posted 5 years ago
In this 2010 trial from Australia, they compared a variety of types of veggies grown in three systems, identical except for the method of supplying water:
Constant Siphon
Constantly Flooded
Timed Flood and Drain (15/45 min)
The result from this small 18 month trial is that timed flood-drain wins, hands down, across most plant types with faster plant growth, more worms, and larger fish. It also used less energy since the pump switched on and off.
The constant-flood and bell siphon systems traded back and forth for 2nd place. In the end, certain kinds of plants did better in constant flood and others with the siphon.
They provided no explanations for why they thought the results were what they were, though others made a lot of speculations across the 40-page thread. They were trying to be un-biased, so avoided making judgments.