays until saturation is achieved or 'flow', and draining seriously begins or 'ebb', which shuts off the pump until experience has taught you when to begin again. And Yeah! How about that root clog issue! I've always wondere, and steared nclear of such contraptions. My own deffinition of passive is the wicks in a reservoir, with nutrients in the bottomlayer of growmix. I still check for need with my trusty index finger. (This coming grow may require more delving methods...) Refill the reservoir as called for. Go back to communing with my plants, crooning to them, studying them, studying about them, and their setup, looking for ways to improve the lighting, positioning for max reflection and harvesting of the solar rays, accounting for the overt security from outsiders prying eyes. Passive. I'm right under a big upstairs window. I stay below the sill, and must black out the area without compromising ventilation when extending light periods. And I can use the same setup to make my flowering darkness complete within the unit. And the wheel, it's going round, round, round...Life is a circle, recycling is part of life. The earth girl believes if you think happy: sing a song, hug a loved one, talk to some friends, admire and smell some flowers, grow healthy pot, you can be happy, too, U C? C U L8R mes amis (Edited by earth girl at 1:33 pm on Aug. 3, 2003)
