IWS Flood & Drain Trident Systems

The latest innovation from IWS, the Trident Flood & Drain improves on what was already a brilliant system into something even better. It incorporates small changes in the design to simplify and save time during setup, a range of pot sizes to suit all types of plants/growers and now feature fabric inner pots allowing the you to use any type of growing media you wish. All whilst keep the same tried and tested 'flood & drain' style of growing with the precision watering only an IWS System can offer.

Why Use An IWS Trident System

After years of selling on of the best hydroponic systems available and taking on board end-user feedback the clever guys at IWS have gone back to the drawing board to make an already great system near perfect! Here's why it's so good.

Simple Set-Up

The IWS Trident now uses push fit connections and requires no tools for setup. This not only reduces the time it takes to set it up but also the chance of leaks due to fittings not being tightened correctly.

No Stands Required

Unlike the standard and pro IWS systems, the Trident has built in 'risers' on the outer pots. This removes the need for a stand.

Cloth Pots

The all new fabric inner pot design, which is only seen on the Trident allows increased oxygenation to the root zone as well as the flexibility to use any type of growing media with having to change pot. There are also two pot sizes to choose from (16L and 25L)

Root Rods

The included 'Root Rods' prevent the roots from blocking the feed pipe and stop the inner pot from ever sitting in any still water.

Bottom Feeding

Each pot is fed from the bottom (base). This differs from traditional flood and drain systems which typically have the feed pipe on the lower side of the pot. By bottom feeding you ensure optimum nutrient delivery and maximum drainage during each feed cycle.

Tie Back Rings

The outer rim of the Trident pots have tie back rings. These can be used to spread the foliage of your plants and increase light penetration through the canopy.

How Does It Work

The IWS Trident Systems work in the same way as the standard and pro IWS. It follows the same method you would find in a traditional flood and drain system but incorporates it into a modular, pot-type setup as oppose to a tray/table you may have seen before. This gives you the benefit of arranging your plants how you wish in your grow space without being governed by the dimensions of the tray.

The system as 3 main components; the plant pots (an inner fabric pot inside an outer plastic pot), the control unit (brain pot) and the water butt. The plant pots are connected to each other using 25mm flexible pipe which then connects back to the control unit that is being fed from the water butt. The water butt is filled with your chosen nutrient solution. The control unit features a professional, precision timer to control your waterings. Once activated it will turn on a pump in the water butt that will being filling the control unit. As this fills with your nutrient solution, gravity then pushes this through the pipework and into your plant pots. The control unit features a float valve that is the same height as the plant pots, once the water hits this level, it turns off the feed pump so your pots cannot ever overflow. Once the feed cycle has ended a pump inside the control unit is then activated to begin pulling the water back from the plant pots to return to the water butt ready for the next watering. As the water level drops in the plant pots this creates a vacuum effect and pulls in oxygen to the root zone. This, combined with the air pruning nature of the fabric pots and unhindered access to nutrients means that the IWS Trident is probably one of best systems out there for root growth, plant health and the highest yields.

How To Use An IWS Trident F&D System

Setup and using a Trident is very simple. Here are a few of our recommendations to get the best results from it.

Always lay out your pots in your grow room first before cutting any pipe. Try to space them evenly and keep the row numbers the same where possible as this will help with consistent 'floods' over all the pots. Once you are happy with the layout, measure the distance between each so you can cut your pipework as precisely as possible. Avoid using excess pipe.

Once your system is setup and you have added your growing media to the pots you want to then work out your flood time. This will vary depending on your choice of medium and pot size. To do this switch on your IWS Timer to constantly on and turn the feed dial to the maximum. Now time how long it takes for all the pots to reach your desired fill level. For clay pebbles and free-draining mediums we recommend timing until the pot reaches maximum, however for absorbent substrates such as coco or coco/pebble mixes then a lower level will usually work better as the water will wick up through the substrate naturally. Once you have your time, set this on the dial. The use the segmental time to choose the times of they day you want the floods to occur. For free draining this will be much more frequent; 3 times per day to start and in some cases up to one feed per hour for established plants. Absorbent media will almost always start on one feed per day and this may not increase a great deal as the plants grow.

Always ensure your control unit pot is the same level as your plants pots, if its lower your pots will not be able to flood fully, if it's higher they will overflow!

For 16L pots we recommend 4-6 plants per 1.2m x 1.2m, for 25L pots go for around 4.

IWS Trident Flood & Drain Systems come in a variety of setup options ranging from 6 plants up to 48 plants with two pot sizes available. Each system comes with everything you need, just add plants and your choice of growing medium!