10 days after transplanting the tomatoes and cucumbers the chillies and peppers start to show their roots through the small roockwool cubes and so are moved into the larger 4" rockwool cubes.
To make some space for all the new seedlings I have moved the tomato plants onto a 1m squared flood and drain table. I have made a mesh tray to fit inside the table for the blocks to sit on. This mesh allows the blocks to air-prune while the flood and drain system waters the plants evenly from the bottom. 
The nutrient solution is stored in a 80L reservoir and is pumped up through an inlet onto the table where the water level rises to 2cm above the mesh tray where it overflows back into the reservoir beneath. This means the bottom 1/4 of the blocks get wet while capillary action draws the solution through the rest of the block. To ensure even watering you have to make sure the table is level, the legs have adjustable screw feet to make these adjustments.
I timed the first flood (without plants in) to program the digital timer, it takes 4 minutes to reach the desired flood height which is maintained for 1 minute to allow the blocks to suck up some solution. This means the pump should be on for 5 mins. The tomato plants up to now have had nutrient solution through the top of the block every 3-4 days and now have the first signs of roots through the bottom of the block. Now I can put them on the flood and drain table and program the digital timer to come on every 3 days to flood the table at 12:00. As the plants get bigger this will increase to every 1-2 days. In the past I have watered by hand but when you've got over 100 plants to do every day it can take up allot of time. These tomato plants should be ready to planting out in 7 to 10 days.
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